lostforawhile

we have a lot of ninja riders here, but they are usually out selling dope and are trying to be invisible to the police, they will paint their bikes flat black, and wear dark clothes, then weave in and out of traffic on the wrong side of the roads. quick getaway if they see a cop, they ride off, ditch the bike and vanish in the woods, cops dont even bother to look for them

nkfrench 

Good luck. There are a lot of people who are more hung up on their appearance than safety.
If somebody handed me a reflective vest before I was 21 it would go straight into the nearest trash can. I was way too worried about what my friends would think and that they might laugh at me. Most of that silliness went away when I turned 50.

There are still plenty of folks who simply don't realize how hard they are to see on a bike. I rode 50 feet behind a friend wearing black tights and a dark gray jersey on an slightly-foggy overcast day. She blended right into the pavement and the only reason I saw her was because I knew to look for her. A car traveling at the speed limit on that road would not be able to slow in time to avoid rear-ending her. Happily she went shopping and has a few hot pink jerseys that she wears often; and she is upgrading her lights.

Some other friends who are very experienced cyclists don't believe it when I tell them how hard they are to see when they wear their dark non-reflective gear/clothes at night and have a cheap blinkie with a next-to-dead battery. At least I tried.

imi

The new girlfriend is going to start riding her
12 mile r/t commute this spring. She is not an experienced city rider as she grew up in the country.

Her bike needed fixing up.
I offered to do so IF she promised to wear a reflective vest.

She gave me a nasty look, but agreed...

Oh, yes! Chalk one up for me! ... It'll probably be all downhill from here :/

cplager

Better your ex-girlfriend than the one you visit yearly in the cemetery. (You can tell her that comment was made - that ought to help the nasty look...)

2manybikes

It continually amazes me, that people don't walk away from their bike in the dark, from the front, and the rear, to see how visible the bike is after dark. Any changes I make, I always check from all directions. I walk to where a car might be and sometimes crouch a little to where a drivers point of view could be. I'll bring a light to test new reflective things. I also walk to the rear right and left sides of the bike, to test the view from an angle.
When I get to know new riders I often show this to them and we make changes with lights or reflective material to their bike. Just a few days ago I showed a rider who had his tail light on the seat post, and totally blocked by his rear rack, what it looked like from the rear. This guy lives in a city and finishes almost all his rides by going home in the dark. I moved his tail light. I also explained why we took his rear facing white reflector off and changed it to red.

Ramona_W

This site has beautiful and versatile reflective vests. (I'd love the Pocket Tails in Cotton Candy but can't afford one now.) In fact, everything here is reflective. I'm sure you two could find something more fashionable than the safety orange vests like the crossing guards wear.

noglider 

Wow. Very clever. I hope they do well.

imi

oh me gawd! Reflective vest fashion! Love it!
Wish I'd known about this in time for Valentine's Day...
Sorry, got to go to take the trash out, guys :/

lostforawhile

remember a neon vest offers almost no protection at night, has to be reflective at night, is it three M that has those super bright tapes? The only reason I have seen some riders at night, are the pedal reflectors, i'm surprised at how many serious riders dont have them, they are one of the easiest things to spot, as they appear to move up and down,if I ever get back on the road, I'm going to put an LED strobe right above my ankle on the back of each leg

yugyug

I use a Monkeysee reflective harness:
https://www.monkeysee.net.au/shopping...eysee-harness/

They are not as cheap as they could be given how little material they use, but they are great because it doesn't cover up your normal clothes, doesn't make you hot in warm weather and you can take it off and put it in your pocket when you get off the bike. Its seriously tiny.

cplager

That's also a brilliant suggestion for anybody who (or knows somebody who) is even slightly handy with a sewing machine.