Reflective Wheels?
 

I asked this in a thread and no one answered, but I seriously would like to know. I've seen a couple of pics here where the rims appear to have reflective table around them and I'm wondering if it is simply tape that's been added or if they make some 'special' thing for this.

Also, I'd like to see a picture of a bike that has that, but in the daylight without a flash; to see what it looks like when viewed from a different angle.

Anyone help me with this? Thanks.

A better search might be "reflective tires"

This is Reflexite V82 tape with/without flash:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...chBgon/v82.gif

It trims easily with scissors. You can get it from night-gear.com in small quantities without a minimum order.

Another way to get some reflectivity is tires with reflective sidewalls, and this being the road cycling forum, you might be interested in the Continental Grand Prix 4000 with the reflex (reflective) sidewall. You can get those from BikeTiresDirect.com and Aebike.com, e.g. http://aebike.com/product/continenta...r9359-qc30.htm Nice tire, rated a 25 but comes out closer to a 27 in my experience.

wow, thanks for the help. Man, with people like you around, who needs a forum; can I simply have your email address and skip all the information people here may have about these things? genius!

Great info!

what you're most likely seeing in 99% of those pictures are reflective tires. they have flexible reflective material built into the sidewall. very popular for commuter typed tires for those riding at night. as seen in this example below:

http://i3.avlws.com/565/l106775.png

I've bought reflective tape at the hardware store in various colors (usually red & yellow). I put it on my winter bike frame, crank arms & rims, similar to "mechBgon", but not quite as much.

Velocity offers a number of their rims with a reflective coating.

http://www.velocityusa.com/default.asp?contentID=747

Note that there's a very wide range of reflective performance among the different types of tape. The V82 is very high-performance prismatic tape, nearly up to the level of 3M Diamond Grade but far thinner so it doesn't peel itself off curved surfaces. Basic glass-bead tape is still better than nothing, but I prefer to use the V82.

Here's a reduced-light photo showing V82 verus 3M's cheap glass-bead stuff:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f..._Reflexite.jpg

And here's more on the various classes of tape: http://www.trafficsign.us/signsheet.html

I've used tires with reflective sidewalls, but their benefits are exaggerated. Reflective wheels can be seen, but in real life, you get so much grime on them that they really don't provide that much illumination, and certainly not enough to keep you safe.

They're better than nothing, but if you have real lights, decent leg bands, and decent reflection on your clothing, the wheels add no benefit at all IMO.

That's a good point. I do have lights, front, back, and two side-facing blinkys but I'm always looking for something more. I do a lot of riding after dark during the winter and I figure the more lit up I am, the better. I suppose I'm lacking in the clothing relection; suggestions?

You have stock in V82? If not, maybe you ought to, you just sold me. The picture you posted of your bike really was impressive. On a dark country road, I don't see how anyone couldn't see that.

I can't imagine how something that reflective spinning around on the wheels wouldn't scream for attention. I would think the only way to miss that would be if you were blind.

you'd be surprised.

btw, reflective decals on rims work best with deep sections.
box section doesn't offer enough sidewall that can be taped.

not to be a shill or anything, but these guys sell some cheap, but good quality 3M hi-vis reflective tape.
http://stores.ebay.com/discount-tapes2008?_rdc=1

I have some HED wheels and the white lettering on the stickers is reflective. I didn't realize it until I took a flash photo of it.

I have some material to experiement with - i picked up a new Vinyl cutter and got some black reflective vinyl. i will be testing it to make some black on black decals that are subtle but will show when they catch the light a certain way. I have smoe teams requesting that. There is all sorts of reflective vinyl stock out there so I will probably begin offering my decals in reflective.