Annoyed at tire maker, who's right?
 

A bike tire distributor in response to questioning wrote reflective sidewalls on racing tires don't make sense. Naturally, I'ld like a racing tire for night riding as that is when it is cooler and more fun to ride.

My thought is some/much training is done early and late in the day, basically in twilight conditions. In those conditions, reflective sidewalls would be a cheaper solution than messing with a ton of lights.

What do you think?

you missed a category: NEVER

never is less than 10% ;)

reflectors on the spokes FTW

Duh!

http://www.discountbicycles.co.uk/ac...spokesparx.jpg

I like reflective sidewalls a lot, but they are not a replacement for lights. No way. They are very visible from the side, but not in the least from the rear or from in front.

Afaik, you can get the Challenge Gara and Specialized All Condition tyres with a reflective sidewall. My wife's bike had Schwalbe Marathons with reflective sidewalls, and my next commuter tyres will also have them.

As for lights, is having a blinky and a cheap front blinker like a Cateye El-210 that much trouble? You might have less than 40$ in those lights.

Commuting. On a different bike. Having said that, the weight penalty is near zero, so fashion aside, I see no valid reason not to have them as standard.

the marathon racer only comes down to 700x30. I would like a 700x23 or 700x25

I do 90% of my riding at night. I don't think I would like reflective on my racing tires, plus, they are only good on a profile, from the back or head on, they are useless.

gp 4000's 700x25 come like this. check pro bike kit

You're an idiot if you think reflective sidewalls are a substitute for real lights. This is in line with worthless reflectors on wheels and front and rear of bikes.

If you need reflectors on my bike to see me, please stop racing.

I said 40%, but it's actually like 70% in the winter months, and 10% in the summer months.

I just got some reflective Conti GP4000's, in 25x700 from PBK...I used them for one Roubaix style race and plan to use them for commuting and night training rides the rest of the year.

Most of the time in low light conditions or at night I ride my commuter with 700x32 tires (with reflective sidewalls). If I'm going to ride my road bike at night it gets my Turbocat headlight up front and a blinky on my bag.

If you're training a little extra bike weight you can shed for race day is probably a good thing anyway.

Sorry, but the tire people are dead right on this one.

What kind of gargantuan light system are you using?

Lights are not difficult to deal with. I'm not saying that I'd never use tires with reflective sidewalls, but those would be in addition to a good set of lights.

I have a super duper set of lights. I was just trying to remove lights from the question of reflective sidewalls. I was just trying to see how much interest there is in reflective sidewalls for racing tires. I saw them on the old GP 3000, but they had some bad reviews and was looking for alternatives.

[My passive, reflective visibility]
1. reflective sidewalls, alas on 700x30. Present wheels would accept 700x28 and maybe 700x25 but not 700x23. Next set will accept from 700x19 to 700x35.
2. reflective tape inside wheels
3. reflective tape on frame
4. reflective tape on helmet
5. reflective jacket
6. reflective gloves

[My active system]
1. front: L&M arc
2. rear: cateye TL-LD1000
3. sides: 5 led blinkers on front forks
4. sometimes I will turn on the flash back blinkers in the handlebars

I start my commute in the dark, but still think it's pointless. A headlight, seatpost blinky, blinky on the helmet, and bright jersey/vest seem to get me noticed just fine.

I just stuck some silver reflective road cone tape on my aero wheels for casual evening crits. Works better than any reflective tire ever could due to its greater depth.

A bright front light and a nice rear light is all you need.
It will cost you anywhere from ten dollars to about five hundred dollars.

Maybe half the time.

But I've never raced at night.

And the crappiest drivers never have working headlights anyways.

The most knowledgable post yet! All you need is to be seen from the rear and be able to see ahead. A car from the side should be able to see your flashing rear light plus your headlight. If they don't, anything else isn't worth the effort

If you really wanted to be seen from the side or are worried about it, you really could get those flashing valve covers. Reflectors aren't a substitute for lights.

I like the idea for when I'm in the situation where I'm turning across traffic at intersections, I want the approaching traffic to see me. Much the same reason why the lights front and back are essential. I have reflective tyres on one set, and on my old rims I used reflective tape on the spokes. Interesting fact is that when I had an accident with a motorcycle (at night) which approached me, I had headlights on, BUT didn't have my reflective wheels on, bummer.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...eca2006022.jpg


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...nuary08019.jpg

the fredosity of this thread is off the charts!

But neither are lights a substitute for reflectors. In the glare of car headlights a reflector is usually visible at a wider angle than a light would be.