Should have learnt the easy way.. some advice guys

[johnsondasw]

Yes, what they really do is allow you to control much of what is going on all around you and, for those things you can't control, they allow you to have a better chance to avoid an accident. I could ride without one, urban or rural, and I ride both, a lot.

[joe_guilbeau]

Been there, done that... Aloe Vera plants, cut them up and slave on the affected parts 5 times per day. You can  thank me in  two weeks!

[rondickinson]

I would be dead (or drooling on myself) twice without a helmet. Like seat belts always have it on.
No other protective wear required for a road / tour cyclist.

[James]

Caution on mirrors.  I use one on my glasses and like it a lot, especially if the wind is blowing and you can't hear traffic behind you.  But be careful, don't depend on it as your only source of information for moving out of your lane.  I just about learned the hard way that they, like your car mirrors have a small blind spot.  So a glance behind before you change your position is still called for.  All in all, I feel naked without mine now.

[canalligators]

Agree, don't rely solely on the mirror for critical maneuvers.  I check with the mirror, then before executing the lane change or whatever, I quickly look.

On the tandem, we both have mirrors and confirm with each other before maneuvers.  Captain: "Going left, looks clear."  Stoker: "Clear".

[RussSeaton]

like your car mirrors have a small blind spot.  So a glance behind before you change your position is still called for.

No. Bike mirrors do not have a blind spot.  Why?  Because you can move your head in all directions and change your field of view in the bike mirror.  No blind spot with bike mirrors.  In contrast, car mirrors are fixed and you, the viewer, are also more or less fixed.  When using a car mirror you do not move around and look at the mirror from many different positions.  If you did, then you could eliminate the blind spot on a car too.  But usually you remain fixed in your car seat and just turn your head and look at the car mirror.  So it has a blind spot.  No blind spot on bike mirrors.  Your head moves in every direction when using the bike mirror and you can see everything behind you in every direction.  Up, down, left, right, close, far.  Just move your head to get whatever angle or direction you want.

Yes you should look manually by turning your head when making a position change on your bike.  Turning left, look in the mirror to see if any cars are coming up behind you, and then turn around and look with your eyes.

[johnsondasw]

My slightly convex bar end bike mirror has no blind spot.  I do not have to do a head turn to check the rear. I have been using a bike mirror for at least 40 of the 60 years I've been riding. 

[James]

I agree that if you are willing to move your head enough that a glasses or helmet mirror would have no blind spots.  However,  we are all creatures of habit, and a glance in my mirror tells me a lot, but I seldom take the time to do a complete survey of my surroundings, so effectively I have a blind spot.  I am just saying that with my riding experience of 40 plus years (one bad one while relying on my mirror only) I think riders need to be cautious relying only on mirrors.

That said I LOVE my mirror.