The assembly of the mirror is very straight-forward with easy to follow directions. I do recommend that you use a small multi-tool however if you have one instead of the supplied hex wrenches as the screws required for assembly fit VERY tightly into their brass housings. You will get better torque and save your fingers some pain if you have a nicer set of hex wrenches to use.

Once assembled, simply lift the rubber hood of the shift/brake lever off and you will see a small plastic knob that the rubber hood hooks onto. Slide the mirror base over this knob to secure it to the bike. An instruction sheet will tell you whether you need to use a shim or not, but here is where you might not want to follow the directions. According to the directions I did not need a shim for my shift/brake levers. However, the mirror base would not tighten properly onto the plastic knob, so I tried using the half shim that was included in the package. I was able to slide the mirror base back onto the knob, but it was much more secure and tightened up nicely. The shims are easy to put on and remove so a little experimentation will help you get your mirror secure. Once you are done, you’ll have to work a bit to stretch the rubber hood back over the mirror base. Note here as well that there will be a small gap between the rubber hood and the brake lever. It does not affect the function, but the gap is created by the insertion of the mirror base between the hood and the levers.

We were able to test the durability this weekend as well. I had just put this mirror on my wife’s bike and we went for a ride. She had stopped and unclipped her right foot, but not her left. She turned to reach for something in her seat bag and lost her balance, falling to her left as she was not able to get her foot unclipped in time. The mirror was the only thing to hit the pavement as it sticks out, the rest of the bike landed on top of her. It folded the mirror arm in, but did not break. In fact, there was only the slightest scuffing on the outer edge of the plastic mirror housing where it had hit the pavement. I had fully expected it to break, but it did not break or come off the bike.

A great product at a great price. I’m going to buy more in case we do manage to break these at some point or they stop making them. Hopefully more cyclists will stop worrying about how cool they look and start thinking about ways to make their ride safer every day.
Rating: 5 / 5