The Specchio Bike Mirror Story

The Specchio cycling mirror is the brainchild of Chris Steele (above right), an avid cyclist and serial inventor. Recognizing the obvious safety value of a rear-view mirror, Chris began using one over a decade ago, but was dissatisfied with the mounting of the mirror to a helmet or glasses. Also, the large size and poor optical quality of the available cycling mirrors were drawbacks. He noticed that a cycling friend had attached a smaller mirror to his glasses. Shortly thereafter, Chris’ engineering training took over and he began experimenting with the best design for a glasses-mounted mirror. Ultimately, he landed on the idea of using twin magnets to attach the mirror.

Initially, the Specchio product was a set of cycling glasses that incorporated a magnetic attachment integrated into the glasses frame. That meant limiting the product to a few styles of glasses.  Although this model worked well for some riders, many others weren’t willing to give up their favorite pair of cycling glasses (perhaps they wore prescription lenses, or a certain lens tint, or simply loved their Oakleys!) Below is a photo of the earlier, frame mounted version:

 Frame mounted Specchio bike mirror

  

Through some brainstorming with others in the cycling glasses industry, a new idea emerged:  mount the magnetic assembly directly to the upper corner of the glasses lens.  This allows the Specchio mirror design to be used with most cycling glasses. The current product is a kit including the necessary parts to attach the magnetic mount to a pair of cycling glasses. The new design works amazingly well with a wide variety of cycling glasses.  Pictured below is the current, lens-mounted version of the Specchio mirror.