another DIY project - reflective buddy (mud) flaps

This is something I'm still working on using reflective material and some repurposed flexible plastic material (was from a cover of a performated notebook).



Reflective bicycle mudflaps to keep rain and debris off your shoes and socks - and friend riding behind you. Hence the name, buddy flaps.

These are about 3-4 times wider and twice as long as what the fenders come with (if they have them at all) like on the Allez pictured below.

my Bike BrightZ (flashing LED lights) demo

Here's a video I shot to show the effectiveness of the Bike BrightZ at night. Watch it and judge for yourself.



Just for clarification, I mounted two lights on the bike in the video, one on the left and one on the right of my rear rack, pointed at an angle to the rear. If I was to do this permanently, I think I would have used two of the Bike BrightZ red flashing LEDS rather than a yellow and green as shown in the video.

Bike BrightZ can be ordered online for $19.99 each with free shipping in US and Canada.

Here's what I found from my testing evaluation on adult and kids' bicycles (note: Bike BrightZ provided me with samples for my testing and evaluation - I did not purchase these nor receive compensation for this review)...

PROS:
Fairly easy to install.
Reasonably-priced.
Package comes complete with batteries.
Easy to operate.
Different LED colors available.
Multiple flashing patterns (or steady).
Kids love them - it's easy to get them to use them.

CONS:
The unit can rub against down tubes and scratch paint when grit gets between unit and the bicycle tubes.
Since it mounts low, it could be obscured by mud/muck/sand/grit/grime.
It might not fit flush on more radical designed frames or curvy frames or smaller kids' bikes.

BOTTOM LINE:
I am of the opinion that any visual enhancement in low light or dark conditions, especially as a bicycle commuter, is a good thing. This said, this product would be a good thing to consider in your "visibility toolbox" along with a headlight and flashing rear red LED or reflector (per many states' laws). Additional reflectors and/or lights are also beneficial. I would avoid the colors other than red, and especially not combine the red and blue Bike BrightZ, as to avoid drivers thinking you're posing as a cop.

As for kids' use of this product, there is a coolness factor that they really enjoy which makes it easier to get them to turn them on. (Note: the kids sampling this were 5-7 years-old and were not actually riding in the streets at night).

illumi-NATE!

I was reading a repost in the Seattle PI online edition (only edition) that discussed tactics for bicylists to improve their visibility. The article has a lot of good tips and photos accompanying it. You can also employ these on your kids' bikes, trikes, wagons, strollers, etc. to wheelchairs or walkers and also to your pets, or to your own attire or accessories as you're out walking in the seemingly prematurely arriving dark evening hours.

On my own, recently, I too beefed up my visibility on my commuter bike, a REI brand Novara Transfer (which you can read about here). The cool things about this bike is that it comes set-up for commuters - not only is there a color-matched rack and full fenders, it also includes a rear blinky light (integrated into the rear fender) and a front hub powered headlight. As I have found, however, this is just a rudimentary amount of lighting most commuters need. Essentially, it keeps you legal, but it doesn't give you a whole lot of visibility.

Initially, I augmented the rear blinky tail light with a red flasher I got for free courtesy of a community event hosted by WA State's Safe Routes to School Program. Soon after I added a cheapie ($6 at Fred Meyer) but very bright multi-LED flasher to it as well. So I had a built-in light, and two supplementals zip-tied to the rear rack.

Not content with just that alone, I added a flasher (by Planet Bike? Cateye?) to the back of my helmet, again with a zip-tie.

To augment the front headlight - especially important since the hub generator driven headlight does not stay on when you stop for a light or stop sign - I again went to a zip-tie solution and zip-tied a cheap 9 LED flashlight ($6 from Fred Meyer) to the stem.



About the same time as I was making these initial illumination enhancements, I found a wide-mouthed water bottle (a cool Austin music festival one) alongside a road heavily traveled by cyclists. I wasn't going to use it for drinking, but it made a perfect take-along emergency toolkit. It is just the right size for stuffing a patch kit, emergency ID, wrenches and other tools, etc. To fit with the illumination theme here, I added strips of red reflective tape to the sides for additional visibility.



The cool (recent) part - from a local sign shop (that makes highway signs) I received gratis pieces of the hyper-reflective material they use for road signs. This was stuff that would have ended up in the trash otherwise. I got yellow, hi-viz yellow, white/silver, and a clear red that itself isn't reflective, but it is when added over the white/silver. Below are shots of the materials under normal light and in the dark with the flash.







I trimmed strips to fit the front, back, and sides of the Transfer on the frame, fenders, fork, and rack.



And seat stays...



For the motion effect, I also added them to the crank and pedals (to the outside end of Shimano MTB SPDs) for the motion - I did the same with the wheels but have not yet decided if I like that look or not.







I also added the smaller scraps to my helmet.



As you can see from the photo, the combined effect really lights up the bike. No lights are turned on in any of these photos.

In the front view, the only added element is on the forks - the others are reflectors in the headlight or a traditional handlebar-mounted CPSC reflector.



In the rear, the stock red reflector is in the middle of the rack - everything else is from the reflective tape.