i knew there was a study about this
Drivers saw riders wearing a reflective vest and reflectors on their ankles and knees 90 per cent of the time.
pretty interesting article.
Nothing new. Reflectors on pedals might be geeky but they’re seen from miles away as the rotation will catcha motorists eye. And I think reflective strips on helmets is cheap and very effective too.
For Melbournites, Whitworth Marine & Leisure stock adhesive 3M Scotchlite tape. This is SOLAS tape, srs bsnss compared to regular reflective stuff.
Small squares at cardinal points on your rims will make them very visible in headlights, and not that noticeable at daytime.
https://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?item=85743&search123=reflective&intAbsolutePage=1
And as Rolly mentioned, moving items like cranks / pedals / shoes are the best place for reflectors to be noticed.
I have reflective tape on the inside of my crank arms, plus the heel of my Sidi’s are reflective and on the inside of my Levi Commuter jeans there is reflective tape that shows when they’re cuffed, however…(!) none of this mattered when the douche in an Audi forgot to give way at a roundabout on the way home.
But, the reflective tape is cheap and pretty effective.
I saw someone w reflective rims the other night. They were great in that the bike was very visible. Anyone know what they might have been?
I think Velocity made some reflective deep V’s
(also available on several other of their rims according to this)
and there are plenty of tyres with reflective bands on the sidewalls
just in regards to the general qualities of reflective substrates, the reason it wears off on larger surfaces that move in multiple directions (ie, fabric) is the nature of the reflective material. it’s made of tiny bits of glass impregnated into a clear carrier and thus by its nature will destroy itself if moved around a lot. this is why jackets etc only have small strips/areas of reflective. cos these areas move much less than a full panel of a garment.
i was wanting some custom reflective stuff on my BOgear bag but dave hasn’t been able to source it in sheets. reckon that’s why jamie, it’s too likely to kill itself if in a large piece?
don’t really know about sourcing it. Nike clearly were able to find large amounts of it.
obv BOGear don’t have the clout of Nike in terms of accessing bolts of reflective fabric from 3M, does he have an account/contacts with 3M?
i have no idea who else makes it apart from 3M.
my knowledge of product only extends to the stuff i see through work, which is self-adhesive and designed to be stuck onto hard, flat surfaces. i stuck some of the highest quality stuff onto my Ortleib backpack when i first got it and even that started cracking quickly.
could the reflective bits on your BOGear bag be done with using strips of the fabric you can get in rolls?
i was wanting the BO logo in reflective taping, but dave can only get it in straight strips. he’s been asked for it a few times apparently. no idea who he has accounts with etc, but we agreed on a different design for the reflective stuff, i’ll post pics once i get it (but it’s all straight lines)
Have been looking into this, because, I figure, if I’m going to buy some tape it may as well be the brightest.
Seems that diamond grade is quite a bit better at retroreflecting than SOLAS tapes:
I believe part of the reason for this is that the 3M SOLAS tape is a bead type and diamond grade is a prism type. The SOLAS rating may have requirements beyond retroreflectivity. These may be of interest to some:
What is the Difference Between Glass Bead and Prismatic Reflective Tape? | All About Reflective Tape
3M US: Traffic Safety - Types of Reflections
3M US: Traffic Safety - Retroreflective Technologies
As far as I am aware, this pic does not include 3M diamond grade, but the reflexite (clear winner) is a prism type:
http://www.mahonkin.com/~milktree/hawk/reflector-pics/
3M have another new product which uses are cubic prisms - this is supposed to be better again… not sure if they have a tape though.
EDIT:
Found it… Advancedroadsigns.com.au
It’s a ~50m roll… would be happy to buy and sell off per metre if there is enough interest
the diamond type stuff is what we use at work and that gets used for navy/fire-fighting/road sign applications.
tis the shit.
but really, any reflective stuff is pretty effin reflective. i’ve got some cheaper reflective stuff on my bikes and also some of the diamond grade. both are effective. got a big ass strip of the diamond on the headtube of my beater and if a car can’t see that they shouldn’t be driving
Style master:
Should have asked me a few months ago Steph, I can get rolls of this shit from my ship. Probably not anymore due to budget cuts, but I’ll sus it out tomorrow. It also leaves bulk sticky goo should you ever wish to remove it.
SOLAS = Safety Of Life At Sea. I believe it needs to be reflective to both visible light and RADAR.
Anyway, I’ve got some diamond grade 50mm wide tape in red, yellow and white. [Edit: Posted in the For Sale area for anyone who wants some. http://www.fixed.org.au/forums/f6/stick-reflective-tape-red-white-yellow-23256/]
Also, for the OP, this sounds similar to what you were after:
Wiggle | dhb Signal Jacket 2011 Cycling Waterproof Jackets
SOLAS requirements do mention a RADAR reflector, but it is quite different to the light reflector.
I’ve got that jacket. It’s good, but I wouldn’t say it was particularly reflective.
Yeah, Rhys, would be great if you could snag some!
That jacket looks pretty good. Decent price too.
Hey hipsters, I got a big ass roll of the 3M stuff. It cost big bucks. 8910/9910 is product code. Machine washable, ironable even apparently. It’s the good shit…did a test at the farm a while back and could light it up from the end of 10 acre paddock…Been selling 2 x 50mm velcro fastened pigeon bands for 10 bucks posted, but if any one wants something else PM me.
I have one of these … no kidding. Actually Mrs. Spirito has one of these that i bought for her when she was commuting by bike for the first time. She resented wearing it but agreed it was very visible and easy to wear over anything whether summer or winter. She got lots of comments from cyclists and motorists, most of them smart ass. Of course, now I’m commuting she’s dug it out and she made me wear it using the same argument I had with her. I only wore it a few times. It is visible … I’ll wear it if it’s really rainy but otherwise I can’t do it.
You might have to post a pic… I have no idea what that is. Can you post a link to the product on the 3m site?
If you don’t haves any DHB gear yet, I can recommend the quality/fit. I really like their gear.
I don’t blame you. It’s a good idea, and it sure would be visible, but there must be a better way!