Sidelights

[Chris Zacho "Th]

Many, many moons ago I bought these stick-on, etched metal reflectors to replace the bulky,
irritating bolt on wheel reflectors for my commuting bike. They were much brighter, formed a
distinctive two-circle shine that literally screamed "Bicycle!" to any one who saw them. At slower
speeds they even had an attention getting strobe like effect.

The fact that they weighed nothing, didn't throw my wheel out of balance on fast descents and
because they were made from etched foil (Making it easy to clean the wheels) made them in my mind
the perfect wheel safety accessory for night riding.

However, I cannot find them anymore! none of the shops seem to carry them, or anything like them.
Nor did a web search turn up anything. Other than plain (read: inferior) reflective tape, that is.

Does anybody here know of this product, or a similar knock-off, and where I may be able to
purchase it?

TIA

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Zog The Undenia]

Chris Zacho The Wheelman wrote:

> Many, many moons ago I bought these stick-on, etched metal reflectors to replace the bulky,
> irritating bolt on wheel reflectors for my commuting bike. They were much brighter, formed a
> distinctive two-circle shine that literally screamed "Bicycle!" to any one who saw them. At slower
> speeds they even had an attention getting strobe like effect.
>
> The fact that they weighed nothing, didn't throw my wheel out of balance on fast descents and
> because they were made from etched foil (Making it easy to clean the wheels) made them in my mind
> the perfect wheel safety accessory for night riding.
>
> However, I cannot find them anymore! none of the shops seem to carry them, or anything like them.
> Nor did a web search turn up anything. Other than plain (read: inferior) reflective tape, that is.
>
> Does anybody here know of this product, or a similar knock-off, and where I may be able to
> purchase it?
>
Most cycling safety authorities believe wheel reflectors are pretty useless, because they'll never
actually be seen in a position where they might avoid a collision. The exception is Scotchbrite-like
material applied to about 1/3 of the inside of the rim. This can produce a striking effect when seen
from a typical driver's eye view.

 

[Chris Zacho "Th]

From: [email protected] (Zog=A0The=A0Undeniable)
>Most cycling safety authorities believe wheel reflectors are pretty useless, because they'll never
>actually be seen in a position where they might avoid a collision. The exception is Scotchbrite-
>like material applied to about
>1/3 of the inside of the rim. This can produce a striking effect when seen from a typical driver's
> eye view.

These are what I'm talking about! Except they are small metal foil strips with a reflective
microprism etched onto their surface,

They are spaced evenly around the rims (one between every fourth spoke on a 36 spoke rim). This
makes them visible when the wheel is approaching the source of light (car's headlights). In fact,
they are visible from _all_ angles. the only time they are hard to see is when the wheels are
parallel or perpendicular to the source. Of course, this is when the bike is passing directly in
front of the driver.

IOW, they can be seen as the cyclist approaches, not just before he's about to be run over. As is
the case with spoke reflectors.

"May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

Chris'Z Corner http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Neil_brooks]

Forgive me. This doesn't answer your question, but...

I'm doing a fair amount of night riding myself these days. I plunked down the bucks for those little
LED bar-end lights for my wife's bike and mine. They're really cool! When riding behind her, somehow
the bar-end lights draw more attention than the flasher on the seatpost. They also define the width
of bike+rider (perhaps giving the psychopathic driver a better idea how close they can get without
actually hitting....)

http://tinyurl.com/2pf7r

I'm also thinking about buying a reflective vest, and putting together a little cluster of LED's,
powered by a small battery pack, and operable by a handlebar-mounted (on-off-flash) switch. The
LED's would be arranged in the form of the words "HANG UP!"

I'll leave it to your imagination to determine the audience.... ;-)

Neil

Chris Zacho wrote:
> Many, many moons ago I bought these stick-on, etched metal reflectors to replace the bulky,
> irritating bolt on wheel reflectors for my commuting bike. They were much brighter, formed a
> distinctive two-circle shine that literally screamed "Bicycle!" to any one who saw them. At slower
> speeds they even had an attention getting strobe like effect.
>
> The fact that they weighed nothing, didn't throw my wheel out of balance on fast descents and
> because they were made from etched foil (Making it easy to clean the wheels) made them in my mind
> the perfect wheel safety accessory for night riding.
>
> However, I cannot find them anymore! none of the shops seem to carry them, or anything like them.
> Nor did a web search turn up anything. Other than plain (read: inferior) reflective tape, that is.
>
> Does anybody here know of this product, or a similar knock-off, and where I may be able to
> purchase it?
>
> TIA
>
> "May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills!"
>
> Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"
>
> Chris'Z Corner http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

 

[Jeff Wills]

[email protected] (Neil_Brooks) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Forgive me. This doesn't answer your question, but...
>
snip
> I'm also thinking about buying a reflective vest, and putting together a little cluster of LED's,
> powered by a small battery pack, and operable by a handlebar-mounted (on-off-flash) switch. The
> LED's would be arranged in the form of the words "HANG UP!"
>
> I'll leave it to your imagination to determine the audience.... ;-)
>
> Neil

You talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to ME??

Well, maybe not- I don't even own a cell phone. However, if you're wanting to display messages, how
about some Hokey Spokes: http://www.hokeyspokes.com/designs_and_patterns.html ??

IMHO, a bunch of reflective vinyl tape on the inside of the rim works darn well. I've got it on my
"night bikes"- and I haven't been hit yet, so it must work! It's cheap if you buy it from sign
shops ;oke this: http://www.beacongraphics.com/a7-series-reflective-ie.html

Jeff

 

[Frkrygow]

Zog The Undeniable wrote:

> Most cycling safety authorities believe wheel reflectors are pretty useless, because they'll never
> actually be seen in a position where they might avoid a collision.

There are situations where it can be helpful.

One is a non-right-angle intersection (like an upside-down-Y) where neither the bike's headlight nor
taillight point at the driver of a car.

Another is if, northbound cyclist is stopped at a stop sign, and a westbound driver is turning left,
to head south. The side of the bike is what's most visible.

In other cases, side reflectors can provide distant early warning to motorists. This might be most
valuable for kids in residential neighborhoods, who tend to buzz around randomly, rather than riding
in predictable straight lines.

These cases might not be the most common, but a little side reflectivity is easy and cheap to
install. I see no detriments to installing it.

> The exception is Scotchbrite-like material applied to about 1/3 of the inside of the rim. This
> can produce a striking effect when seen from a typical driver's eye view.

Yep. I've done that. Less than 1/3, but it's still very visible.

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and "cc"]

 

[Zog The Undenia]

Chris Zacho The Wheelman wrote:

> These are what I'm talking about! Except they are small metal foil strips with a reflective
> microprism etched onto their surface,

Ah. Halfords sell little pre-cut sheets of the Scotchbrite stuff (each individual sticker is about
2" x 1/2") in the UK, but I presume you're in the US?

 

[Zog The Undenia]

Jeff Wills wrote:

> Well, maybe not- I don't even own a cell phone. However, if you're wanting to display messages,
> how about some Hokey Spokes:

What's the betting that most of these are used to display "GET BENT" or "EAT MY SHORTS"...? 16
characters to play with, kids

 

[Jeff Wills]

Zog The Undeniable <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Jeff Wills wrote:
>
> > Well, maybe not- I don't even own a cell phone. However, if you're wanting to display messages,
> > how about some Hokey Spokes:
>
> What's the betting that most of these are used to display "GET BENT" or "EAT MY SHORTS"...? 16
> characters to play with, kids

Since I heard about Hokey Spokes from the gals at the Easy Rider Recumbent Club
(http://www.geocities.com/e_r_r_c/index2.html), I think the former is rather appropriate. ;-)

Jeff

 

[Steve Knight]

>Most cycling safety authorities believe wheel reflectors are pretty useless, because they'll never
>actually be seen in a position where they might avoid a collision. The exception is Scotchbrite-
>like material applied to about 1/3 of the inside of the rim. This can produce a striking effect
>when seen from a typical driver's eye view.

till it gets dirty. winter riding has made mine black (G)

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices See http://www.knight-
toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.

 

[Steve Knight]

>Since I heard about Hokey Spokes from the gals at the Easy Rider Recumbent Club
>(http://www.geocities.com/e_r_r_c/index2.html), I think the former is rather appropriate. ;-)

they would be kind of cool but 7oz might be a bit much on a downhill run.

--
Knight-Toolworks & Custom Planes Custom made wooden planes at reasonable prices See http://www.knight-
toolworks.com For prices and ordering instructions.