Leg bands / pedal reflectors
 

Hello,

are the reflective leg bands worthy if your pedals have reflectors? Is it important to wear both or the pedals are enough?

Not really; make sure you have a good rear light and headlight. Pedal reflectors are a nice addition; leg bands plus pedal reflectors is really more than you need. I use clipless pedals without reflectors but I added dots to the back of my cycling shoes.

I sometimes use leg bands for keeping my pants away from the drivetrain. It's nice that they are reflective, but that's not why I wear them.

I wear the ankle bands to keep my pant cuffs out of the drivetrain. Reflectivity is just a bonus. Get a blinkie.

I am one of the "lit up like a Christmas tree" folks. At least half of my riding is at night. I want to be noticed/seen.
Not only do I use pedal reflectors and leg bands, I am going to throw the money for pedalites/toeclips,
http://www.pedalite.com/home.aspx#selectorLinks
The biggest reason for the the bands is the 360 degree visibility. I could use a bandanna to keep my pants out of the chain.

I wear reflective leg bands at night, even when I'm wearing shorts. The ones I have are very visible. I figure no cop is going to give me a ticket for lack of reflectors on my pedals if I'm wearing leg bands.

The leg bands are reflective in more directions than the pedal reflectors. They may be brighter too. Neither is better for rearward/forward visibility than lights would be.

Do you prefer yellow or silver Scotchlite?

I don't think it matters too much.

I wear angle and wrist bands, so that when I signal, the motorist can see my arm. Got them at roadid.com

arm bands
 

I wear both arm and leg bands all the time. They also make some led/ glowing ones.

I have the Crank Brothers "Egg Beaters" pedals on my bike and that's the type of ankle band that I wear. It has a red LED and strip of flexible plastic that really glows. It has a steady and blinking mode. I generally use the blinking mode when I'm riding.

If you're gonna wear ankle bands, they might as well be reflective/hi-vis. I wear mine even with shorts. As mentioned they are more visible than pedal reflectors; many are also a lot more surface area, which reflects a lot more light. I'd recommend the 2" wide neoprene bands with hi-vis on one side and reflective on the other. From a car or with a strong light, do a test; you'll probably see that decent ankle reflectors blow away the pedal reflectors, even under ideal conditions for the pedal reflectors.

Pedal reflectors from the side = Ninja
Ankle reflectors from the side = Watch out for the bicycle!

I've noticed that for attracting attention, leg bands are better than pedal reflectors. The pedal reflectors get hidden part of the time, while the leg band is visible from nearly all-around. But they both work well (along with spoke reflectors) because of the loping motion. A reflector on the back, a tail light and even blinkies can fade into background lights, but the way the leg band/reflectors bounce they just draw attention.

Ken.

Now it makes a lot of sense. I didn't think about the side view. Now I need to decide on silver vs yellow. Thanks!

This is the ankle/wrist band that I use. You can't see in this picture but it does blink as well as having a steady mode. As I said I choose to use the blink bode.

AnkleBand.jpg
http://s716.photobucket.com/albums/w...=AnkleBand.jpg

Good 1

She has it figured out.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h.../Mreflects.jpg

Even better, get LED pedals!

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment...1&d=1253583665

http://www.glowspek.com/store/index....105a21a4e59ad4


Sometimes the moving pedal reflectors are just about all that a driver can see of a cyclist at night.

http://www.glowspek.com/store/index....105a21a4e59ad4

Any reviews?

I thought about getting some of the dyno pedals, but there is no good way to put a strap on them. I'm too uncoordinated not to have straps. Plus they are a little too rich for me

http://www.pedalite.com/

Found these, too, but I'll stick with my ankle straps.

For the most part an alert driver with functioning headlights cannot see you you are in trouble. Light colored clothing and a reflector will accomplish most of the improvement possible. I do use a blinky but do not think it adds much 'safety'. Simply put distracted or even sleeping drivers with poorly functioning equipment are unlikely to see you no matter what you do.

I have these installed these on the rear pedals on my tandem bike and they light up well at night. I think that they provide a more visible indication since they move up and down attracting attention from behind more so than a fixed blinkie. Plus these don't need batteries. The energy is generated by the act of pedalling (no noticeable drag).

I wear metal bicycle clips on my pant cuffs for daylight rides, and reflective ankle bands in place of the metal clips at night.

So, what color are the LEDs? I'm wary of any that have red LEDs, because with platform pedals it's not at all easy to keep one side of them pointed toward the rear. And red shouldn't be aimed toward the front.