Reflectors - to keep or not to keep?

[BethG]

Reflectors may be brighter than a light, but they're only visible if light from something else hits it. At the right angle.

Not saying scrap them, but if you're on a road at night, lights/flashers are the way to go.

http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

[Flur]

After reading the posts in this thread and a number of others that came up in my search, I've concluded that to be seen it's good to have a lot of both. That's the route I'm going.

I know that 3 hokey spokes per wheel are needed to have consistent color all the way around the wheel, but I would think one is enough to been noticeable to drivers. Has anyone tried with just one per wheel?

[SadieKate]

After reading the posts in this thread and a number of others that came up in my search, I've concluded that to be seen it's good to have a lot of both. That's the route I'm going.

Except for hokey spokes, lights don't show very well from the side. I've seen riders that looked liked Xmas trees from front and rear from the lights, but turned to cross the road and disappeared. I agree, you need both.

I think you have to judge how much of each to place front/rear and on the sides based on your riding conditions. No street lights can mean fewer lights are needed but reflectors don't work. Lots of street lights may mean you need more of everything.

[Eden]

Reflectors may be brighter than a light, but they're only visible if light from something else hits it. At the right angle.

Not saying scrap them, but if you're on a road at night, lights/flashers are the way to go.

http://sheldonbrown.com/reflectors.html

I don't think anyone is saying go out without any flashers and while it is true that reflectors only work at a certain angle a number of reflectors at different places on a bike are WAY more effective than any flashing light I've ever seen. Flashers tend to only be very visible in no light situations. If you ride like me, mainly in city conditions with street lights and lots of cars, flashers tend to disappear - even the ultra bright one. And of course it also runs true that flashers are also only visible if they are placed well, not blocked and many are only viewable from certain angles.......the same as reflectors.

A bunch of us tested lots of our own different set ups last year, both in true dark (well as close as you can get in a city) and with car/suv headlights, with the headlights behind and from the side - many of us were quite concerned about being visible to cars not just from the front and rear, but especially from the side. We made some surprising observations. I'll tell you flashers alone really don't cut it. I was quite surprised at how dim my very bright flashies looked from even a modest distance (I have 4 - 2 Knogs on my messenger bag, a very bright taillight and Cateye led front flasher). Even the Planet Bike Superflash is nothing compared to well placed reflectors.