Mountain Biking - Reflectors...

Should I take them off? I don't ride on the MAIN road at night, just sometimes at night on a road no cars go on. Reason I'm asking because my pedal reflector light fell out of its casing (when I hit a curb with it) I got it back in, but I don't want to bother with them. Also, on the spoke reflectors, how do I take those off, and do they cause untrue wheels more often?

I already took the handlebar and seatpost ones off.

And to add to that, I do ride on the main roads during clear daylight, and plan on going into town one day(about 3 miles away from me) for fun.

Man, that was the first thing that I did when I brought my bike home. Off of the pedals and the spokes. Mine didn't come with them on the seatpost or the handle bars. I can't stand reflectors. I took the ones on the spokes off with a pair of pliers. If you're careful, you won't mess them up at all. Keep in mind that I don't ride at night though.

Well I want to save them, and I see they have some sort of cliping mechanism inside the little circle thing.

Google won't help taking spoke reflectors off.

Get the Teutuls to help you. :) Mine had a plastic rivet that you had to break in order to remove the reflector.

Well I want to save them, and I see they have some sort of cliping mechanism inside the little circle thing.

Yep...save them. I always wonder why some think that reflectors and spoke guards need to come off...they come in handy which is why they're there...a safety thing

Anyway, don't break the ones on the spokes...use a flat screwdriver to turn the little screw a quarter turn and this will release it from the spoke. It will pop out of the hole so screw it back so you won't lose it

I have some other mechanism, no screw at all... I'll keep them on I suppose.

i'd just snap the mechanism off so you can take the reflectors out. it eventually will become a nuisance to keep adjusting them if they get lose. if you're really nervous about cars hitting you, wear one-of-em roadie construction worker jackets. :] ...but usually, where i am-the cars really avoid you. we "share" the road, as the sign says?

Take them off, if you don’t the trail will.

I took mine off the first day I got mine, They're just a pain in my opinion. If you do plan on doing road riding in the future, then yes, save them.

If you're going to ride at night, get a light, reflector jacket and some reflector tape to decorate your bike with; most of the reflectors that come with a bike will fall off if you trail ride.

Reflectors rule! All you guys that ride without them are just posers.

Because when people actually mountain bike the reflectors become trail trash quickly.

Spoke guards are unnecessary if you have a properly adjusted derailleur.
even with a properly adjusted derailleur i have had sticks "jump" into my derailleur and force the chain into the spokes

Never ran a dork disc or reflectors.

So have I.

What's the big deal?
i think the "dork disk" would have saved a few spokes

I did my first race with the rear one on. Once I took it off, I gained a whole .5 s. :)

I agree they are just a pain in the, well, you pick the body part. My first night ride I was distracted by all the shiny reflective stuff on the trail. It turns out, it was all just reflectors that have broken off and collected there, not gold or diamonds.:(

They way I see it, it's best for the trail if they're removed. They certainly aren't biodegradable (at least for our life times) and are likely to cause more injury if someone were to land on a broken shard.

I took mine off straight away, save for the "dork disc" and bought a dandy ol' set of lights..
I ride whre there are strret lights (good ones) so most cars can se me. If not, they could definitely spot my flashing red tail light.

I have a red tail light with 7 LEDs with like 7 flashing modes, I got it for my BDAY when I didn't even have a bike, go figure, I was 9 though, so IDK.

Props to anyone with the courtesy to stop and pick up a fallen reflector(s).

I have a red tail light with 7 LEDs with like 7 flashing modes, I got it for my BDAY when I didn't even have a bike, go figure, I was 9 though, so IDK.
I find that very amusing.

Well actually I HAD a bike. Anyway, I could just use that when/ if I go on road.

Ahhh, screw reflectors. If someone hits you, you can sue them and then get money :lol:

Yeah theyre really good, not for seeing where youre going, but moreso other people seeing you.

Yep, hence the term "Reflect"ors.

They don't really help with visibility though. They're tiny and dependent on light hitting them. If you want to be visibile get battery powered lights.

Ok, so how would I take the spoke ones off? I honestly don't want to break them.

Ok, so how would I take the spoke ones off? I honestly don't want to break them.
they usually have a little plastic disk in the middle you can unscrew with a flat head screwdriver

Reflectors rule! All you guys that ride without them are just posers.

Damn. Anyone know where I can buy new reflectors?

Damn. Anyone know where I can buy new reflectors?

I Fed Xed mine to you........keep watching the front door for a funny looking guy with skinny legs and baggy shorts.:)

.......keep watching the front door for a funny looking guy with skinny legs and baggy shorts.:)


Sounds like Gastro is coming to your house.

i took em off fast,
the ones on the spokes i just broke off...idk...cheap to replace if i need to

Sounds like Gastro is coming to your house.

Next time I see you, I'm gonna send you home with a pocket full of teeth.

What makes you think that spokes are that fragile?
because the chain gouged about four of my spokes which i replaced

Reflectors become trail garbage. Keep them off of your bike and the trail.

As far as spoke protectors, any rider with half of a brain keeps their chain a few cogs down on a descent or in terrain that can cause the chain to jump between the cogset and spokes. A rudimentary skill, which explains a lot of the confusion about it here.

As far as spoke protectors, any rider with half of a brain keeps their chain a few cogs down on a descent or in terrain that can cause the chain to jump
On rough descents I like to go up on the front chain ring to keep tension on the drive line. Keeps the chain from jumping to the smallest chain ring as well.

Next time I see you, I'm gonna send you home with a pocket full of teeth.

Made me LOL :D :D

Next time I see you, I'm gonna send you home with a pocket full of teeth.


Would you really hit me hard enough to knock out both of them?

Should I take them off? I don't ride on the MAIN road at night, just sometimes at night on a road no cars go on. Reason I'm asking because my pedal reflector light fell out of its casing (when I hit a curb with it) I got it back in, but I don't want to bother with them. Also, on the spoke reflectors, how do I take those off, and do they cause untrue wheels more often?

I already took the handlebar and seatpost ones off.

And to add to that, I do ride on the main roads during clear daylight, and plan on going into town one day(about 3 miles away from me) for fun.
I don't use plastic reflectors on my daily rig. Even though it's mostly retired from trailriding the method I used should pay off for your dual purpose ride.

Check the Thread
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/6691/stealthreflectorconceptnv0.jpg (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=297284)

Why did you replace the spokes just because they were gouged?
well i didn't for a couple of weeks but then i found that my wheel wasn't as strong and it would come out of true way to easy. So i changed the spokes and now my wheel is alot stronger plus when i said gouged it was almost all the way through the spoke.

btw i don' use a "dork disk" but if one came on my bike i would think about leaving it on

Sounds like Gastro is coming to your house.
:roflmao:

How could you tell that your wheel wasn't as strong?

It sounds like you needed to re-tension your wheel.
it wasn't the tension because i took my wheel into the shop and trued it a couple days after the incident.

how i could tell that it wasn't as strong was that when i would ride off a curb(about 3'' around here) my rear wheel would be bent way out of wack and since i changed those spokes that hasn't happened

Maybee you need to be a smoother rider. ;)

I snapped them off... But now that I know how the locking mechanism works(It's like a zip tie) I can borrow the non broken ones off my wal mart bike thats broken :)

Should I ever need them, that is.