Reflective fender tape
 

I'm dressing up my new SKS rear fender with some reflective tape. Any suggestions on color? I've got red, amber, and white tape so I'm trying to think of a stripped pattern that would be the most visible. Also, would horizontal, diagonal, or "up" or "down" chevron stripes be preferable?

I use the Red DOT reflectant that goes on trucks for the fenders that go behind the wheel.. Expensie and not very flexible. Solid would probably work best. It'd be great if someone did a study on this!

Which tapes are you considering?

You're kidding, aren't you. You're going to ride a construction zone bike every day?
You bought nice SKS fenders and now going to tack them up? This is to inccrease the bikes thief deterent factor, right?

Ok, got that out of my system. What color are your fenders: black or silver?

Why thinking of doing this? Only 4% of accidents are from behind, most are from sides. Do sides first and then do rear. You want help on the highest risk areas.

Remember you are talking passive lighting and this should not be considered unless you have great active lighting. To get the most bang for the buck you might consider red clearance lights on your rear supports. This would give you your rear light high and 2 lights on the sides for more visibility.

Got to go totally passive? Ok. First do the tire rims. Nothing says bicycle like two circles of light. You hope the hummer will not be centered on your tail, so the side lighting, even if only 3 degrees should be enough to reflect off the rims. You can get either silver or stealth black reflective rim tape.

Another passive idea, is to get one of those farm tractor slow moving vehicle signs and mount it on the back of your saddle. For variety, those signs are big enough, you could put a reflective skull & crossbones on it.

For the fenders themselves:
if black fenders, use stealth black reflective tape.
if silver, consider the 3M diamond tape.

If only using the red, yellow, white tape. Then the best I can think of is to alternate the red and white at 45 degree angle. After you have covered with red and white, then put a 3/16 inch yellow border around the fender.

Again this would not be dressing up the bike or the fender and would never be something I would consider as I want safety as well as messaging to non-cyclists: "you can be a safe cyclist without being a construction site on wheels".

Good luck. Take time. Easiest way to apply the tape is to put 2 to 4 drops of liquid detergent in a cup of water and after you peal off the backing wet the sticky side with this mild solution. You can slide around the tape to get the position you desire. Just press out the water and it sticks perfectly as expected.

I have reflective Yellow/Black tape on my commuter fenders and on the seatstays of my roadie.

Corsaire

Where do you people by this tape? I've looked all over for tape and can't find anything....

which tapes are you talking about? There are different sources for different tape types.

I would like to find a good supply of reflective tape in many colors.

HiYoSilver see your in the Queeeeeen City of the Plains what part of town do you commute in?

I live in the SE part and commute thur Washington Park to 6th Ave & I-25

Identi-tape I just got a roll from them. They were very easy to deal with and had quick shipping.

Edit: fixed link

Oooh, I'm going to get some of that black reflective tape for my carbon seat stays. Very sexy. Safe and sexy, that is...

Prices change all the time, do a google search. You can get tape in either strips or rolls.
For my bike, long strips worked best. Be sure to measure twice so you get the best buy/inch.

silver -- 3M diamond reflective tape
black -- stealth black reflective rim [ there is both rim and none rim tape ]
other colors-- safety reflective tape [color desired ]

What's fun is to look at some of the motorcycle or helmet reflective decals. At about 5", they are a tad
too big for me. But some may like them.



What do you sail?

You read the profile too quickly. It does not say "location: Mile High, CO". It says "a mile high, Co". So not inside city of Denver. Intersection 36 and 287. Elevation is still within 50 feet of a mile high. Our bike to work convergence point today was East Park.

It'll probably look nice but not sure how well it'll work. I bought some black reflective pin-stripping that did next to nothing for rims.

Sead0nkey - how flexible is the tape that you ordered??? I'm thinking it'd be great along with handlebar wrap.

Maybe you didn't get it wide enough. I think mine is 3/16ths on both sides, so I don't have to worry about the spokes. You don't see it in daytime on black rims, but shows best at 45 degree angle. I don't know how it works at 90 degrees. I think ok. Now I'm combining it with reflective sidewalls. Best of both worlds.

Thinking about it, your problem may be rim brakes. I have disc brakes so the black tape is from the spokes to the rim border.

HiYo,
You could be right. I ran a row of both the 3/16 white next to the black along the rim but out of reach of the brake pads on B. Race Lite wheels. Then shining car lights on the wheels at a couple of angles. The white was very visible. Black? Nada

Ok you made me work. I used this
http://reflectivelyyours.com/generic141.html
3/8" x 22 inch, it takes about 3 per rim side as I recall. It might only be 2 and some change. You'd have to figure out the circumference and figure out what you need. Or, just do as I did, price break at units of 3, so get 6. I had a tad extra that I used to highlight helmet black shade.

The black is not quite as bright as the 3M diamond, but that is to be expected. It still gives a good reflective flash back.

It could be the quality of the tape itself. I ordered from an automotive place in OR. Pulled the black off about 6mo's ago. The white has not held up under 1 yr of regular road conditions.

Edited: Neither tape was 3M-diamond

If you want not WHITE colors, go to this page.
http://reflectivelyyours.com/generic30.html

Sorry, for multi posts. This is the tape I used inside the rim. It is flexible.
http://reflectivelyyours.com/generic50.html

Look in the automotive section at Wal Mart my local store has red, and white reflective tape.

I got a bunch at the local wholesaler that supplies sign makers.

3M reflective tape works pretty well and stays on pretty good, I had it on my old commuter for a year in all kinds of rainy conditions. Do not expect to remove it cleanly in your life time.
There's only so much you can put on your bike to get surface area. It's great for SIDE visibility but for rear and especially front, stick to active lighting. 2 blinkers, one constant, one strobe, or better yet, 3 blinkers, a center red and yellow to the sides, make you plenty visible.

The official DOT reflective tape they use on trucks is something like 70 bucks a roll, for that, you can get a NR tail light, which is what I use.

I have 1 oval shaped reflective sticker on my fender. Works prety good. Also my seat bag has a reflective strip.

You can see it here (sorry the pic is like 1mb so broadband only)

http://root-core.org/pics/IMG_1354.JPG

One important thing to consider too is width.
My messenger bag is bright yellow/orange and it gives me a HUGE visible spot from behind during the day. You get more room if cars think you're wider than you are.

Second to Slyvoid about 3M tape, cheap and reliable. Found at any big box retailer. If you clean your frame or fenders with solvent before applying, the stuff is permanent- I've got some that's lasted a decade on one of my main rides.

dee-vee. The best way to tell is to park the bike at the position where you'd normally ride and then sit in a car about 2 blocks back. If the jacket doesn't have some sort of horizontal stripe, the bike may need additional lighting.

[slightly off topic]
I am struggling with front and side vis. Just came in from trying to wrap my handlebars with yellow reflexite tape purchased from this thread. Drivers are used to seeing 2" width. So if I wrap the handlebars, the bike will appear further away. Yes, it looked stupid too.


Here is a thread from last year that may have more links
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ght=reflective

I second the Identi-Tape site. You can color match your reflectors to your bike's color scheme.

They also have iron-on and sew-on tapes that can enhance your clothing and bags:
http://www.identi-tape.com/safetymisc#iron-on