Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => On The Road => Topic started by: GruB on 30 March, 2008, 02:37:35 pm
-
Saw this today whilst out near Hungerford.
I have not seen them working yet so can't vouch for their effectiveness at night, but they look different in the day.
(http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e81/GruuB/30-03-08_0926.jpg)
Has anyone else noticed them in action?
They are quite raised - like a small half tennis ball in size.
-
They are lethal to cyclists and motorcyclists - especially in the wet.
When driving the fact the LED flickers means you drive towards a set of strobe lines. (It may be my eyes are as sensitive as my hearing, not everybody sees LEDs as a rapid strobe light)
Without wanting to seem negative ;)
I don't like them.
I'm surprised epileptic drivers don't get fits.
I can't believe they got type approved.
What's wrong with the old fashioned reliable glass cats eye as was invented back in the war? They light up perfectly (if you've got your lights on), deform to provide a flat surface to ride over, wipe the glass eye clean as they come back up! (How many people knew about the wiper?)
-
When the section of the A61 through Chesterfield was resurfaced a few years ago, these were installed in place of cateyes and the usual rectangular edge markers.
From a cyclists point of view, they are NOT GOODtm. They are very slippery and cause your wheel to jump sideways if you hit them. They are marginally worse than the old cateyes. Fortunately, cateyes are usually only used in the center of the road and not on the edge. These things are being used on the edge!
From a visibility point of view, they are no better than the rectangular reflectors or cateyes.
They are also much more fragile than cateyes. After about 2 years of use, a good number have been destroyed or chipped. Many more have become grubby and coated in dirt. If they become chipped, dirty or crazed, their visibility dies but they remain a hazard.
All in all, a poor idea IMHO...
-
I first noticed them on the A12 at Witham after they re-built it a couple (?) of years ago. Can't really say I take much notice of them now after seeing them ever night.
They look good if you drive with your lights off though ;) just like landing light ;D
Rich.
-
Are they just glued on the surface? I suspect the old catseyes have fallen out of favour, since they need a hole in the road, which probably makes them relatively expensive to install. A lot of the newer reflectors are just glued on the surface, which isn't as resilient to the abuse of being driven over, but is probably a lot cheaper.
-
They are just glued into the old holes ;D
-
Are they just glued on the surface? I suspect the old catseyes have fallen out of favour, since they need a hole in the road, which probably makes them relatively expensive to install. A lot of the newer reflectors are just glued on the surface, which isn't as resilient to the abuse of being driven over, but is probably a lot cheaper.
These are recessed into the road like the old Cateyes. Here is a description. (http://www.reflecto.co.uk/products_passive.html)
-
Interesting, although their description of why some types of reflector don't work is a bit vague.
I imagine the advantage over a catseye is that it has no moving parts to fail, or rubber to perish or age. At a guess driving over them will keep the worst of the dirt off, and rain will also tend to wash them clear.
On the flip side, the pictures on their web page show how much it protrudes, and that would be a menace to cycle over. The mention of "Especially suited to roundabouts" is particularly worrying, the thought of having to dodge them whilst trying to circumnavigate a roundabout isn't too pleasant.
-
I did see that a couple were chipped as well so that may cause sharp edges that would cut a bike tyre.
-
What's wrong with the old fashioned reliable glass cats eye as was invented back in the war? They light up perfectly (if you've got your lights on), deform to provide a flat surface to ride over, wipe the glass eye clean as they come back up! (How many people knew about the wiper?)
If you poke a stick down the edge you can lever them out. Err, according to a friend that is.
-
Has anyone else noticed them in action?
What--huge, staring pale eyes glowering up from the road? Not since I gave up ingesting various tricky fungi.
-
Has anyone else noticed them in action?
What--huge, staring pale eyes glowering up from the road? Not since I gave up ingesting various tricky fungi.
That's the sort of thing people tend to see on the third night of PBP ;D
-
They've been using them in the Cotswolds for a while but they don't seem to have a very long life. Our main road is being completely resurfaced at present (planed down to a good 30 cm below road surface) and they are replacing all the "new" forms of cats-eyes with the traditional cast iron and rubber ones.
The new ones I can't stand are the LED ones Hampshire uses on dangerous corners. They cause me to see streaks of light in the corner of my eye as I drive past them - horrible
-
...
The new ones I can't stand are the LED ones Hampshire uses on dangerous corners. They cause me to see streaks of light in the corner of my eye as I drive past them - horrible
Phew, it's not just me then.
-
...
The new ones I can't stand are the LED ones Hampshire uses on dangerous corners. They cause me to see streaks of light in the corner of my eye as I drive past them - horrible
Phew, it's not just me then.
I thought that too, initially. In fact I was so concerned that I was effectively seeing these things "pink shift" out of the corner of my eye I went to the Optician.
It was only years later driving back from my parents that Mrs Gb said "I hate the way those catseyes make me see streaks out of the corner of my eye"!
-
Yep - they streak and flicker in the corner of my vision too.
As with all road markings and furnature, it is a triumph of car-centric beaurocracy.
-
They're very very good as edge-markers along the Exe cycle path. Stop boozy riders from falling in the watter!
-
I find them really effective, but I haven't come across any at the side of the road, so can't comment on the riding over them factor.
Looking at the web site link (http://www.reflecto.co.uk/products_passive.html) provided earlier, it says "Operational life comparable with road surfacing materials". So that would be a couple of years then, judging by how quickly potholes appear?
-
I find them really effective, but I haven't come across any at the side of the road, so can't comment on the riding over them factor.
Looking at the web site link (http://www.reflecto.co.uk/products_passive.html) provided earlier, it says "Operational life comparable with road surfacing materials". So that would be a couple of years then, judging by how quickly potholes appear?
Don't you mean couple of hours?!
-
They've been using them in the Cotswolds for a while...
Noticed some on short stretch of the A361 between Filkins & Lechlade last July (but only cos I was pootling past the queues of traffic for RIAT). Remember thinking that they looked bl**dy treacherous. Will have to have look out see if they've survived...