Easy Peasy

Why aren't all bike painted in reflective paint or come with abundant reflective decals? Are there any cons to this idea? Cost prohibitive?

fietsbob

My Why Isn't it .. applies to micro shell helmets..
why can I not find one in all brands, with the shell

made with reflective material.. in it..

it can have color added as well, rather than instead of..

on the bike I use active lights..

SouthFLpix

Most people in the US use their bikes strictly for recreation. It's just something they strap to their cars on the weekend to get in a little workout. Manufacturers are likely not receiving any feedback from their end users requesting the use of more reflective material.

For what it's worth, I think if one of the manufacturers marketed a commuter bike who's frame was entirely reflective, it would be well received on this forum, but would probably have limited market appeal. Why? Well commuters are a niche market anyway, and on top of that much of the market is very budget conscious (college students, ect). A lot of bike commuters are on used bikes and would not easily be swayed to spend $600 on a new commuter bike. Furthermore a bike tends to last a lot longer then a car. There are still many bikes from the 70's, 80's and 90's that are going strong today.

Easy Peasy

But even folks who buy for strictly recreational reasons sometimes ride when the light falls. In my neighborhood I often see young boys riding their bikes rather recklessly in the evenings, and none don lights or reflective clothing.

CB HI

Why do I need any paint on my nice looking Ti mountain bike?

Maxxxie

It's completely uncool.

Max

VintOrbea

disagree on the age part. well at least in Oklahoma. i know it is far easier to find a car or truck from the 60s on up. there are probably 20 cars to each 1 bike for the 60s 70s 80s or 90s. I had a tough time finding any 70s bike in good enough condition to even ride around campus let alone one good enough to ride miles on. Although oklahoma also has a very weak biking interest. the only people that ride here are college students and a select few commuters. I have actually never seen a commuter

cyccommute 

Quite frankly, it's just not smart to rely on reflective materials for night time illumination. I depend on active lights and always have. Reflectors and reflective materials are a back up but should be relied on.

thenomad

I was looking at a helmet from specialized that was made with reflective shell. cant remember which but it was $60

Leisesturm

From the two main approach angles a bicycle does not present much visible surface to the eye. Only broadside is there much frame to see. It makes vastly better sense to use the surface area of the rider for passive visibility and use active visibility on the bike (flashers, lights, etc.).

H

gear

+1 Naked Ti and NO DECALS.

Cyclist0383

In many places bikes are required by law to be sold with reflectors front, rear, and sometimes on the pedals.

alan s 

You can add all the reflective material and lights you desire to your bike and attire. Having the bike manufacturer add this would detract from the apearance of the bike, and would be unnecessary for most cyclists, who only ride during the day. Personally, I don't want any reflective material on my bike. My clothing, bags and lights take care of any visibility issues. Government mandated reflectors are fortunately easily removed.

DataJunkie

It would give me something else to remove. Oh the fun!

wolfchild

I like my bikes stealthy ( flat black )... but then I am also a Ninja.

seeker333

3M Scotchlite retroreflection sheeting/tape depends on the presence of spherical reflectors, laid down in a uniform height and then coated over with a clear medium to anchor everything in place, with a clear top layer protective layer to prevent damage to the spherical reflector layer.

This material is not particularly tough compared to powder coat or paint normally used for bike finishes. If you rub or scuff it, it will diminish the retroreflective property. I'm not sure you could develop a spray application process that would match the brilliant, highly effective retroreflectance of 3M Scotchlite.

Scotchlite is produced in continuous sheet up to 1m wide. It is cut down to smaller widths and sold primarily for use in road traffic signs (your average stop sign) and LE and emergency vehicle graphics (the sides of most cop cars are covered in Scotchlite sheeting, custom printed to their design specifications). Some of the small scraps get cut down to tape width, which is what most bicyclists end up buying.

Another common type of retroreflection you see everyday are the lines on newer roads - the ones that really reflect light from your headlight at night. These are made by taking the usual traffic striping paint and adding special clear glass beads. These beads are the key to the retroreflection - each one is a tiny dish-like reflector, reflecting light back to source, from any angle. They beads are small, and look a little like sand. The paint holds them in place and covers up a lot of them, but the beads tend to float to the surface of the paint stripe and dry in the position. This is what makes those bright fog lines so bright. After a while, the retroreflection declines to a level only a little brighter than plain ole paint, as a result of traffic damage, and to a lesser extent UV degradation.

A few years ago, Krylon tried to duplicate this process in a rattle can. I tried some, it was terrible. I would have got more reflection by taking the money spent on this special paint and gluing it to my frame.

It may be possible to paint your frame with a base color, add beads, then another layer to seal everything down. However, you couldn't work on your bike in a repair stand, since the clamp would seriously damage the retroreflection. You'd have to handle it very carefully, and it would still get messed up, with no easy way to repair other than stripping and recoating. Using Scotchlite sheeting is probably the simplest solution.

Here's one my bikes. Note I left the Scotchlite off the seat tube, so it wouldn't get boogered up by repair stand. I put the stuff on fenders too, which gives you a lot of useful surface area to reflect light forwards, rearwards and both sides.

apsykes

Hi Maxxxie! Andrew Sykes sending you a message. I couldn't reply directly to your message to me as I don't have 50 posting s To answer your question, I haven't done any more touring since writing the book but have a trip planned for 2013 cycling from Athens to Cadiz in Spain along the northern shores of the Mediterranean (where hopefully it won't be as wet as it was cycling from the UK to Brindisi. I'm having strange connections with Brisbane today; the first review of the book has appeared on Amazon.com today and it is from a person called Yvette who also comes from Brisbane. I'm assuming you are not the same person! Anyway, best wishes & thanks for reading (and enjoying) the book. Contact me at https://cyclingeurope.org or via apsykes@hotmail.com
Best wishes
Andrew

K'Tesh

It would be nice to see, but as so many have already expressed, they'd just remove it. Perhaps if it was incorporated into the decals, and nothing was said (by the manufacturer), it would work for a while.

Then again, you can do it yourself if you have the time, money, and resources...

tarwheel 

Maybe because it would be ugly. One of the reasons why people choose a particular bike or car is the color. Some people like red bikes, others green, blue, silver, black or whatever. Besides, I don't see how painting the frame would add much if any visibility compared to the neon jacket, vest or jersey I typically wear along with my headlights, taillights and ankle bands. I guarantee you that my high-viz yellow vest or jacket (with reflective stripes) shows up better than a frame painted that color would.

steelisreal

aa

zoltani

+1

Burton

Which pretty much explains the issue....
Bikes in Canada are required by law to be sold with a white reflector in front, a red on back, as well as pedal and wheel reflectors. For BMX, MTB and roadies - those are the first things they want removed - sometimes even before the bike leaves the store.


At least you can ADD reflective tape - I'd hate to have to remove it! That stuff sticks like ....!

contango 

It would be cool. It would be even cooler if it had magical properties so that mud would never stick to it covering up the reflectiveness. It would be even cooler if it were entirely self-cleaning, and while we're at it can we have a self-oiling chain as well?

Seattle Forrest

You could just as easily ask why bikes don't ship with speedometers, since even some MUPs have (very low) speed limits.

jputnam

The majority of bikes aren't ridden at night, so the added cost and complexity would have no benefit for them.

If you do plan to ride at night, you want better reflective material and lighting than anything the government would mandate. (The same argument is used for lighting. Every once in a while, a proposal comes up to adopt Federal bicycle lighting standards and require all bikes to be sold with lights already installed. Inevitably, this would mean that most of the lights would never be used, and most commuters would scrap the minimum-standard lights in favor of better ones.)