MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
yeah... I'm sooo aggressive with my little 'ping' bell.
Bells..
- Thread starter wafter
- Start date
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D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
There you go just proves my point,yeah... I'm sooo aggressive with my little 'ping' bell.
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
You can't win with walkists. I have bells on 3 of my 4 bikes. I try to use them first at a distance, so as not to appear "aggressive", then I use them again as I close in if they haven't reacted, and again if still ignored. I'll only resort to a call-out if they are still ignoring me, by which time there is not way they are reacting anything other than surprised and annoyed (usually they're on a call or listening to music).
If you DON'T ping them then you get "where's your bell?". My bell-less bike has a very loud freehub which I use with some success to alert walkists and, in fact, never generates any negative reaction.
The bells I do have are cheap ones - whatever I can find that is small, the right colour and has a moveable pinger (ie you can move where it sits around the circumference of the bell to help nestle it up against other controls on the bar and be reachable from the grip).
Someone earlier mention the Spurcycle bell and also the Rock Brothers copy. I was all set to pick up a cheap copy, then I read an article about the designers of the original and how they have essentially (through naïvity mostly) been ripped off by having their design copied and mass-manufactured. This doesn't sit well with me, so I didn't order one. That said, I didn't put my money where my mouth is and order an original either.
If you DON'T ping them then you get "where's your bell?". My bell-less bike has a very loud freehub which I use with some success to alert walkists and, in fact, never generates any negative reaction.
The bells I do have are cheap ones - whatever I can find that is small, the right colour and has a moveable pinger (ie you can move where it sits around the circumference of the bell to help nestle it up against other controls on the bar and be reachable from the grip).
Someone earlier mention the Spurcycle bell and also the Rock Brothers copy. I was all set to pick up a cheap copy, then I read an article about the designers of the original and how they have essentially (through naïvity mostly) been ripped off by having their design copied and mass-manufactured. This doesn't sit well with me, so I didn't order one. That said, I didn't put my money where my mouth is and order an original either.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
I've only got a bell on two of my 5 bikes. And no pedal reflectors, or reflectors on the bikes. Hey ho.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
I find a Hope rear hub works just as well as my bell
I am also using the Rockbros Spurcycle copy. It's a great bell for a fiver a very sharp ping that resonates well.
Hope hubs, "angry bee", will be the upgrade next when/if my hubs wear out.
Jody
Stubborn git
Compare it to any other cheap "ping" type bell and they just honed the design to make it look prettier. The original apparently has better harmonic quality but it's also 10x the price of the RockBros bell. They cannot justify a piece of pressed metal costing £50 other than it being hand made in the US of A. I had no conscience buying the RockBros bell.
I look at it like lighting. There are hundreds of retina burners on the market for £10-30 but people still splash £100-300 on branded lights. Whilst the cheap copies may be good value for money they don't have the same build quality, optics, batteries, charger safeguards, warranty back up etc. So the extra expense can be justified. What does the Spurcycle bell offer over the cheaper copy?
Tell the missus they are worn out and keep your old wheels for spare/slicks. I couldn't ever condone it but needs must. I definitely didn't do that myself
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
You don't have a point.
Bells aren't aggressive in themselves. If you perceive them as aggressive then it says a lot more about you than it does the bell.
Jody
Stubborn git
I read a comment on a local papers story and the poster was going on about how much rage they felt when someone rang a bell. Usual stuff about the god given right of the cyclist not to be impeded and forcing people out their way. It might not have been the best analogy but I likened it to getting angry at someone for using their indicator. A bell doesn't mean the cyclist is coming through but is giving an audible warning of approach. Just like an indicator doesn't mean that a driver is going to change lane but is merely indicating their intention for wanting to change lane.
As someone said earlier up thread, you can't win no matter what you do. Just stay cheery. This seems to upset the grumps more than the initial bell ring.
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
When I ring my bell I genuinely do it so people know I'm there and can then decide what to do; it is more about our mutual safety than about our mutual mood. Most people recognise that on a shared-use highway there is a need to accommodate all users and that cyclists cycle to go faster so as a walker should allow them to do so. I am not saying "get out of the way" I am saying "I am here, your move". Sadly this is lost in the translation of "ping".
On the indicators, that's a related issue - in this new age of self-entitlement some people believe that using an indicator gives them the right to make a manoeuvre, regardless of any pre-existing priority or right-of-way.
MontyVeda
a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll
- Location
- Lancaster... the little city.
No one seems to get grumpy when i use my bell... It's only on CC I've read that some consider them aggressive.
DaveReading
Don't suffer fools gladly (must try harder!)
- Location
- Reading, obvs
That's hardly likely. Even if you were to encounter an officer, it is perfectly legal to ride around without a bell at all.
Jody
Stubborn git
Couple of laps on the Trans Pennine Trail/Chesterfield canal will soon sort that
Yesterday I approached someone else riding who was a bit slower. Pinged my bell on approach and he moved into the middle to block me going round. No idea why as he had no problem letting people through travelling in the opposite direction or passing people on foot. I assume it was the aggressive nature of my single ping that did it, coupled with my impatient sounding freewheel.
To be fair the vast majority have no problem with it but the odd few take it the wrong way.
figbat
Slippery scientist
- Location
- South Oxfordshire, UK
There's no law saying you have to have a bell on a bicycle. There is a law saying a bicycle has to have a bell fitted or supplied when sold, but nothing saying it has to remain fitted when used.
