Originally Posted by
rekmeyata
Combine that with a high vis neon green safety vest and ankle reflective straps and you don't need all the weird reflective stuff attached to your bike...unless you want to, it won't harm anything but I doubt it would do anything more since reflectors only work if the light hitting it is at the right angle. Reflectors tape on the bike frame and wheels looks great in the photos because their intended to look great in photos, but in real life the angle is rarely that perfect like the photo demonstrates and thus reflectors sometimes are almost ineffective. You can drive at night with your car and drive down a street with cars parked on the side, and most of the reflectors barely illuminate then add rain to the mix and see what happens. I've come up behind cars at night without the rear lights working and would never see the tail light reflectors till your about 8 feet from them! Heck I saw the car's mass before I saw the reflectors!! Well if your moving at 45 in a car that same thing happens with a cyclist in front of you...you may hit them.
I read that as a direct challenge. OK, You're on.
I went out tonight took several pictures of my bike (sorry, I only have dry conditions) from several distances in real world locations.
Residential Street 1/4 block, crossing
Residential Street 1/4 block, from behind
Residential Street 1/4 block, oncoming
City Street crossing 2/3 block away
City Street from behind (10X zoom)
For this test, I stuck with my commercially available lights for under $50USD each (the PB 5LED Beamer and the Superflash both on steady). My camera's flash is burned out, so the images with the bike illuminated was either with ambient light or my NR MiNewt X2. I couldn't find someone to assist me, but I think the images are pretty clear, lights alone don't come anywhere near the visibility as lights with reflective films applied when a light is shown across it.
Some other points... Passive reflectivity from applied retro-reflective films don't get lost, and don't ever need to go through a clothes washer, they don't make you too warm, and don't weigh much.
As for car's reflectors, I'll agree with you, they're a joke. Those hard plastic prisms are very directional, and don't give as good as they get. I hope to test again in daylight and in with dark/wet conditions when I get a chance.