I just noticed the other day that the reflectors on my left pedal are gone. I presume this happened during my garage ramp spill. Other than bemoaning the growing distance from immaculate newness of my Kona, I don’t think I need to do anything about this, do I?
When this happened to my pedals, I looked in the code to see if I needed to have them on there, and couldn’t find any mention of reflectors except for a red one on the back, and that’s only required when it’s dark (and that may be mitigated by a rear red light in some jurisdictions). So I didn’t replace them.
They come off pretty easy. Beginner MTB trails are usually littered with the damn things from people bringing their hybrids out for their first off road ride.
Yeah those things fall off all the time. The nuts on mine used to come loose all the time when I used cage pedals. I’d retighten them, but never used Threadloc or anything, so inevitably they would eventually fell off. At that point, I just rode w/o. If you really want reflectivity, you’re probably better off buying DOT reflective tape in some form and sticking it on. Otherwise, they’re generally overrated.
I’m personally a huge fan of pedal reflectors. As a driver, they are one of the most distinctive features screaming “bike!” in the dark. That said, if you’ve got a cheapo reflector that fell off I wouldn’t replace the pedals over it, and you probably can’t source a replacement. The reflective tape suggestion is probably a good one.
This is where I usually plug the pd-t780 as the ultimate commuter/touring/utility pedal.
I lost both of mine. The other item I lost and will never replace is a rainproof helmet cover. Turn head once it it flew off in traffic.
I only use mine occasionally. I keep them semi-loose. Not so loose that they could slip over my shoe and get caught in the pedals or chain, but loose enough that flexing my ankle won’t really affect them or the velcro attachment.
At other times, I keep them on the steerer tube or whatever you call that tube (where the handlebars connect to the frame). They might provide a little extra side visibility, but mostly they are there to advertise for BikeArlington.
At bike to work day I somehow only had 1 bike arlington ankle strap put into my bag… I’m not sure if I should pick which ankle I like the most and use it on that leg, or find some other use for it…
.
