Author Topic: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?  (Read 17995 times)

Danneaux

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Re: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?
« Reply #30 on: March 13, 2013, 03:51:59 AM »
Hi All!

I have posted a video of the spoke reflectors in action (rear wheel) and static (front wheel) on my YouTube Channel, TheSherpaRider: http://youtu.be/NOxhVRqw2bI

This video shows the 3M 80mm spokes reflectors mounted on the wheels of my matte black Thorn Nomad Mk2. Light source was a single-point Dorcy 145 lumen LED wearable headlight at 8 meters. There are 32 reflectors on each wheel.

Even off-axis with this low-power source, the reflectors are very noticeable.

The spoke reflectors are much brighter in the beam of car headlights, but this gives some idea of the "band of light" that is created when the wheels spin.

Best,

Dan. (...who thinks his sister was pretty terrific for providing motive power to the Nomad's rear wheel for the video)

Andybg

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Re: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?
« Reply #31 on: March 13, 2013, 06:23:01 AM »
Thanks for the thorough review on them Dan including the video (top marks for using multimedia in your presentation). Certainly look like you get plenty of bang for your buck.

Will definetly be adding a set to the Nomad - We have very little traffic here - especially at night - which is sort of a double edged sword: I can go out and ride 60km at night and not see another vehicle on the road but on the other hand the rare car user is expecting the same and not really looking out for or giving any attention to other road users.

It is one situation where am going to pay for having 40 spokes per wheel!

Pass on my regards and thanks to your sister

Cheers

Andy

Andybg

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Re: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?
« Reply #32 on: March 13, 2013, 06:22:42 PM »
Bought 3 packs of 36 so 80 for the bike and few spares for a rainy day

Andy

Danneaux

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Re: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?
« Reply #33 on: March 13, 2013, 06:45:26 PM »
Yay, Andy!

I hope your experience will be as positive as mine so far, and I hope the long-term prospects will be good for each of us. I have done some experimenting with the spares I have, and found severe "road smut" (road oil, dirty rainwater, and a mix of chain oil) can damp the reflectivity somewhat, but a removal and dousing in liquid dish soap and a quick round in the ultrasonic cleaner and they came up as-new once again. Hopefully, this will bode well for long-term use.

As for Jim's troubles with tire levers, I can surely see the potential for conflict between the reflectors and the tire levers. I played some this morning, and found I could simply slide the little reflective tubes further up the spokes. I generally don't use tire levers at all, and when I do, I never hook them over the spokes, so I hadn't run across this possible shortcoming myself. Another good example of how out collective experience is a terrific resource for finding problems and solutions we might not have found so readily on our own. Thanks for spotting this one, Jim.

All the best,

Dan.

Andybg

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Re: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?
« Reply #34 on: March 13, 2013, 06:48:49 PM »
Ultrasonic cleaner? Is that the posh version of shaking the tin really quickly?

Does it work on cleaning chains?

Andy (who always makes a buzzing noise when manualy winding the windows on the car)

Danneaux

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Re: Feedback, re: Individual spoke reflectors?
« Reply #35 on: March 13, 2013, 07:24:07 PM »
Quote
(who always makes a buzzing noise when manualy winding the windows on the car)
I do that too!...but only when I have a passenger I want to impress. The car is already 24 years old and lacks electric windows, cup holders, airbags, and ABS, so I impress with what I have.  ;)

Yes! Ultrasonic cleaners are useful. Cool, and/or hot also, depending on one's age demographic (yesterday's cool is today's hot...or dope; I try to keep up).

I got mine from my favorite reasonable-quality-cheap-tools place, Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/ultrasonic-cleaner-3305.html They also now offer a cleaning powder for it, which I have yet to try. So far, the blue LEDs that light while operating and give the water a pseudo-radioactive look seem to be working fine, along with some liquid dish soap.

Speaking of Harbor...I can get lost in that place, and typically visit a couple times a week. Overall, their quality is now much better than a decade ago, but there are some wonderful values now. Harbor Freight has now become successful enough to commission and/or fund some very innovative tool designs of its own and offer them at reasonable prices. The ultrasonic cleaner ended up costing me USD$8.99 when I stacked a sale price and a 20% off coupon. It has run faithfully for the last 4 years.

For greasy-cleany stuff, I go with my solvent-based dash tank, filled with mineral spirits. Basically, it is a large diameter metal can with a flip-up lid. Inside is a large spring that supports a perforated platform. You put the desired dirty/greasy item on the platform, then depress the platform. Do it enough, and the old, greasy dirt is washed out and the part rises phoenix-like, clean and shiny as new. There's a small parts tray that is perforated and goes on the main platform as well. There is some slight loss of mineral spirits over time, but a typical charge has me cleaning derailleur drivetrains monthly for about 6 years. At that time, I recycle the 'spirits at the local solvent works and start anew. I use Nirtile gloves to protect my hands, and a metal rod to depress the spring-loaded platform. Works a treat.

You can also get much the same effect as the ultrasonic cleaner and the solvent dash tank if you fill a 1-2l PET drinks bottle with Simple Green or a similar water-based solvent, toss in the item, recap securely, and shake it like mad. This can work well for cleaning chains, though I've found (to great dismay and a cleanup roughly equal to something EXXON might deal with) that a) it really pays to make *sure* the cap is secure and b) beyond a couple uses, the Simple Green makes the PET brittle and it can crack, leading to unintended cleaning of a larger series of products.

All the best,

Dan. (...who has found "Green" is not always simple, but Simple Green usually is)
« Last Edit: March 16, 2013, 04:33:42 AM by Danneaux »