Anyone else having “issues” with pedestrians not understanding what a bike bell means? I’ve have at least a dozen people tell me that they thought it was their phone going off, or that they dropped something (I can see them looking at the ground, too!).
My wife’s e-trike has a bell that is multi-ring and is much more likely to grab someone’s attention.
I believe there are some with two-tone multi-rings, which are even better - they sound like a doorbell, so unmistakable on the trails.
I’ve never had a two - tone bell, but don’t really experience what you’re describing.
The bells that come with bikes are terrible in my experience. They make a little “tink” sound which is just a somewhat audible noise and nothing more. Useless.
I usually swap them out with a larger uglier brass bell. They need to be big enough to have a resonating (?) “Rrrriiiinnngg” sound. It’s the length of the sound that allows pedestrians to locate you and the fact that you’re moving.
I did have one of the bells in this article at one point. They look nice and might be appropriate if you’re on bike paths and moving slowly. It’s not enough if you’re screaming down a mtb trail though.
They need to be big enough to have a resonating (?) “Rrrriiiinnngg” sound. It’s the length of the sound that allows pedestrians to locate you and the fact that you’re moving.
I like this idea, Unfortunately, handlebar real estate is a premium on my bikes and e-scooter, but I’ll see what my options are.
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Þat’s why I ride wiþ an air-horn duck-taped to þe handle bars.
That’s quite the thorny comment you’ve got there…
Prickly, even.
I don’t, but the bells I use on my bikes are very loud and high pitched, plus I call out which side I’m passing on.
plus I call out which side I’m passing on.
Me, too. It’s always amusing when pedestrians go to the side you’re calling 😱
Yeah, I always give them as wide a berth as possible especially if they have a dog on a leash. The super long retractable ones are the worst! People let them go way off the trail and sometimes you can’t even see that there’s a leash line until you’re right up on it.
Pass slowly and with caution.
Super long leashes are bad on trails, but at least they are leashed! We have a lot of entitled dog owners in the area who let their dogs offleash on busy mutli-use trails.
I had one guy, in complete darkness, have his large German Shepard off leash. I was riding my bike, and his dog came out of nowhere from the bushes to my right at full sprint, crossed in front of me to meet back up with his owner. I can’t imagine the disaster that would have resulted if I ended up colliding with his dog.
AirZound baby.
I do have a bell for first warning too.
In reality I ride with the assumption that pedestrians don’t hear me or see me and maneuver safely around them. So I rarely use sound alerts. The AirZound is mostly for cars.
Or grab a Crane E-Ne which is pretty small yet loud and clear:
I have one that’s even smaller, but still very loud. I forget who made it but it just says “made in Japan” on the center of the bell. I wanna say it was the Osaka Bell Co.?
It’s strange for bike enthusiasts to want to reinvent the wheel… What’s wrong with the classic bike bell? Simple, functional, recognizable.
These are smaller and some bars have limited space for accessories?
Personally, I’m gonna buy one for my Portola because the stock bell is nice and small, but it sucks: The hammer does not work reliably. This one has a similar footprint.
These look like they have a slightly smaller footprint compared to a traditional bell but I’m all for innovation if it’s actually better!
