Need advice - spoke & reflector issue
This morning, I commuted as usual 6 miles in to work. Right before I got into the driveway at my workplace, I rode over a dip in the concrete that is more pronounced than most (cars and trucks sometimes scrape rear bumpers if they take it too fast). I must have hit it pretty hard/fast (and my rear panniers were both jammed and heavy), because I knocked my rear spoke reflector loose. It gave a click-click-click, and when I soon stopped the bike I found that it was loose.
I looked at the front one for comparison. The back one seems much looser, but I can still wedge it into the spokes if I want. Both slide on the spoke they are attached to and wedge for stability, it seems. The back one is noticeably easier to slide now. I don't know much about spoke reflectors other than that they help with nighttime visibility. I looked the spokes themselves over and didn't see any problems.
I need to decide whether to take the reflector off before my afternoon commute in 5 hours, with some kind of wrench I suppose, and just replace it with a new one when I get a chance (prior to my next nighttime ride), or if I want to wedge it back in and use it as is. Since I am a larger individual, I am more concerned with spoke integrity than reflectors or trying to save a $2 part. But I wanted to float the question here and get feedback. I don't know any of the specifics about how many spokes, etc., I have on the wheels, and I have not had any spoke issues to date. I just don't like the idea of wedging anything tighter against the structural component that is carrying my weight. Any thoughts, anybody have a similar experience to share? I'm leaning towards getting it off the spoke without damaging the spoke, and looking for a new one sometime soon. Is that being overly cautious? Thanks!