I am a MTBer who just bought a roadbike for conditioning purposes. If you have reflectors on your MTB, you will get beat up and have your lunch money stolen. I think my reflectors look stupid on my road bike, but since I am on the road, am I supposed to leave them on?
Are reflectors bad?
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Now that you are a roadie, you must conform to certain fashion standards, and that means you are required to remove the reflectors. I'm afraid there is no choice in the matter.JAragon said:
Unless you are going to ride at night, you don't need them If you do ride at night, you'll want lights, not reflectors, because reflectors only work when light hits them. That may be too late.
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... legally, local (and I suspect most US jurisdictions) law requires certain reflectors on any "bicycle"... That said, no, I don't have them on any machine save my cafe cruiser...
It's more a matter of weight (yeah, I know it's small but on wheelz, it's rotational mass) and the true relative efficiency of reflectors per se.
Again, locally, you are not only required to have reflectors, but when riding after dark, both a headlight and some type of "tail" light as well, owing that reflectors are marginal at best in allowing someone else to see you at night (not only do you have to be illuminated by some other light source, whoever is looking has to be cognizant to recognize the reflection as a bicycle... or at least, something to avoid... which in my experience... is rare). Indeed, I'm sure that a Google search will reveal part of the litigious side of their use (I believe that Huffy or some such was sued because, even though the bike was equipped with reflectors, no body told the stoopid ass'd parents that that wasn't enuff for junior to go riding after dark... in traffic).
Again part deux, locally, I've never seen nor heard of it being enforced, though I suspect that as part of an accident report and/or citation, it might come to bear... but not as a matter of course.
Since most of my riding is during the day... virtually no reflectors on most of my machines (I do put a bit o 3M tape on my helmet... and one set of CXP30s have 3 blobs of 3M equally spaced on the deep section of the rim)... and those that I ride after dark, are light shows (homemade 55watt headlight and a combo of Xenon and LED tail flashers).
It's more a matter of weight (yeah, I know it's small but on wheelz, it's rotational mass) and the true relative efficiency of reflectors per se.
Again, locally, you are not only required to have reflectors, but when riding after dark, both a headlight and some type of "tail" light as well, owing that reflectors are marginal at best in allowing someone else to see you at night (not only do you have to be illuminated by some other light source, whoever is looking has to be cognizant to recognize the reflection as a bicycle... or at least, something to avoid... which in my experience... is rare). Indeed, I'm sure that a Google search will reveal part of the litigious side of their use (I believe that Huffy or some such was sued because, even though the bike was equipped with reflectors, no body told the stoopid ass'd parents that that wasn't enuff for junior to go riding after dark... in traffic).
Again part deux, locally, I've never seen nor heard of it being enforced, though I suspect that as part of an accident report and/or citation, it might come to bear... but not as a matter of course.
Since most of my riding is during the day... virtually no reflectors on most of my machines (I do put a bit o 3M tape on my helmet... and one set of CXP30s have 3 blobs of 3M equally spaced on the deep section of the rim)... and those that I ride after dark, are light shows (homemade 55watt headlight and a combo of Xenon and LED tail flashers).
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LEGALLY, some US department of something requires that bike shops selling bikes cannot remove the reflectors. It'd be like a car dealer disconnecting the buzzer that tells you to fasten your seat belts. Supposedly it's "safety equipment."
State law may vary from state to state, but there's no law in most states that says you have to have reflectors. State laws generally have lighting requirements for riding at night. Here that's a headlight on the front and a reflector in the rear -- which is no where near enough.
I have an MTB I ride at night in the neighborhood. It's got the reflectors that came stock on the bike: wheels, pedals, front and rear. I also wear a reflective vest, and run a headlight and a strobe flashing tail-light.
I value being seen at night more than I value looking cool.
But the road machines I ride in the daylight don't have any of that crap.
State law may vary from state to state, but there's no law in most states that says you have to have reflectors. State laws generally have lighting requirements for riding at night. Here that's a headlight on the front and a reflector in the rear -- which is no where near enough.
I have an MTB I ride at night in the neighborhood. It's got the reflectors that came stock on the bike: wheels, pedals, front and rear. I also wear a reflective vest, and run a headlight and a strobe flashing tail-light.
I value being seen at night more than I value looking cool.
But the road machines I ride in the daylight don't have any of that crap.
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Well,, the origonal question, I belive was "what do thaty hurt?"
#1 The weight natzies lock yo up.
#2 They look totaly dorky, the "Geek Squad" will recruit you!
#3 Yes, if you keep them on, I will beat you up and take your lunch money!
The only good they are is for riding at night. I can't think of how many wanna-be cyclists I almost wiped out riding at night on their 'mart bikes, because they had removed all but their pedal refectors, and were dressed in black! YEs, had it not been for that amber glow pumping up and down........
#1 The weight natzies lock yo up.
#2 They look totaly dorky, the "Geek Squad" will recruit you!
#3 Yes, if you keep them on, I will beat you up and take your lunch money!
The only good they are is for riding at night. I can't think of how many wanna-be cyclists I almost wiped out riding at night on their 'mart bikes, because they had removed all but their pedal refectors, and were dressed in black! YEs, had it not been for that amber glow pumping up and down........
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OMG!! 55 watts?Akirasho said:
That would light up previously unseen parts of the moon.
G
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·Well, it doesn't matter to me if you look stupid or notJAragon said:
I use lights - solid on white light in the front (3 leds) and a blinking red light in the back (also 3 leds) for riding around dusk. Both have 180 degree visibility.
Occasionally I wish I could mount police cruiser lights on my head. Yeah I'd look like bullwinkle the moose, but it would be worth it just for those bozos who think they can make the turn into their driveway just b/4 me as I come down a hill at ~30mph squeezing white knuckle hard on my breaks so I don't T-Bone the car. I used to come down some hills faster, but I can't believe how dense these #@$%! drivers are, and I'm afraid they are going get me killed.
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Not bad... But not good, either. Okay, there's weight, aero and dork factor, but none of those things amount to enough to warrant taking them off, provided they were useful.JAragon said:
The thing is they're mostly not useful. The ones on the wheels only work to let you be seen from the side, and there's not a lot of usefulness there. If you're pulling out in front of people, you're going to get hit reflectors or not. The ones on the seat and bars are too high to catch a car's headlights well, and the red rear absorbs too much light. The mass of the rider is usually seen before the reflector is, even in the dark. Those goofy yellow ones on platform pedals are the most useful ones that come 'stock.' They're in the right place to reflect, the right color to reflect well, and distinctive enough to be noticed. And they're not on any bike worth riding.
Strip 'em all off. Add bits of reflective tape to your rims (not on the braking surfaces, please) and don't miss putting some on the flats between the spokes. If your pedals have a back surface, a spot there isn't bad, either. The reflection from good reflective tape is much better than any of those plastic things, and the rotating strobe effect demands to be noticed. And one of those LED tail lights that dances and wiggles ain't a bad idea, either.
Of course, leaving them on is a stealth racing tactic. Kinda like pulling up to the drag line in a Kia with a V-8 crammed under the hood.
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Hey, around me, there's some old guy who collects cans, and his wheels have about 20 reflectors on each. Send 'em to him........
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Yup. Everytime somebody in your neighborhood buys a new bike, he gets to add a few more.Dave_Stohler said:
That and the plastic disc on the rear wheel...
Thanks to a recent theft (and good insurance) I just got new road and mtn bikes. On my first two rides on the mtb I kept hearing this awful whistling noise, almost like rubbing your finger along a crystal glass. It was driving me crazy. All I could think of was the disc brakes, or something else expensive.
Totally unrelated, I stopped along the trail and decided to take off the reflectors and that stupid plastic disc on the rear wheel.
Of course, that's what was making the noise.
Thanks to a recent theft (and good insurance) I just got new road and mtn bikes. On my first two rides on the mtb I kept hearing this awful whistling noise, almost like rubbing your finger along a crystal glass. It was driving me crazy. All I could think of was the disc brakes, or something else expensive.
Totally unrelated, I stopped along the trail and decided to take off the reflectors and that stupid plastic disc on the rear wheel.
Of course, that's what was making the noise.
Always remove them
Eliminate your dork factor by 400 percent, throw them away, really. Your better off with good quality reflective tape and LED lights for your bike. I use the red and white reflective tape that is used on truck bumpers, just the white portion. It illuminates better than those cheesy reflectors. Don't know the brand or description, my company buys it and never uses it. It runs about 4 inches wide. You may find it at U-Line products or at a marine outfitter.
Eliminate your dork factor by 400 percent, throw them away, really. Your better off with good quality reflective tape and LED lights for your bike. I use the red and white reflective tape that is used on truck bumpers, just the white portion. It illuminates better than those cheesy reflectors. Don't know the brand or description, my company buys it and never uses it. It runs about 4 inches wide. You may find it at U-Line products or at a marine outfitter.
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