Ahhhhh the Dutch! They invented the ‘Dutch Reach’ and have developed an incredibly vibrant cycling culture. A new (to us) Dutch component company called Close the Gap sent us a couple of their ‘hidden’ accessories to check out and share. I bolted them onto our Framed Basswood Groadie test bike and today we’re ready for show & tell!
HideMyBell
Last August, I became a Wahooligan, and ever since then, I’ve been addicted to the numbers that little gadget supplies after each ride. (don’t knock it till you try it) So that means that I’ve been on the hunt for GPS Computer mounts for each of the bikes in my ample and varied rotation. I also run a Spur Cycle Bell on my favorite personal bikes and I find that luxury missing on demo bikes that run through the shop. Plus there’s not really a great spot to mount a bell with double-wrapped drop bars. My Crosscheck has a sweet chrome bell that’s attached to a special headset spacer and that works pretty well. So when I saw the “hide My Bell Computer Mount, I was intrigued by both a new mount for the Wahoo and these hidden accessories.
HideMyBell is like many of the standard GPS Computer mounts that are available, but it had the ability to mount a GoPro or light and it has an integrated bell. You may be saying, what’s the big deal with having a bell? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there are one hell of a lot more people and dogs out on the recreational trails these days. People are flocking to the trails and there are lots of folks out there that are new to cycling and lots of families out enjoying recreational time together. That makes a bell an essential piece of cycling protocol if you want to negotiate a courteous pathway to your own normal every day cycling recreation.
The Hide My Bell mounts quite easily. I wish that was the case with all of the aftermarket GPS mounts that I’ve installed but such is not the case. (I’m looking at you Barfly) The mount is compatible with Garmin, Wahoo, Lezyne, Mio, Polar, Bryton, and Sigma. Mine came with the Wahoo mounting shoe already attached. The bell-tone, while being for the most part (hidden) is easy to find and actuate, however, the tone is not quite as clear or long-lasting as the Spur Cycle. The audible ring is however just as functional as the Spur Cycle at alerting other trail users that they’ve got a bogie on their six (launch flairs – evade right)
The GoPro/Light mount bolts into the bottom of the arm of the mount just behind the hidden bell. Every accessory that you can remove from the tops of drop bars means more comfortable unencumbered territory for my hands. I ride with front and rear blinky lights to make sure that cars can see me better, so having a spot to attach a light (or camera) is a total bonus that I wasn’t expecting.
HideMyMirror
Mirrors are something that I don’t see as essential equipment on most bikes. They are nice to have for big group rides or when ya have to make a left turn on a country road and you want to see if it’s (clear-back). I had a pretty interesting discussion about mirrors with mi hermano, Adam Blake. His thoughts were that we just need to learn how to ride and that’s a valid point. We all should be able to ride in a straight line and do a (head-check) over the right or left shoulder. Next time that you go riding give that a try and I bet that you’ll swerve to the left (or right) depending on which way that you are looking. In either case, that swerve, would put you directly in the path of the thing that you were looking to avoid. With a bar-end mounted mirror, I can glance down and see if the coast is clear for me to make a true head-check to make my turn or evade a pothole (very similar to the safe way to make a lane change in an automobile). I require reading glasses to see details up close, so the Hide My Mirror is just far enough away for me to see clearly.
The HideMyMirror mounts as a bar plug and fits drop-bars with a 19-23 mm inner diameter. It fit in these Easton drops with no issues. The mirror folds out and pivots into position on a ball-joint pivot. The mirror stays in place pretty well, but it moved for me when I bunny hopped. The mirror is easy enough to deploy on the roll but the one gripe that I have about the design is that it’s hard to click the mirror into the fully closed position while riding (not really a big deal). I like this thing and I bet that this becomes part of my regular everyday groadie set-up.
For more information about Close the Gap visit – https://www.closethegap.cc/
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