Wheel reflectors - who needs'em, right?
01-26-23, 03:04 PM
#26
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01-26-23, 04:06 PM
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01-26-23, 04:08 PM
#28
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01-26-23, 04:21 PM
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I don't ride at night or in low light conditions so no reflectors.
01-26-23, 05:34 PM
#30
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Took my fat bike out for a spin in the snow the first time this year. Took a look at my wheel and they both have their reflectors on. Regardless, I have my helmet lights and tail light on. I have my reflector vest and my reflector bands on my wrist and ankles.
01-29-23, 05:05 PM
#31
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Seems all the photos are of when the camera is perpendicular to the bicycle. Getting out in the real world, when are motorists perpendicular to cyclists, other than in intersections where one operator will be required to yield right of way?
In the OPs case, had the rider been using lights, wouldn't the lights have made the cyclist visible well before the reflector?
In the OPs case, had the rider been using lights, wouldn't the lights have made the cyclist visible well before the reflector?
01-29-23, 05:36 PM
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Seems all the photos are of when the camera is perpendicular to the bicycle. Getting out in the real world, when are motorists perpendicular to cyclists, other than in intersections where one operator will be required to yield right of way?
In the OPs case, had the rider been using lights, wouldn't the lights have made the cyclist visible well before the reflector?
In the OPs case, had the rider been using lights, wouldn't the lights have made the cyclist visible well before the reflector?
And that rider didn't have any lights on his bicycle or his person, so we'll never know.
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02-04-23, 10:03 AM
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An important rule for all road and lane users is, see and be seen. Retro reflective materials will help.
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02-04-23, 03:59 PM
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Reflective Tape
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Last edited by 10 Wheels; 02-05-23 at 10:18 AM.
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02-05-23, 10:10 AM
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Well, I've sensed a general indifference towards the humble little wheel reflector around this forum, and I've read posts by multiple users in which they say that one of the first things they do with a new bike is remove wheel reflectors. I've done the same to my bikes, but after one close call (in which I was driving abd the other party was riding,) wheel reflectors are now back on all of my five bikes!
I was driving home the other night and came up to a tee near our home where the street lights have been out for a while, and the place was almost completely dark. I turned left from a fairly well lit main street into the short side street that brought me up to the very dark tee, and I had only the 40-year-old headlights of my old Peugeot to rely on. Just as I was fixing to turn right at the tee, a cyclist came out of my right and turned left in front of me. He was wearing dark clothes on a black bike and literally the only reason I saw him at the last moment was the single, solidarity reflector he had on his rear wheel. That's when I decided that I'm putting the reflectors back onto the wheels of the bikes.
Moral of the dumb, silly, stupid ststor Those little things that plenty of people discount as gimmicky children's toys and just throw away can actually save lives. It sounds a little hyperbolic, I know, but that little wheel reflector probably saved him from a visit to the hospital and me from spending a night (or more) in a Saudi jail.
I was driving home the other night and came up to a tee near our home where the street lights have been out for a while, and the place was almost completely dark. I turned left from a fairly well lit main street into the short side street that brought me up to the very dark tee, and I had only the 40-year-old headlights of my old Peugeot to rely on. Just as I was fixing to turn right at the tee, a cyclist came out of my right and turned left in front of me. He was wearing dark clothes on a black bike and literally the only reason I saw him at the last moment was the single, solidarity reflector he had on his rear wheel. That's when I decided that I'm putting the reflectors back onto the wheels of the bikes.
Moral of the dumb, silly, stupid ststor Those little things that plenty of people discount as gimmicky children's toys and just throw away can actually save lives. It sounds a little hyperbolic, I know, but that little wheel reflector probably saved him from a visit to the hospital and me from spending a night (or more) in a Saudi jail.
(Sorry about the screen grab.) The rest of the report says that reflectors can be seen from about 700 feet but side reflectors never got more than 200 feet and often much less than that. Reflectors, in general, are not as good as active lighting but side reflectors are particularly bad.
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Stuart Black
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
Days of Wineless Roads. Bed and Breakfasting along the KATY
Twisting Down the Alley. Misadventures in tornado alley.
