French Reflective Scarves

Ah, the French and their scarves, always wonderful, always novel.

A friend of mine sent a link to Rayon Jaune (in French), a new company north of Lyon, near the Swiss border, which offers these wonderful reflective scarves. As seen above, the idea is that there is a "normal" side one wears in town, and a reflective side that's meant for while one is on a bike.

The leaf print shown above is my favorite.

This dot option is my second-favorite, that's pretty wonderful.

However, I'm not sure either of them compare to these dragon vests, which may be my favorite safety-gear yet. Is it wrong to want a grown-up sized dragon safety vest? Yes, I'm a nerd.

Reflections: Preparing for Darkness

Here is a test photo of my nighttime reflectiveness, as imperfectly demonstrated by a camera flash (rather than a car's headlights). It's easy to see that the wide strips of 3M Scotchlite on my Carradice bag and coat are much more effective than the smaller reflections created by my gloves and the sidewalls of my tires (though those certainly help in correctly identifying my bicycle as such). When riding long distance I add reflective ankle bands, but I usually forget when riding a couple of blocks in town.

Far more effective than reflectiveness is my own light source and you can clearly see that with my unbelievably bright Planet Bike Superflash. They say it can light up a small town. Seriously, this tail light is so bright my husband doesn't like to ride directly behind me. There are two other tail lights in this photo but you're unlikely to notice them. I have the main light and the helmet light blinking (when I'm riding in town) and leave the light on my fender on steadily, just for a change (and because it uses batteries less quickly than the brighter lights).

The clocks fall back this weekend, let's all be ready for the darkness!

Reflective badges

A long-time reader alerted me to the fun badges being offered at Velorution.

Sadly, these fun badges are only available in the UK. In looking at the gallery, it appears an approximation could be made with 3M Scotchlite fabric and the Dritz button kits.

I'm thinking a lot about the time change this weekend and how to stay visible and safe when leaving work in the dark. Stay tuned for more ideas and questions.

High Fashion Safety Vest

This submission from my dear friend E reminds me a bit of Karl Lagerfeld's safety campaign from 2008, though this lady is in Iceland, not France.

Isn't she fun? I love the reflective sash accent on her high-visibility top, but the bustier treatment and halter neckline are just perfect. Yes it's overtly safety gear but it's so much fun that I have to love it.

Vintage Reflector

No doubt that this entire vintage bicycle is pretty cool. However, the rear reflector was unlike any I'd ever seen before.


It looks relatively ordinary at first glance, nestled in the painted design element of the white-tipped fender, but then you see...

those are red glass beads held there, which reflect when illuminated by a flash or a car's headlights. How classic is that?

Whimsical Reflective Stars

Love these little reflective stars stuck on the rear fender for a little smile, and a little safety. Safe riding to everyone!

Start of my Ladies Coat Project

I've been envious enough of my husband's cycling jacket to be on the hunt for one of my own. I finally found what I was looking for in the after Christmas sales. Oh the irony that the perfect cycling coat is currently being called a "car coat"!

The coat is:

1. wool (blend)
   
2. light camel colored to contrast with asphalt
   
3. Thinsulate lined
4. possessing seam details I can highlight in 3M reflective tape
5. shorter in length, as my current coat occludes my seatpost tail light
   
6. otherwise unremarkable, and thus unlikely to draw attention to itself
   
7. inexpensive (yes, that factory outlet clearance sticker says $36.98)

I've been wearing the coat since the New Year and it feels strangely warmer than my JCrew Thinsulate coat. It may be because the LL Bean version is much lighter, so the same warmth seems remarkable.

In social lighting the coat does not read as anything remarkable:



Here the coat is flashed, you can see the one band of reflective tape and see all those seams where I can add more!



I look forward to getting everywhere bike and still quickly looking almost "normal" (whatever that really is).

Man's Urban Cycling Jacket

For the last year we've been hunting for an urban cycling jacket for a man. We had many criteria: light color, ease in the shoulder, amenities for cyclists - some of which had to be compromised in order to buy a jacket off the rack.

We found a good start at a Christmas-time Orvis Warehouse Sale for $35. The fit isn't perfect but it makes a good prototype. It has working buttonholes on the sleeves, which makes me very happy! It has a Norfolk jacket pleats allowing more reach and a double vent back, which is easier on a saddle.

I bought 3M Scotchlite reflective tape and piping. Now it's time to make this jacket reflective! My husband just wants a swath of reflective tape along the waistband, but that's not enough of a challenge for this crazy lady. Have any of you seen particularly clever examples of subtle and transformable conspicuity? (yes I know that's something of an oxymoron)

Here's what I've done so far:
1). Added tape along the inner edge of the cuffs such that when he folds them back there is reflection.


2). Added tape along the underside of the collar, so that when he stands it up there is reflection.

We both want some kind of reflection along the back of the coat, and just differ in how to accomplish this. Some ideas include:

1. Just sew some tape on there already! (owner of the coat's idea).
2. Add a back off triangle to the center vent back. It could snap up hidden into the coat when not in use and unsnap down below the flap when he's riding.
3. Similar to above, but using 3MScotchlite, a flap on the back that was a few inches and folded up into the jacket and folds down to reveal a reflective strip.
4. Add some more subtle reflective cord along the seam lines of the shoulder gussets and down along the vents, I'd like to add piping but Orvis did too good a job of sewing it closed. I would also appliqué a piping-like stripe of 3MScotchlite along the sleeve seams for side visibility.
5. Sew along various seam lines with reflective, but not metallic, thread (I've never seen such a thing, just heard about it, seems it's used on EMT's coats)
6. Add a soft elastic reflective belt which comes out of the front pockets and clips in back when he wants to be reflective.
7. Add a center back pocket (like in a jersey but with an invisible zipper) , the doing of which I would outsource to a tailor. If we did that I could add a blinky hanger and store the blinky in that pocket.
8. Add screen printing with EZ Print Reflecto.
9. Other ideas you might share with us?

We'd really love your feedback on this project!

UPDATE: Looks like the New York Times discovered Rapha doing something similar, but they don't have it available to buy.

DIY Spoke Reflector

I saw this gentleman, C, going out on Saturday night. I was taken with his style and particularly his DIY, extremely practical, spoke reflector, which he graciously allowed me to photograph. On the right city bike I think this would look very natural, the urban simplicity thus chic. It really depends on the bike, I can't see this with my bike...

Initially I thought this would be a good use of any old archival CDs, but then I realized that it might not get scratched quickly enough and someone could make off with data. So I think I would follow C's lead and only use CDs found in the street. Hopefully there won't be any major secrets on those!

C invited me, and all of you, to the Cambridge Bicycle Committee meetings, the second Wednesday of the month.

Finally, several encounters over the weekend have led me to the following observation, what do you think?