Use of reflective material in clothing for low light / night commuting
Namanari
Posts: 3
Hello all,
First post on the forum.
I use my bike purely for commuting, and because I'm a shift worker I'm often cycling during the night or the early morning when visibility and light conditions are poor.
I use flashing front and rear lights and have a Proviz reflective rucksack cover, but I also try to wear a fair bit of reflective material to get noticed on the roads.
It seems to me that the full potential of newer reflective technology is pretty slow in trickling into cycling clothing.
Reflective details are becoming much more common: On collars, pocket trim, drop down panels, turn-ups on jeans, perhaps a single wide band etc.
But usually it's fairly minimalist, the only brands which really go the whole hog with it are usually producing a product which is very technical-looking... Proviz's Reflect 360 range and similar. I have one of their jackets and grudgingly use it but the boil-in-the-bag effect is pronounced.
In contrast, I also have a Vulpine cotton Harrington that I use during the day and it's umpteen times more comfortable due to the breathability. I also prefer a less technical, more casual looking style - but this is probably less important to others.
Now, Vulpine has recently released a Nightfall jacket with a reflective print embossed into the material of the jacket. Everyone will have their own view on how the jacket looks but it doesn't do it for me.... It's irritating because I have no doubt it is much more breathable than the likes of the Proviz and - as a consequence - I would almost buy it despite its looks.
I'm surprised reflective heavy clothing for commuting, or cycling in general really, isn't more of a thing. If anyone has got any recommendations for anything I have missed then I'm all ears. A lot of what is out there only seems to be intended for dusk / twilight rather than full dark, and might really just be your run of the mill hi viz yellow jacket with a traditional amount of reflective detailing.
Is it just that it's a relative minority of commuters who go in for cycling at night time and this reflects that, or do you think more products in this vein are going to come on-stream?
First post on the forum.
I use my bike purely for commuting, and because I'm a shift worker I'm often cycling during the night or the early morning when visibility and light conditions are poor.
I use flashing front and rear lights and have a Proviz reflective rucksack cover, but I also try to wear a fair bit of reflective material to get noticed on the roads.
It seems to me that the full potential of newer reflective technology is pretty slow in trickling into cycling clothing.
Reflective details are becoming much more common: On collars, pocket trim, drop down panels, turn-ups on jeans, perhaps a single wide band etc.
But usually it's fairly minimalist, the only brands which really go the whole hog with it are usually producing a product which is very technical-looking... Proviz's Reflect 360 range and similar. I have one of their jackets and grudgingly use it but the boil-in-the-bag effect is pronounced.
In contrast, I also have a Vulpine cotton Harrington that I use during the day and it's umpteen times more comfortable due to the breathability. I also prefer a less technical, more casual looking style - but this is probably less important to others.
Now, Vulpine has recently released a Nightfall jacket with a reflective print embossed into the material of the jacket. Everyone will have their own view on how the jacket looks but it doesn't do it for me.... It's irritating because I have no doubt it is much more breathable than the likes of the Proviz and - as a consequence - I would almost buy it despite its looks.
I'm surprised reflective heavy clothing for commuting, or cycling in general really, isn't more of a thing. If anyone has got any recommendations for anything I have missed then I'm all ears. A lot of what is out there only seems to be intended for dusk / twilight rather than full dark, and might really just be your run of the mill hi viz yellow jacket with a traditional amount of reflective detailing.
Is it just that it's a relative minority of commuters who go in for cycling at night time and this reflects that, or do you think more products in this vein are going to come on-stream?
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Comments
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Years back there was a brand called illuminite i think - looked normal in daylight but at night under lights it was full of reflective thread. The technology was used by a fair few brands I think.
The proviz material doesnt sound very breathable to me - so you could easily use just stripes of it and then have the rest of the jacket being breathable ?
Its easy enough to add a reflective gilet thing over whatever kit you're wearing though - that gets you noticed - and slap on some ankle bands - they really light up well at a distance and show that you're on a bike.0 -
3m Diamond reflective tape works well, I have red on the back of the seatpost and pannier and silver towards the end of the cranks arms so they flash up and down.
That said a good light will show up better than a reflected car headlight!
Country lane commute in the dark for circa 4-5 months of the year.Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
Some of the Stolen Goat stuff has some pretty big reflective panels, particularly their winter tights.0
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They don't make as much out of that as they should. I know they have posted vids of excellent reflectives coming soon, and then the jackets appear and they only seem to have the patch on the back- not like the video showed ?
Maybe they're missing out ?0 -
Seen a few commuters wearing the Proviz jackets, using a small front light reversed to reflect back on the jacket.
Very effective at night.
However, the material as mentioned doesn't look to breathable.0
