No room for (rear) red reflector

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

Hi, forget the relector and buy a small rear light. One with mounting
options.

See what Sheldon says about reflectors:
http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

Life is Good!
Jeff

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

can you mount is on one of the seat stays instead?

Anto

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag?

In the past, I've installed reflectors on bags. Any reflector with a
screw mount can be used that way, by poking (or hot melting) a hole
through the bag fabric. It's best if the bag has adequate stiffness to
keep the reflector pointed straight back. Use a stiffener or washer
cut from milk jug plastic, if necessary.

On one of my bikes, I have an LED blinky with a reflector built into
the lens clipped to the seat bag. The bag has a two-sided zipper, so I
can center the zipper opening straight behind me. The blinky has no
screw thread, but it clips nicely into that opening.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski said:

Quoted message said:

I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I
had to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat
height, (I'm a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red
reflector on the seat stem.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of a seat bag?

Quoted message said:

In the past, I've installed reflectors on bags. Any reflector with
a screw mount can be used that way, by poking (or hot melting) a
hole through the bag fabric. It's best if the bag has adequate
stiffness to keep the reflector pointed straight back. Use a
stiffener or washer cut from milk jug plastic, if necessary.

An optical feature that may not be obvious, is that retro-reflectors,
as most such devices for vehicles are, use trihedral reflectors,
commonly called "cube corners", (three plane surfaces oriented at 90
degrees to each other) that return incident light back to the source,
as do glass beads in Scotchlite(R). Therefore, such reflectors must
only be facing to the rear sufficiently to expose a reasonably large
projected area to incident light.

Quoted message said:

On one of my bikes, I have an LED blinky with a reflector built into
the lens clipped to the seat bag. The bag has a two-sided zipper,
so I can center the zipper opening straight behind me. The blinky
has no screw thread, but it clips nicely into that opening.

From this, I take it, the reflector is not exactly facing to the rear
and of course it doesn't need to.

Jobst Brandt

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

Get some 3M reflective tape at an auto-parts store. Wrap it around your
seatpost, seat-stays, and anywhere else visible. Rims is a good spot,
as well as cranks and head-tube and fork blades. More effective than a
flat reflector IMO because it can be seen from many different angles.

Joseph

cut+bend a length of aluminum strap (hardware-homedepot) drill bend
blue loctite bolt and mount the light from wherever

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

I would just get a simple battery powered LED tailight to put on the back of
the bag.
In blinking mode most all the LED tailights almost run forever.
Although there are like hundreds of different types to choose from;
an amazingly good cheap one is the BELL brand ultra bright 5 LED tailight
that you can get from Walmart of all places.
The LED tailight also has some reflectors in the rear lense as well. I
typically only use the blinking mode.
All the other modes aren't of interest to me, but the single rotating slow
blink mode might be good for group rides in twilight conditions as it
doesn't irritate those who are behind you so much. They have a headlight
that isn't bad either, I like the white LED blink mode on it too as it also
lasts forver in blink mode too. The little halogen light works Ok though,
but not super bright.
Yes there are better lights that one can get, but these work pretty good
though and are cheap too.

Quoted message said:

Frank Krygowski said:

In the past, I've installed reflectors on bags. Any reflector with
a screw mount can be used that way, by poking (or hot melting) a
hole through the bag fabric. It's best if the bag has adequate
stiffness to keep the reflector pointed straight back. Use a
stiffener or washer cut from milk jug plastic, if necessary.

An optical feature that may not be obvious, is that retro-reflectors,
as most such devices for vehicles are, use trihedral reflectors,
commonly called "cube corners", (three plane surfaces oriented at 90
degrees to each other) that return incident light back to the source,
as do glass beads in Scotchlite(R). Therefore, such reflectors must
only be facing to the rear sufficiently to expose a reasonably large
projected area to incident light.

Well, they have their limits regarding angle of incidence. I've ridden
behind cylcists with LEDs and/or tri-panel reflectors pinned to
backpacks or floppy bags. The cube corners pointed way off-axis, and
the devices were useless.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On one of my bikes, I have an LED blinky with a reflector built into
the lens clipped to the seat bag. The bag has a two-sided zipper,
so I can center the zipper opening straight behind me. The blinky
has no screw thread, but it clips nicely into that opening.

From this, I take it, the reflector is not exactly facing to the rear
and of course it doesn't need to.

It's actually very close - I just double checked. The reflector axis
was within about a degree of being parallel with the ground (IOW, pitch
angle). Yaw angle (side to side) was biased about three degrees
leftward.

This bag and blinky combination behaves that nicely with no special
help. Again, if necessary, I'd have added stiffeners to keep things
focused.

- Frank Krygowski

Jeff Starr said:

Hi, forget the relector and buy a small rear light. One with mounting
options.

See what Sheldon says about reflectors:
http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

You should have both. Legally obligated to have both in this country, in
fact.

Jasper

On Sat, 15 Apr 2006 22:38:33 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Jeff Starr said:

Hi, forget the reflector and buy a small rear light. One with mounting
options.

See what Sheldon says about reflectors:
http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

You should have both. Legally obligated to have both in this country, in
fact.

Jasper

Which country?

I'm in the USA and took mine off. Until recently I had a nice compact
blinky Sigma Sport rear light. The bracket just broke and I have yet
to address it.

I don't ride at night, but if I do, my other bike has two tail lights,
front light, and wheel reflectors.

Life is Good!
Jeff

frkrygow said:

[email hidden] wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Frank Krygowski said:

In the past, I've installed reflectors on bags. Any reflector with a
screw mount can be used that way, by poking (or hot melting) a hole
through the bag fabric. It's best if the bag has adequate stiffness
to keep the reflector pointed straight back. Use a stiffener or
washer cut from milk jug plastic, if necessary.

An optical feature that may not be obvious, is that retro-reflectors,
as most such devices for vehicles are, use trihedral reflectors,
commonly called "cube corners", (three plane surfaces oriented at 90
degrees to each other) that return incident light back to the source,
as do glass beads in Scotchlite(R). Therefore, such reflectors must
only be facing to the rear sufficiently to expose a reasonably large
projected area to incident light.

Well, they have their limits regarding angle of incidence. I've ridden
behind cylcists with LEDs and/or tri-panel reflectors pinned to
backpacks or floppy bags. The cube corners pointed way off-axis, and the
devices were useless.

This is true, and it disturbs me to see loops for mounting blinkies on all
kinds of bags and clothing. This gives a false sense of security and
encourages misuse. I see a lot of riders with blinkies clipped to their
backpacks [censored]-nilly, and they're barely visible.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On one of my bikes, I have an LED blinky with a reflector built into
the lens clipped to the seat bag. The bag has a two-sided zipper, so
I can center the zipper opening straight behind me. The blinky has
no screw thread, but it clips nicely into that opening.

Fortunately my seat bag, a Trans-it model from Performance, has a nice
tight loop to hold my blinkie at the right angle. My blinkie is a Cateye
model that's also rated (CPSC) as a reflector. But when it's dark enough
for the reflector to be useful I have the blinkie on anyway. So while
reflectors are a good idea, you should also just buy a good blinkie and
use it.

Scotchlite tape is very effective. The heels of your shoes, the rear
faces of your cranks when they're pointing up, and the insides of your
rims are good places to put it.

DOT-type reflectors are great, but again, you need a place to mount them
properly.

Matt O.

If it causes problems mounting a reflector, it will also cause problems
mounting a blinkie light.

You may be able to sew a strap to the back of the bag, then mount a
blinkie there. You may be able to mount it to the seat tube. You may
be able to buy a clamp for mounting a rack to a seat stay, then get a
reflecor or blinkie to attach to that.

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

Jeff Starr said:

On Sat, 15 Apr 2006 22:38:33 GMT, Jasper Janssen <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Jeff Starr said:

Hi, forget the reflector and buy a small rear light. One with mounting
options.

See what Sheldon says about reflectors:
http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

You should have both. Legally obligated to have both in this country, in
fact.

Quoted message said:

Which country?

Netherlands. Not particularly relevant for you.

Quoted message said:

I'm in the USA and took mine off. Until recently I had a nice compact
blinky Sigma Sport rear light. The bracket just broke and I have yet
to address it.

I don't ride at night, but if I do, my other bike has two tail lights,
front light, and wheel reflectors.

I'd say the red reflector is a good idea even by day, light just for the
night.

Jasper

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

I designed my own blinky and haven't settled on where to mount it. Most
probably it will *not* wind up in place of a reflector that's clamped to a seat
stay; I don't want it so close to the bottom of the HUGE anorak (a hand-me-down)
that I wear in bad weather (too easy for anorak to cover the reflector when I'm
sitting upright). I don't like seat post mounted or seat mounted
lights/reflectors for the same reason. An additional reason is that one of my
bikes has a rear rack, which is often *very* loaded, the load obscuring from
rear view everything above top of rack and below my hips. So I'm leaning
strongly toward mounting reflectors and blinky on the rear of the rack.

With a nod to the other posters who emphasized the hazard posed by improper
mounting angle, two nights ago I saw a rider with a blinky attached high on his
back zip past my house. He was in the drops, so blinky pointed almost straight
up. I wondered if I would have seen the blinky if it hadn't been foggy and
rainy (some reflections) at the time.

Jasper Janssen said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You should have both [reflector & taillight]. Legally obligated to have both in this

country, in fact.
Netherlands. Not particularly relevant for you.

Out of curiosity - are LED tail lights legal there, or (as was true in
Britain) do the laws still specify old-technology filament lamps?

And a related question: When a person's bike has practically adequate
but technically illegal equipment, how do European authorities react?

In the US, almost all bike regulations are totally ignored. Only
terroristic-sounding frame decals are given any attention. What's it
like over there?

- Frank Krygowski

Michael said:

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

Thanks, as usual, for the great help I've been getting, Mikie

I designed my own blinky and haven't settled on where to mount it. Most
probably it will *not* wind up in place of a reflector that's clamped to a seat
stay; I don't want it so close to the bottom of the HUGE anorak (a hand-me-down)
that I wear in bad weather (too easy for anorak to cover the reflector when I'm
sitting upright). I don't like seat post mounted or seat mounted
lights/reflectors for the same reason. An additional reason is that one of my
bikes has a rear rack, which is often *very* loaded, the load obscuring from
rear view everything above top of rack and below my hips. So I'm leaning
strongly toward mounting reflectors and blinky on the rear of the rack.

With a nod to the other posters who emphasized the hazard posed by improper
mounting angle, two nights ago I saw a rider with a blinky attached high on his
back zip past my house. He was in the drops, so blinky pointed almost straight
up. I wondered if I would have seen the blinky if it hadn't been foggy and
rainy (some reflections) at the time.

What about one of those out-riggers that puts the reflector out to the
left side to help claim some road space? A day-glo vest w/ reflective
stripes is always pertty good too.

Joseph

Mike said:

Hi,
I installed a little Pedro's expandable under-the-seat bag, but I had
to remove the red reflector. After I readjusted the seat height, (I'm
a shortie), there was no room to re-install the red reflector on the
seat stem.

Is there a red reflector available on the market that I can use by
attaching it to the back of aseat bag? Can someone suggest an
alternative to the seat stem reflector? I'm stumped...I just hate to
give up that little bag full of useful goodies.

I use a blinker that clips to my waistband. Reflectors really aren't
enough to do the job IMO. On my old seat bag, there was a short strap
across the back that allowed clipping a blinker directly to the bag.
You could also poke a hole in the fabric and mount the reflector to
the bag.

There are also reflector brackets that mount to the seat stays, but
for visibility from both sides to be assured, you'd need two of them.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
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Additional issues:

Low-end Wal-Mart bikes of my experience tend to have lousy seats;
don't be surprised if you find that the seat on this one either
refuses to stay securely clamped (tilting when you hit a bump) or just
can't be ridden comfortably.

The lack of a hand brake for the front means that you're going to have
a much longer stopping distance than you would if a front brake was
present.

Before you ride the bike, look closely at the position of the valve
stems in the wheels. If the stem is angled or seems jammed to one
side of the hole in the rim, deflate the tire, reposition the tire and
tube as needed to get the stem centered and straight, and reinflate.

Remember, tires lose air slowly no matter what you do; get a tire pump
unless you have a source of compressed air very close by. Never ride
on a flat unless you have a fondness for replacing things that could
have been reused.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

On Sun, 16 Apr 2006 17:24:09 GMT, Werehatrack
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[misplaced reply snipped]

Excess blood in caffiene stream causes lack of attention to detail.
--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.