What’s a quick way to gussie up your bike AND add an extra element of safety to your ride?
A Bike Wrapper.
Yup, it’s literally what it sounds like. A wrapper for your bike. Reflective strip on one side, various patterns and colors on the other.

Po says Yo

I was lucky enough to receive a sample from BikeWrappers and chose the hideous orange/blue/white stripes. I mean hey. My RoadID and commuter bag both have orange, so I figured I’d match it all up.
The packaging is pretty darn professional. You get three separate strips, which Baby Po is demonstrating to the right, and a nice box that provides directions, features and benefits.

The box sums it up better than I could, so here are the overall items as to what a bike wrapper can do for your bike, aside from add a splash of color. Seriously, it’s like dress up for your bike.

My gussied up commuter bike

Benefits/Features:

• Increases visibility up to 1/4 a mile for car headlights
• Fits most bike frames and around your water bottles
• Machine washable! (Uses velcro to attach)
• Protects your bike from scratches/dirt/children
• Reversible – go from funky pattern to basic silver in two minutes

OK So I rode the bike for a week with the wrapper on. To be honest, I’m not a pattern kinda gal. I only wear solids. I bought a shirt recently with a pattern (flowers, ugh) to try to “fit in” more at work, and that poor shirt has been put on and taken off at least four times and now sits in the corner, looking sad. Even the cats won’t nest on it. By the end of the week, I equated the bike wrapper pattern to a termite tent.

BUT – I DID like how much it distinguished my bike. I felt a bit more visible on the street during daylight hours, and during a massive bike event, I was able to easily find my bicycle among the dozens of other parked bikes. I also got a lot of comments on it during that time – people really dug the concept and the most common question was – “What if it gets dirty?”. Well hell. It’s machine washable.

So after getting tired of the orange/white/blue stripe (day wear), I just reversed it to silver (night wear). My commuter is silver, so now it blends in seamlessly. Also, you get more reflective action with the silver front facing. I love it with the silver/solid color.

Pattern facing

Reflective facing

Cat facing

The weird thing dangling off the middle picture is actually a cool new arm cover I just got off the sale section of REI.com. Yay for reflective arm covers!

Anyways, conclusion. This product is rad but if I could choose again, I’d choose a solid color. Go check out the different patterns and colors – polka dots, plaids, stripes, etc.

Which one do you think is coolest, that you would put on your bike?

Product courtesy of BikeWrappers.com