The Horror
For a while now I have been contemplating UK law with regards to riding at night. The CTC has a great article by Chris Juden on the current lighting regulations which, I would strongly advise you to read before cycling after sunset.
For this article, I will avoid going through the details of each item required under UK law. If you are interested in the details you should read through Chris’s article on the CTC’s website. For now I will summarise what equipment is required:
- One constant or flashing white coloured front lamp.
- One constant or flashing red coloured rear lamp.
- One rear reflector, coloured red and conforming to BS6102/2.
- Four pedal reflectors, coloured amber and conforming to BS6102/2.
The first two regulations listed make sense, as everybody knows that the most important part of night cycling is to attract the attention of drivers in order to avoid getting hit. Additionally; if you want to spend the extra cash, its nice to see the potholes in the dark from more than four feet away before they wreck your rims. The source of my reflectorphobia is of course the third and fourth regulations listed.
I am not sure when my reflectorphobia started, but I suspect that it was around 1979 when the BMX craze first hit Scotland. Until then reflectors were ‘cool’, and it was a point of pride to have as many as humanly possible on your bike. But BMX was different. It wasn’t about cheap tat on your machine, it was more about how ‘rad’ you could be, and what you could do on it. At this point reflectors became ‘uncool’.
With this in mind it was very risky to mount reflectors on your BMX as you would get called reflector boy, or even worse; your BMX would be branded a poof machine. As such; no respected BMX rider would dare have reflectors mounted anywhere on their bike. Not only this, but “having a reflector fly off in the middle of a session could be dangerous to the rider and those watching”; which was the excuse used to persuade your parents to let you take them off.
Then, during the 80′s, my bike obsession grew into that of a roadie. At this point reflectors were nothing more than weight and drag, and with my new found teenage roadie invincibility mindset they were decreed to be totally unnecessary. Besides, if Bernard Hinault didn’t have them, then neither would a highly competent pro level teenage cyclist like me (ah, the ignorance of youth).
During the 90′s mountain biking was the new thing, and once again there was no point to reflectors. Even though I could still take the bike on the road at night, they were a pain in the arse to take back off, and the mounting screw always rusted solid after a couple of months. Additionally; they were still uncoo’.
Today, I have sold off my road bikes and BMX’s. I now have two fixies and a mountain bike, and none of them have reflectors. I keep telling myself that riding at night requires them, and I can see the point of fitting pedal reflectors at least. They do grab attention of the driver using the power of their lights, and from far away. But somehow they are still uncool and still a sign of a complete novice cyclist, which is a view now ingrained in me from a young age. I have always thought that this is my own personal character flaw but the strange thing is; I am beginning to think that I am not alone.
I have read many articles on the subject stressing the good and bad, and they all argue the same practical and technical pros and cons, but they all seem to miss the point. Most of the arguments against fitting reflectors also seem weak, and I am beginning to suspect its a sign of closet reflectorphobia.
To me, reflectors will always be uncool until someone makes the killer product that looks good, functions well and stands the test of time. But for some reason they don’t exist. Why is that? Why are they all cheap pieces of plastic tat? Surely a product that is fitted to every bike at the point of sale, and is required by law in most countries should, by now, be developed to its full potential. I find this very strange, but strangely reassuring from a personal point of view.
Every other piece of equipment on a bicycle has been developed to the point of exhaustion by thousands of manufacturers. Its finely honed for its purpose and displays all the characteristics demanded by its function and environment, with millions spent every year on R&D and testing in an attempt to capture the elusive market share and build a brand name second to none… unless its uncool.
Why is it that SRAM or Shimano haven’t released the sub gram reflector, with titanium aero casings, adaptive optics and quick release mount? Why no integrated solar panel that charges your lights while parked? Its also something else to make out of carbon, but still no one has! By now you would think that manufacturers would have strived to find that killer solution for a product that not only appeals to the safety conscious cyclist of the 21st century, but is required by law.
Every year, new ideas flood the cycling market in an attempt to push forward design, reliability and function. Everything gets stronger, faster, lighter, brighter and of course, stiffer. Why is it that people will spend thousands on products that enhance the aforementioned criteria but not a single penny on one that is required by law?
I guess the entire bike industry has reflectorphobia, but at least I feel more normal.
