Not to generalise, but cyclists are a perverse bunch of style-obsessed danger huggers. We sulk about having to eschew cotton caps for helmets, bitch about the right way to wear our sunglasses (Rule #37), and would rather ride down a motorway than lose a few seconds stopping to check a map.
Sometimes all this speed and style comes at the expense of our own safety. Case in point: rear view mirrors for bicycles have existed for years, yet most of us would rather risk being rear-ended by a bus than suffer the aesthetic indignity of attaching such a device to our bike.
It's a state of affairs we've (mostly) learned to live with, but now a solution may finally be at hand courtesy of Ray Crane, an avid cyclist based on Australia's Gold Coast. Ray has come up with the RearViz. It's a rear view mirror for cyclists, but with one key difference: RearViz is worn on the arm rather than attaching to the bike, and is - dare we say - quite stylish.
The RearViz mirror features a weather resistant, collapsible convex mirror, which can be mounted on either the forearm or upper arm for comfort and ease of visibility. An adjustable armband keeps the mirror securely in place. The mirror itself is shatterproof and can be swivelled to adjust to a wide range of angles to allow the best possible view of what's coming up behind you.
Two styles, Classic and Standard, are available. The Classic version features a slot to hold your ICE ("In case of emergency") details, and both versions come in a range of five colours, none of which are celeste but you can't have everything.
Alongside the safety benefits, we can see the RearViz offering potential advantages to competitive cyclists. Lining out for a bunch sprint? Check your RearViz to see if Greipel's lurking on your shoulder. Expect to see these on the arms of the whole peloton next season if the UCI don't crack down first.
In the meantime we hope to get our hands on a sample so we can have a play in traffic. Watch this space for a full review soon.
For more information, visit www.rearviz.com.
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