Flags of 2018

Recumbent trike makers are revising their OEM safety flags for 2018 with a priority on safety over self-promotion.

Until this year, the only recumbent trike maker actually making a safety flag with safety as its primary focus has been ICE. ICE flags have been made of high-visibility material with a highly-reflective spine for many years. Even so, ICE owners have given feedback requesting better daytime visibility than the ICE strip offered.

For 2018, ICE has revised their flag to have more surface area and more nighttime reflectivity.

The lack of flag visibility has led to a booming aftermarket for safety flags led by Soundwinds and Purple Sky.

It seems that other manufacturers like Catrike, HP Velotechnik, and Hase must have finally gotten the message that safety flags should be about safety more than brand-name recognition, so all of these brands have drastically revised their flags for 2018 increasing visibility and nighttime reflectivity.

Greenspeed has also moved to a high-visibility color-scheme, but still has room for improvement in nighttime visibility.

Here are some interesting photos of the assortment. From left to right:

1. ICE
2. HP Velotechnik
3. Catrike
4. Hase Spezialraeder
5. Soundwinds
6. Greenspeed (lower right)