TXBDan

I'm looking to brigten up my profile view now that it's getting dark during the commutes. I currently have front and rear blinkies, another brighter constant front light, and a rear helmet light that slowly pulses or is steady. I also wear a hiviz yellow jacket.

Should i just throw the stock reflectors back on the wheels? I know there's all sorts of spoke lights, tape, leg bands, etc. What's good?

Unca_Sam

Lightweights for wheels. Precut 3M reflective tape that wraps around your spokes. Take about an hour to install start to finish, but they're only noticeable when you need them to be, and are also visible 360 degrees around the bike. The pack covers with dots you can add to your dropouts and helmet too.

These are significantly better than stock reflectors (which have to be just right to reflect), but if you're saving a buck, just use the reflectors.

TXBDan

Ha! I was actually at REI holding that pack in my hand last night. I wasn't quite sure what they were. I guess they are just little strips of tape. Do they stay stuck/attached well?

Unca_Sam

If you need/ want tires, you can look for ones with the 3M material in the sidewalls. There's even reflective handlebar tape!

Unca_Sam

The easiest easy to get them off is to slice them with a utility knife. If you break spokes, they go with the spoke. Last spoke broke at the nipple and i had to slice the tape off to get the spoke through the hub flange. Add long as you follow directions, they'll stay put.

FiftySix

I'm a big fan of reflective sidewall tires for night riding. Those two big reflective circles are hard to mistake for anything other than a bicycle.

Unca_Sam

Want not do bot, sidewalls and spokes?

FiftySix

Why not do both? Nothing wrong with that if one wants to.

Unca_Sam

Yes. That. Thank you. I do both on my commuter/tourer. The Michelin Protek tires are a little heavy though. I've found that Biketiresdirect.com has the easiest sorting of the online shops for tires and allows you to sort for reflective sidewalls.

chas58

I'm a fan of 3M reflector tape. I have it all over my commuter, and just put some all over my daughter's bike last night, since she is now riding to school.

You can get it in a color to match your bike - anything from Aluminum to black and colors in between. You can't see the tape on my bikes in the day. I also put a couple of strips on my wheels. I've seen these advertised for sale - but it is easy to cut them yourself.

you can get them online, or just go down to an autoparts store and get the white or red ones (or just check them out to see what they look like).

harshbarj

None really. My front and rear light are bright enough. I do use Schwalbe marathon plus tires that have a reflective strip, but that's as far as I go. But I also do only urban riding on well lit streets. Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a lot.

rseeker

I got Michelin Protek Cross (1mm puncture layer) and mine came with reflective sidewalls. I wanted plain black sidewalls but this was all REI had when I was ready to order. I'd thought I would just magic marker over the reflective strip but the more I thought about it the more I was like you know, those reflective things might not be a bad idea. I don't like the whitewall look -- I'd rather have a bike that looks like SRS BZNSS -- but getting smeared across the pavement is a bad look too, so I'm keeping em as they are.

I agree about heavy. These new ones weigh almost exactly as much as the semi-knobby WTB Prowler 54s on my beater. But I need something cheap-to-replace and sturdy for the unbelievable amount of debris that builds up in the breakdown lanes along the highway outside my neighborhood where all rides start.

AJI125 

I've been using some spoke reflectors Bezos sold me (Salzmann 3M Spoke Reflectors, Made with 3M Scotchlite, Patented Spoke reflectors for Bikes (36 Pieces), by Salzmann). I can't link it due to <10 posts.

Work so far on both aero spokes and round spokes. Very easy to install, move, and remove. Definitely light up well with the flashlight when shining in the garage, or the helmet bike light I use as I'm loading up in the dark. Also look very shiny when I peek down when riding. Not too noticable if you're worried about bike looks.

On my MTB commuter, I had bought some Schwalbe Marathon Mondials with the reflective strip built in. Those shine like crazy too. Will definitely keep an eye out for reflective tires when I buy replacements (I think the GP4000SII had the option depending on seller, hopefully the 5000 will also).

Skipjacks

This.

Aside from lights, the tire sidewalls are the brightest thing on my bike when headlights are shining on them.

commo_soulja

I use these on my bikes.

3M Spoke Reflectors

Not on every spoke on the wheel but on spokes on either side of the tire valve so that its noticeable that it's a moving wheel from the side.

Skipjacks

True story.

3M reflective tape works nicely.

I have it on my rims and all over my helmet.

You really can't see it during the daytime at all (if you color match...I have black on black so it's easy to color match)

At night it's not as bright as the reflective sidewall on a tire. Whatever they make those reflective tire strips out of it the top of the line in light reflection. But the 3M tape does a fine job of complimenting the tire reflector stripe. And up on my helmet that is 3 feet from anything else reflective, it shows up in car headlights nicely. (I'm parked my ride in the dark and aimed my car at if to I can see first hand. The 3M tape works. The tire reflector stripe works better. Actual lights work the best. The plastic spoke reflectors that come on bikes are useless and have been thrown away.)

chas58

Those Salzman 3m spoke reflectors are a great idea. I ended up making some myself by using 3m tape and a plastic coffee straw, but next time I'll probably buy the real thing. Of course, if you do not have box section rim or rim brakes - putting the tape directly on your wheel works great too (the deeper the rim, the better). I typically put a reflective stripe on both sides of my valve stem to make it easy to see where the stem is - and make the wheel reflective.

REI lightweights. I started off with those years ago, but realized the price was insane. $15 for something tiny, when I can go to an auto store and get four 18" strips for $5.
https://www.pepboys.com/pilot-automo...roduct/1746967

and yes, the white is very bright. The Black is fairly dim.
The black 3M tape is about as bright as a license plate
The white 3M is as bright as you are going to get. Well, its as bright as the white on a highway sign.

crazyravr

These.... https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
and these on the bike, on the helmet etc..... https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

noglider 

Nothing wrong with using reflective stuff as well as lights, but reflective stuff is never a substitute for lights. I have a SpokeLit in my rear wheel and spoke reflectors on my front wheel.

You can get those spoke reflectors on ebay for about $3.

Secret Squirrel

https://www.planetbike.com/store/bot...ide-light.html

chas58

my wife bought a couple of sets of these locally (came in a 4 pack). Super cheap, kinda fun and silly, and give me the side visibility that is lacking with front/rear headlights. They come on when the wheel moves.

Mine are blue. After I used these a while I realized that cars are especially cautious around me at night, because my blue rear wheel light in combo with the flashing rear red light - well, it kinda looks like police strobes.

bike light with no battery mountain road bike bicycle lights LEDS Tyre Tire Valve Caps Wheel spokes LED Light BL0157 ? Buy Bike Lights

RidingMatthew

i have black reflective tape from Tim here on the forums. I have yet to install but I think it is getting dark enough to warrant thinking about applying the tape.

JaccoW

I won't buy tyres if they don't have reflective sidewalls. Which is a slight issue if you want something a bit lighter or more like "skinwalls".
Sticking reflective tape on your bike or spokes always feels a bit like it is hacked together.

I have good experiences with most of Schwalbe's offerings and have been riding the Continental Urban GP 35-622 a lot the past 6 months. They use black reflective 3M stripes that won't show up during the day but still work really well at night.

Another fun one is the NiteIze SpokeLit, especially the disco version. They draw a lot of attention.

FiftySix

Black reflective strips on tires? I haven't seen that until now. Looks good in the daylight photos.

I'd like to see photos of the black and the white reflective strips next to each other in a night photo.

BobbyG

I like to mount a flasher on the front fork to let the light dance off the spokes (in addition to reflectors).

Last year I added monkey lights and LED shoes (I use toe clips).
(I had just bought a new rear wheel and the reflector wasn't on yet ion this video).