Review on 🚴 Selle ITALIA Eyelink Mirror: Enhance Your Cycling Safety with this Revolutionary Accessory by Michael Reynolds

First, what price can you pay for safe driving? $67 or so for something that might offer a lot of security if you're on a busy street? Kind of priceless, right? And for those with drop bar road bikes, there aren't many great options. There is a type that attaches to your helmet. You have to keep your head still and the field of vision is small. There are options with rod ends, but they have small fields of view, they tend to be heavily distorted to compress much of the rear view, and they tend to be on the distorted side. Additionally, you actually have to take your eyes off the road ahead to refine what you're seeing. There are many more options for a flat steering wheel. There is a good Hafny mirror that fits straight bars, but road handlebars tend to be narrower and using this Hafny stem brings the mirror closer to my body. Possibly only half of the mirror is usable due to placement. Enter the Salle Italia, designed to be placed above the brake/shift units on swing-out bars. There is Velcro around the lower open ring of the part of the mirror to which it is attached. The Velcro goes around the handlebars/shifter at this point and then attaches at the bottom. Holds up pretty well. The placement is correct as you will see a larger and less distorted image in the mirror. But in terms of finish and build quality, this Selle Italia mirror looks overpriced, especially after looking at many other products. You may have seen Made in Italy advertisements in their promotional material on their website. But if you pay attention to the photo I posted along with this review, you'll see the "Made in Taiwan" label on the device itself. If Taiwan hadn't become an Italian protectorate, I'd say it's probably not made in Italy. Designed in Italy? Maybe. The design seems very flexible. Very similar to Hafny products with glass mirrors which are half the price of Selle Italia. I wouldn't complain if he was really doing his job. Some of it is, but not where it matters most, at least in the unit I got. I am receiving a replacement to ensure the error is unique to my specific sample. The ball-bearing joint, with which you can adjust the mirror adjustment on the handlebars, is not particularly smooth-running. It feels like a cheap scrub. The big problem is that it doesn't stay in place at some pivot points. Instead of feeling perfectly round, the ball bearing feels elongated with little obstruction in the way. What happens is I get to that point, then I have to use a little more force to push it past that point, and then the pressure inside, which feels almost elastic, slowly pushes it past that point. For me that goes past where I have to position the mirror. I made a video for you to see. When the bike itself came to a stop, I started the mirror where I needed it and then moved it to that point. You'll see him get to the point, but then he goes under. If I move it past that point and bypass any obstacle, it stays. But if you move it back down, the mirror will move beyond where you want it to stop. I can change my rating if the replacement is better. But I am disappointed with the original quality. It doesn't look like a $67 item. BUT. If it works then it's worth it as I don't know of any other design that would offer this safe bike rear view mirror for drop down handlebars. Again, having a mirror above the steering wheel means I can take a quick look and still keep an eye on what's ahead. Let's hope this company up their game. CONTINUED: I received a second sample of this mirror. It also has a slight curvature at a pivot point, so that the mirror only moves backwards under this pivot point with little force. However, there is a spot where you can tighten the pivot point. This is where the top and bottom of the mirror itself attaches and it sits just below the pivot. Using a hex wrench to tighten, you essentially clamp the top and bottom around the hinge. This reduces the slip, but makes it harder to re-rotate the mirror to set it up for my ride. And since the entire mirror is held to the bars with Velcro, it's not exactly a secure mount. If you press on the mirror itself, you can move the velcro a little. The mirror adjustment works best when stationary, then I'm not at the same angle as when driving. And all of this doesn't stop the mirror from moving down from a certain point when I'm going through bumps. But it is better. It tends to stay in place longer than the first sample while the rod is being tightened. When the mirror actually stays in place, it provides excellent vision at a useful and safe viewing angle. The retail price of this mirror does not exceed $80 now. You will be shocked to find that it costs so much. It's really just a bunch of plastic, made no better than $25 mirrors. In my case, however, when it works properly, it's a perfect mirror in terms of angle. If I was using a straight road bike where my body is really horizontal to the road, lower on the bars, I could use a mirror at the end of the bars. But with my salsa vaya standing more or less at a 45 degree angle to the road, I'm semi-vertical and I need a mirror that doesn't require me to look away from the road so much. Another thing, a few weeks ago I tried to contact the manufacturer's dealer a couple of times but got no response. Although the manufacturer claims to offer a 2-year warranty, I would be wary of redeeming it. And once again, it looks like it is NOT "Made in Italy" as stated in the "Made in Taiwan" mirror. If everything was made in Italy I could justify the $70-80 cost as I don't mind paying for a well paying job. Don't rely on this mirror to stay attached to your bike on the highway. I took it off the bike and put it in the car. When I got home I brought everything with me, including the mirror. From about 3 feet, I accidentally dropped it on the wooden floor. The mirror broke in two places. Luckily the parts snapped clean and I was able to put them back into the mirror frame. But it is clear that the glass will be stressed due to the convex shape of the plastic it abuts. I wish there was a good alternative to this mirror, similar design but better made, but when done right it works quite well. I still have to adjust the mirror and steering wheel drop interface from time to time, but this is a better place to check what's behind you than the mirrors that are on the ends of the drops.