Bells..

[Brads]

Crane. Works of art and loud as feck.

Also the one that came with my Orange bike. Top quality.

 

[DaveReading]

I think I worked out once that the ratio on CC was 1 Bell thread for every 5 Chain Lube threads.

 

[Archie_tect]

Simple, but very, clear ping bell from Decathlon [was £1.99 when I bought 2] now £2.49...

 

[a.twiddler]

Funnily enough I have an el cheapo chinese copy of the knog Oi on my folder and it sounds good and has lasted well. The Timber Mountain bell would drive me nuts jingling all the time. I have my original pinger from 1980 on my tourer which has a reasonably clear long lasting note. In these days of crowded cycle trails I have seriously considered finding a traditional chromium plated carbuncle to sit on my bars which goes brringg brringg but it's finding one that doesn't rattle annoyingly or rust overnight that is putting me off.

 

[Deleted member 23692]

Timber bell for me Its gentle tinkling gets a far more favourable reaction from other path users than a normal bell which can sound 'authoritative'

 

[biggs682]

Cheapo simple bell does the job. Why pay more? But, each to their own

But lacks the street cred for many

 

[carlosfandangus]

@biggs682, you said you were going on the turbo!!!!

Sorry no input on bells

 

[biggs682]

@biggs682, you said you were going on the turbo!!!!

Sorry no input on bells

Sorry i was multi tasking
Now relaxing in bed before getting ready for the downstairs commute

 

[geocycle]

Lion bell for me on the Thorn. Completely reliable on a solid steel bike and mounted on the stem. The Spa has just got a Spur bell which I think looks great. It replaced a simple ping bell that broke. Both are expensive, especially the spur, so ideal for Christmas or birthday presents.

 

[rogerzilla]

Only if you buy the cheap shitt eBay Chinese copy.

I have 3 wife has one all work perfect and no problems.

The 2 crap ones I bought for a fiver each lasted about a week ..

Mine was a real one. Read the Amazon or Kickstarter reviews. You've been lucky or you don't use them much.

 

[simon.r]

Rockbros copy of the Spurcycle bell. £50 is outrageous for a bell. I have 2.

I’ve got these on all my ‘road’ bikes and they work very well.

On more traditional bikes I use a Ohgi https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BEOHS10/ohgi-s-10-bell which has a nice ding-dong sound that is often commented on favourably by pedestrians. It’s not too big and is the only traditional sounding bell I’ve found that doesn’t ding whenever I ride over rough ground.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Don't understand why anyone apart from staying legal would want a bell, it just promote the aggressive cyclist image, get out of my way, coming through, whats wrong with slowly down & asking people to move?

 

[fossyant]

Don't understand why anyone apart from staying legal would want a bell, it just promote the aggressive cyclist image, get out of my way, coming through, whats wrong with slowly down & asking people to move?

On a shared path, if you get one with a nice 'ting' and use it from some distance, it alerts someone you are coming, then if they don't hear you, you say 'excuse me can I pass'. I didn't use one for ages, but the trails are quite busy at present, and it's nice to give a little warning. I also ting before I go through a canal bridge, as they are 'blind' turns.

If you ding ding ding, then yes that's aggressive, or ding when you are right next to someone - advance warning always helps. Especially extending dog leads or half deaf pensioners.

I ding'ed at a group of 4 late teens (not socially distancing) yesterday, from a distance, no acknowledgement, then 'excuse me' again no acknowledgement. Now I was coming down a loose stone track, so the MTB wasn't quiet across the pinging rubble. The girls only bothered to turn when I locked my rear wheel up slightly (deliberately) after 2 warnings. I was still 50 foot away. They moved but the two lads didn't - you can't win.

I did "ding ding ding" to two yoofs on MTB's completely blocking a bridleway last week as I'd come off a descent at a fair lick, they were 100m away, but weren't shifting. I even said 'coming through'. They eventually moved. I wasn't stopping as it's under a motorway bridge and near "rough ville".

 

[Deleted member 26715]

I have one fitted to both bikes (I think) no idea if either work, I cannot think of a single situation where I would use one. Actually that is wrong I can think of one, being stopped by a Police Officer & asked to demonstrate that my bell works, No I was right in my first answer as the second is never going to happen.

Edit:- Just been outside & it appears one of the bikes is illegal, I have no idea where the bell has gone, so at some point in the future I will find the cheapest bell shaped item to attach to it.

 

[rogerzilla]

A bell has to be used judiciously on psyclepaths as, 50% of the time, the person will move in the direction you don't want them to. If there is loads of room to get past safely, I don't use it as it will do more harm than good.