I understand it’s there for safety, but I rarely ride at night, and I’ve noticed that most other cyclists don’t seem to use one. What are your thoughts on this?
by Narocan24
I understand it’s there for safety, but I rarely ride at night, and I’ve noticed that most other cyclists don’t seem to use one. What are your thoughts on this?
by Narocan24
9 Comments
Reflectors don’t do much, lights on the other hand do a lot
I work at a shop.
Every single bike we build comes with reflectors for both wheels, the front of the bike, and the back of the bike. And, kids bike’s come with a bell.
They are required by law to be sold with a complete bicycle in the United States. We usually don’t install them on bikes that are clearly meant for enthusiast or entry level sport riders, for example this bike here.
Typically what we do is leave all that crap off the bike, but we provide it to the customer with their owners manual or whatever else the bike comes with.
I don’t ride with reflectors on any of my bikes. If I need to be visible at night, I use lights.
The off-center weight of a reflector does produce a bit of vibration at speed believe it or not. If you have a rear wheel reflector and a bike stand this is pretty easy to test and verify. It surprised me the first time I saw it.
Imo replace that with spoke reflector tapes. These things really make it hard to diagnose things like rotor rub.
You might just want to check local regulations, for us there’s a legal requirement for front and rear reflectors but not wheels reflectors. But it could be mandated elsewhere .
It’s never an option to keep it on. Lose it.
Those and the dork discs must be removed immediately or the bike will self destruct
Remove it.
Take the reflector off AND the dork disc