I keep mine adjusted so I can see whats in the lane next to me. If I want to see whats behind me, I lean over & look in the mirror. Yea, they are narrow, but I have no prob utilizing them effectively. I like the fact that nothing can sneak into either flank without moving across a mirror.

I must say, that after riding sportbikes most of my life, these are the best mirrors ever.  They don't vibrate everything into a blur, they're easily adjusted, they're big, excellent optics, I could go on.

Experiment around with different setting and find the one you like.  Mine are adjusted differently from left to right, as to cover all the angles.  My only wish is to have the same braking power as a rocket.  Oh well..

flcruzr wrote on 08/08/08 at 20:39:35:

The curse of being a Technician.....

I am under 21 inches across, laying on the floor shirtless between two wine boxes.  My mirrors are 24" apart to the inside edges of the glass, 34" to the outside (they are 5" wide)  My mirrors are adjusted to see an inch or two of shoulder and I can see the corner of the porch 12 feet directly behind me in both mirrors.

Elbows are held out wider than shoulders.  If you are wider and/or taller than me you may need to move the mirrors out and/or up.

In normal city riding I am checking my mirrors, plural as in both, roughly every five seconds.  Noone sneaks up behind be.  Noone races past without my knowing they are coming.  If I have been tracking someone in my mirrors and lose them I will do a head check to verify that they did indeed turn off/stop.  Mirrors will tell you if someone IS there.  They cannot tell you that no one is there.

I want to know where everyone is around me at all times.  I trust them as far as I can throw them, and I can't throw a car very far.