Reflective tape

Symchicken

Hi folks, just started commuting again after a two year hiatus. Managed to get hold of a rather nice Spesh Allez Sport double '10 rather than my old ancient 80's roadster (which went untill the frame literally snapped).

As I'll be commuting through the driving rain, dark and general rubbishness of a busy town with bad drivers I thought it might be an idea to get hold of some nice reflective tape to make myself a little more visible from side on (important on some of the corners I take).

Also thought it would play the dual role of covering the snazzy 'Specialized' writing on the side and make the whole thing look a little less nickable.

Since the bike is white I'm going for plain white tape.

Just wondering whether this was a decent idea or whether I'm just gonna make a nice looking bike a little fugly (not that it bothers me really).

A bit of a boring post, but hell, this *is* an internet forum!

curium

I have some Continental Sport Contacts which have a reflective strip around the sides which are highly visible I found.

mike.pembo

Was thinking the same thing earlier at work, to put some reflective stuff on my backpack, helmet, paniers and lights (incase they fall off). Not sure if I would put it on the frame myself, but I think its a personal choice.
Ive put a reply on to subscribe to this as Im interested to the responses and have no idea how to get notifications without putting a post on!

Mike

ride_whenever

I wouldn't bother, get some monkelectrics instead, then you'll look cool and be visible from the side...

cougie

I have 3m diamond grade reflective tape all over my winter hack - shines up great under headlights.

If you have mudguards - you can tape those easiy without sticking stuff directly on the frame.

You can also buy black reflective tape - so you can tape black bits and you cant really tell. Good for the black back plates on Look Pedals too.

Failing that - buy some tyreflys off ebay and superglue them onto your valve caps. Sorted.

muchalls

I have a red Allez and cut out some Specialized "S" letters to stick on the bike. Virtually invisible in daylight but highly reflective

giantsasquatch

I've heard the most reflective colour is silver.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=23568

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=25108

hodsgod

Tesco are doing 3M refelctive stocker sheets for £4 at the moment, and it's in the cycling section.

Gussio

I got hold of some marine-grade reflective tape designed for use on marker buoys. It sticks like a limpet and is very, very reflective. You can get it at any chandlers.

Monty Dog

IME reflectives, particularly on moving parts such as pedals and wheels are far more discernable to myopic motorists than just sticking it to the frame - particularly to give side-on visibility. I've recently applied some of the Respro i-shot reflectives to an old windstopper jacket for winter use - once ironed-on there's no way it's going to come off and it washes well - applying it to the ankles / back of calves on tights is very noticable.

cougie

I've got strips on the back of my look pedals - where the good old reflectors would have been, and down the edges of my cranks too.

Hard to put reflectives on wheels where they will be seen - unless you have deeper rim wheels.

The old school spoke reflectors are probably best for this - and you can get tyres with reflectives around the side.

bompington

I've got an idea, how about a plastic disc on the wheels? You could fit one in between the cassette and the spokes on the rear wheel, that would look really cool...

amaferanga

bompington wrote:

I've got an idea, how about a plastic disc on the wheels? You could fit one in between the cassette and the spokes on the rear wheel, that would look really cool...

Or even better these.

Mapman

Black respro reflectives on the inside ,outside ,and upper edge of black mirage cranks . Can hardly see the tape ,but a moving part that reflects well under lights . Have also added tape to toe cap and rear of shoes ,

priory

I have white reflective tape on the mudguards of all my bikes because it is much more effective than colours. There was a time when the back mudguard was expected to have a big white stripe . My newest mudguards were sold with reflective tape built in along the sides.

However, today i was reading the rvlregs (which I have not done for a while. I gave up worrying about it when the latest amendment failed so badly to address the led problem).

It seems to me that, facing to the rear, only red reflective tape is allowed in these regs..
Please tell me I have got it wrong.
They try to get cyclists and pedestrians to wear reflective stuff, many wear hi-vis vests. Why not put it on the bike?

TerryJ

Pross

The problem with white at the rear is that it can confuse drivers on which direction you are going but at the same time IME it attracts the attention more than anything if it is on a moving part.

cougie

Ignore the regs. What colour are/were pedal reflectors ? Amber.

What colour is the reflective trim on bike kit/shoes/running kit/hi viz waistcoats
? Silver.


In practice nobody is ever going to get pulled over on 'having funny coloured reflectives'.



Get as much tape as you can is my advice.

0scar

Check this out!

http://www.doobybrain.com/2008/12/17/wrapping-a-bike-in-scotchlite-680-reflective-vinyl/

The vinyl's quite expensive (about £12 for an A4 sheet) but I really like the idea of covering the frame/forks with black and picking out the logos in silver. I did the seat stays, pin and forks on my old commuter and it looked great.