Buy A Bell

[zizou]

I've found bells seem to give people who are walking a bit of a fright - then if i try and ring it in a more 'polite' way often the bell isn't heard, so i find saying excuse me works better. Bells slso seem to send some cyclists into a panic and has them swerving about as they try and see what side the noise is coming.

If I freewheel I can't sneak up on anyone


Hope Pro3 rear free hubs have that effect

+1 to that, was a big selling point for me

 

[Drago]

I could of course be wrong ... but I think that they only need to be fitted if the bike is sold as a complete bike. So if you buy a bike without pedals (quite a common thing) then it is not required.

You are completely right - what is required before a bike can be offered for commercial sale for use on a road bears little relation to the con and use regs that apply once the same bike hits the streets:

I also prefer a Mk1 human voice. A firm but polite "excuse me" and "thank you" backed up with a cheery wave seems to work a treat.

 

[PpPete]

If I freewheel I can't sneak up on anyone
Hope Pro3 rear free hubs have that effect

+1 to that, was a big selling point for me

And another.
No titanium bell on my Van Nic thank you.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I'm another one with a voice. far more versatile, polite and able to indicate direction & distance much more clearly, it also allows one not to be a stuck up plonker and engage in one of the joys that cycling brings you, the ability to interact with your fellow human beings.
I am waaaaayyyy not the stereotype mentioned in the OP, I'm one step away from a whicker basket but I'd still rather shove angry wasps up my a**e than sully my bars with an arrogant little device that tells people they're not important enough in your eyes to be worthy of a polite hello.

 

[CotterPin]

What's wrong with brakes?

 

[summerdays]

What's wrong with brakes?

Sometimes in the wet - applying my brakes makes pedestrians jump!!!

 

[Sandra6]

I have a dodgy bell on my specialized bike, it has a pull back thing to make it ding, rather than a slidey bit -does that make sense? There are possibly technical terms for these things but I don't know them.
Anyway, it can take three flicks before it actually connects and makes a noise by which time I've usually had to call out to whoever is in the way, so I've stopped using it.
I find it less complicated to go round people quickly before they realise I'm there (shared path situations) or they get all flustered and I have to brake anyway. Over-taking other cyclists is rarely an issue, but it wouldn't have occurred to me to use the bell when I do.
And what is the solution to dozy pedestrians who step off the kerb in front of you -even when they clearly have seen you - and cross the road anyway?!

 

[wheres_my_beard]

I used to use a well timed crunchy gear change as I slowed, to alert pedestrians on tracks and paved areas (not foot paths obviously), but I use a single speed and my other bike has silky smooth gears, so I can't do this anymore. I usually call out and then usually call out again when I don't get heard/ noticed, try and smile and thank people and carry on. I think whether you use a bell or voice people still get a fright and panic, and scatter a little before gathering their wits. I think we should take a leaf out of the dutch cycling handbook, and just give people a warning regardless how they might react. The more it's done the less people will jump out of their skin and into your path.

When it comes to other cyclists, I dispair at how little I see riders checking behind them, so they are usually totally oblivious to me coming up behind, or riding behind waiting to pass, so I give them a massively wide birth as I overtake, and carry on with my day.

 

[400bhp]

What do you call the guy at the back of a line of bell owning cyclists ?

 

[400bhp]

I find talking to people far more pleasant and effective than bells. Too many pedestrians equate bike bells with car horns. This should be right, as they are both there to alert people to your presence. Unfortunately as horns have been misused to shout 'GET OUT OF MY WAY!' by drivers, this seems to be how a lot of pedestrians round here regard cycle bells.

Sheep OTOH, will move for a bell, but only the sheep closest to you. I once rode into Wasdale ringing a bell over and over again as the sheep peeled off one by one

I like to shout GET OUT OF MY WAY, rather than having a bell implying that.

Not really-totally agree with you

 

[Teuchter]

Hang on, you're asking other cyclists to announce when they're overtaking you in case you happen to swerve into their path without bothering to take responsibility for your own safety by checking over your shoulder first?

The inability of most cyclists to do shoulder checks when changing position on the road (or turning right) does my head in. We don't call them "lifesavers" in motorcycling for nothing. When I taught the kids how to cycle on the road this was one of the things I really emphasised with them... maybe the result of having been a motorcycle instructor but I know I still do shoulder checks while cycling all the time.

By the same token, if I must overtake a cyclist when they're likely to either pull out to avoid an obstacle or unexpectedly turn right down a side road, I give them loads of space... after checking over my own shoulder first!

If you're not willing to be fully aware of your surroundings, you shouldn't be on the road or at least you shouldn't complain when bad things happen to you because of it.

Sorry for the rant but this sort of thing really annoys me

 

[Lee_M]

Nothing I could have attached to my bike beyond a cow catcher could have made any difference to the idiot peds in Southend yesterday walking along the cycle lane - which is separated from the pavement by a kerb, and is a different colour

One got quite irate as I screamed "cycle lane" at him

 

[400bhp]

Nothing I could have attached to my bike beyond a cow catcher could have made any difference to the idiot peds in Southend yesterday walking along the cycle lane - which is separated from the pavement by a kerb, and is a different colour

One got quite irate as I screamed "cycle lane" at him

doesn't surprise me.

 

[Lee_M]

what doesnt surprise you? that he got irate or that I had to shout to warn him that a 16st bloke was coming through?

 

[srw]

A cyclist yelling at a pedestrian on a cycle path is a bit like a motorist hooting at a cyclist on the road - carefully calibrated to wind them up.