a.twiddler
Veteran
To Flag or not to Flag?
It was not long after coming to the Dark Side of recumbent biking that I was made to realise that the subject of To Flag or Not Flag was a hot topic among some recumbenteers comparable to Helmets, or Lubrication, or even Helmet Lubrication.
Mostly, I feel conspicuous enough without one. Since I had been anticipating my recent trip to Wales for a while I ordered one to give a sense of occasion. I carefully attached it to the RH seat stay. It came with three sections of fibreglass rod which put the triangular reflective flag at a ridiculous altitude. I ended up using just two sections of rod and even then had to remove the top section until I’d got outside my back gate, which is about the height of a normal door frame.
In use, it is easy to forget it is there until you want to put the bike under cover or through a doorway when the top section can be removed.
Even in normal use it is prone to hit low tree branches if you’re not careful. On the second day’s towpath bashing it was especially annoying catching on tree branches and twanging and pinging under canal bridges. Fortunately it is flexy enough not to be damaged but every so often it would catch you out. There were signs at intervals reminding anglers about overhead power lines but they were high enough to be well clear of my flag.
Apologies for re using this picture but it's the only one with a decent view of the Linear with the flag on.
Hard to say really whether it had any effect on other road users. I had no hairy moments but then I've had none without it. Conceivably if used on my Dawes Low Rider once I get it into regular use it might make a difference as it's er...low, certainly lower than the Linear, though I would have to use it for a while without before using it with a flag to get some comparison.
I think for me, at least, it’s something for special occasions only, not for general use. I doubt that drag would be a factor. I usually have a cone shaped bag on the front rack which can take a cape or jacket and a Radical tail bag but I don’t think that I am going to be troubled by excess speed.
It was not long after coming to the Dark Side of recumbent biking that I was made to realise that the subject of To Flag or Not Flag was a hot topic among some recumbenteers comparable to Helmets, or Lubrication, or even Helmet Lubrication.
Mostly, I feel conspicuous enough without one. Since I had been anticipating my recent trip to Wales for a while I ordered one to give a sense of occasion. I carefully attached it to the RH seat stay. It came with three sections of fibreglass rod which put the triangular reflective flag at a ridiculous altitude. I ended up using just two sections of rod and even then had to remove the top section until I’d got outside my back gate, which is about the height of a normal door frame.
In use, it is easy to forget it is there until you want to put the bike under cover or through a doorway when the top section can be removed.
Even in normal use it is prone to hit low tree branches if you’re not careful. On the second day’s towpath bashing it was especially annoying catching on tree branches and twanging and pinging under canal bridges. Fortunately it is flexy enough not to be damaged but every so often it would catch you out. There were signs at intervals reminding anglers about overhead power lines but they were high enough to be well clear of my flag.
Apologies for re using this picture but it's the only one with a decent view of the Linear with the flag on.
Hard to say really whether it had any effect on other road users. I had no hairy moments but then I've had none without it. Conceivably if used on my Dawes Low Rider once I get it into regular use it might make a difference as it's er...low, certainly lower than the Linear, though I would have to use it for a while without before using it with a flag to get some comparison.
I think for me, at least, it’s something for special occasions only, not for general use. I doubt that drag would be a factor. I usually have a cone shaped bag on the front rack which can take a cape or jacket and a Radical tail bag but I don’t think that I am going to be troubled by excess speed.