Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 87 total)
  • Bell on your MTB?
  • cheshirecat
    Free Member

    I have Hope hubs and a bell. People generally like it when you ping – use it mostly on a cycleway when out with the kids.

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    I don’t have one but am considering getting one. Always took the approach of slowing down and politely saying ‘excuse me’…

    the other day I was on a cycle/canal path and I took this approach with an ederly gent who was ampling down the middle of the path. He asked me where my bell was and when I said I didn’t have one he swore at me, telling me it was illegal not to have one. Can anyone confirm…never heard this before???

    ohnohesback
    Free Member

    Hope make bells?

    MSP
    Full Member

    I think its the law that bells have to be fitted to all new bikes, not that all bikes in use have to have one.

    creamegg
    Free Member

    it was illegal not to have one. Can anyone confirm…

    of course it’s illegal. Don’t tell me you don’t have indicators or brake lights either?

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    A bell must be fitted when a bike is sold but it is only recommended that you have one in use

    What I don’t understand is peoples reluctance to fit one. what is the downside of one of these?

    phiiiiil
    Full Member

    My NC-17 bike bells have their slogan printed on them which is “It’s The Law” which really doesn’t help matters!

    convert
    Full Member

    Have had a bell in the past and still have one on my commuter/shopping/pub bike.

    The only thing I don’t like about a bell is the thought that it might sound like “GET OUT OF MY WAY COMMONERS!” when I want it to sound like “Coooey! Nice cyclist in the vicinity, more than happy to slip past without pushing you in the hedge but didn’t want to surprise you” and I can articulate the difference better verbally (I don’t actually say “coooey” – although thinking about it I might!) than I can ping it.

    creamegg
    Free Member

    ill need wider bars to fit all them on!

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    convert — you would think that the case but IME walkers far prefer a bell and you can alert them from much further away.

    I always say thank you as I go past if they make the slightest effort to get out of the way

    tpbiker
    Free Member

    weight….I’ve been looking for a carbon fibre version 😉

    Although one of those bling gold ones would be lovely, and I’m assuming considerably cheaper than a set of Gold hope hubs..

    I’m in…..

    antigee
    Full Member

    yes but its a wasted effort:

    [nobell]”oi why don’t you get a bell![/nobell]

    [bell]”oi that’a bit rude![/bell]

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    never had “thats a bit rude” in many decades of riding Maybe the thank you and big smile pre-empts it

    hilldodger
    Free Member

    TBH I couldn’t give a fig if “they” prefer a bell to a whistle to a cheery hulooo, if they can’t hear me coming that’s for them to deal with – I’ll always slow to walking pace and give a verbal warning if required….

    ….get out of the way or take the hit is the bottom line, and I’m the one in pads and a helmet 😈

    antigee
    Full Member

    Maybe the thank you and big smile pre-empts it

    pretty good at the thank you bit – but try to avoid looking like a village idiot

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Just comes naturally to me antigee

    Very polite and non confrontational hilldodger. Not like you

    k31000
    Free Member

    It just seems to be an acceptable noise, people react differently to the ping of a bell than someone shouting at them, no matter what is said, it’s still shouting.

    154hopperavenue
    Free Member

    I’ve got one of the silver ones on TJ’s picture. Orange had put it on when I bought the bike, never taken it off. Used it plenty, road and towapths mainly, but occasionally on trails etc.

    hilldodger
    Free Member

    TandemJeremy – Member
    Very polite and non confrontational Po faced with no sense of humour hilldodger. Not like you

    Miserable granite faced ole scrote 😆

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    *chuckles*

    hilldodger
    Free Member

    :thumbs nose at TJ and goes for iLunch:

    Matt24k
    Free Member

    Pro 2 hub plus amplifier.
    The amplifier is an Orange 5 swinging arm.
    Most walkers think that someone behind them is casting a fishing rod and look behind.
    I always slow right down and exchange some kind of pleasantry. Not always reciprocated but I’ve done my bit.

    schnor
    Free Member

    I’ve got one, not that it does much good – I can see them looking around going ‘hmm thats sounds just like a bike bell, I shall stand in the middle of the road and wonder which way its coming from’

    And I’ve had enough of the ‘get a bell ffs!’ / ‘no need to ring your bell ffs!’ comments now – only last week I was shouted at by a horse rider for approaching (heading towards each other) too quietly AND too slowly 😐

    zippykona
    Full Member

    I’ve had jolly hockey stick ladies thank me for ringing my bell. They then launch into a tirade about non bell users.
    A bell raises you through the social strata.

    senorj
    Full Member

    I have one on my bikes.
    I combine the ping with a wave when they look around.
    😀

    Mine have a compass in. useful.

    BaronVonP7
    Free Member

    Usually most folks can hear me coming due to the noise I make as I puff and pant and generally wheeze along.

    For the odd time my singular lack of fitness doesn’t suffice, I have one of those bulb air horns which makes a slightly comical “honk”. For some reason people find it less “offensive” than a bell.

    redthunder
    Free Member
    AndyP
    Free Member

    I’ve had jolly hockey stick ladies thank me for ringing my bell. They then launch into a tirade about non bell users.
    A bell raises you through the social strata.

    Quite the opposite IME. Many see it as a rude ‘get out of my way’ thing, whereas a nice polite ‘excuse me please’ is much more classy.

    RepackRider
    Free Member


    2retro4u
    Marin County, Cali

    All of my bikes have bells. I’m partial to a brand called “Incredibell.”

    I ride a lot of two-way singletrack and I always ding for blind turns. Every reaction I have ever had was positive.

    lipseal
    Free Member
    misterturnip
    Free Member

    Been using a bell on my bike for about four years now and its great. People appreciate being warned and usually move politely out of the way. Its a bit like being Moses and parting the sea 😉

    However, don’t use a bell when horses are around, that freaks them out.

    My friends initially took the p*** but when walkers moved with a few ding-dings they saw the light. They weigh a few grams, take up little handlebar room and so much better than shouting at somebody.

    However, whichever method you use, you will still encounter deaf people, headphones and those who don’t want to move………

    Go on get one!

    jamesco
    Full Member

    To the guys on here who say the walkers should hear you coming ,I say take a walk with your kids ,in-laws and assorted dogs one sunday afternoon and see how YOU like being buzzed (polite use) by a group of 6 or 7 downhilling tossers who neither shout nor bell from behind , when walking in a family group the approach of these yobs from behind is unnerving at best and scary at worst. To the people who think a bell is beneath them I say the same, get off your wheels and on your feet, a ding from a way back is a clear and polite warning and much appreciated , don’t be hypocrits , deriding motorists on one hand and then being just as loutish on the other, Get A Bell And Use It, cheers rant over. No it aint- if you are a Coventry rider get some lights !
    TJ is on the button this time, lol.

    jimjam
    Free Member

    see how YOU like being buzzed (polite use) by a group of 6 or 7 downhilling tossers who neither shout nor bell from behind

    Sorry, why do they have to be downhilling tossers? Are they tossers just because they are downhillers? are they tossers who happened to be downhilling, or did you and your family and your inlaws and your dogs and your fish and your chickens and goats get lost and end up walking down a downhill track?

    jamesco
    Full Member

    jimjam, pull it in you know exactly what I mean !

    OCB
    Free Member

    I’ve got one of these.

    I spent ages trying to ID them all, and ended up having to look a few of them up – only to find that lots of dinosaur taxon have changed since I was a small child! The design doesn’t go so far as to include birds however, so it’s not quite the full range, and some of them are a bit generic (several broadly Theropod examples), as well as some specific families (primarily bloomin’ Hadrosaurs of course, although they really do seem to have been everywhere anyway).

    Quite a pleasing ping to it which seems to amuse people.
    (For completeness, they are indeed Jones Loop bars, and yes, they are fitted to a 29er). 😉

    globalti
    Free Member

    Always had a bell on my mountain bike but often older folk don’t actually hear them because their ears are so dull.

    eshershore
    Free Member

    have the same bell on my commuter that redthunder posted (I love my bike..)

    great for riding in the city (London), seems much more polite than shouting, many times people have said “thank you” after I have dinged my bell to warn them I am coming through

    but of course from time to time, I have to shout as the white headphones (I-Pod) mean the pedestrian cannot hear my repeated bell dinging and go to step off the pavement and end under my wheels!

    don’t have one on my MTB because I ride in an area with few people ever seen

    and to clarify, British Standards dictate a bell must be fitted to every bike I sell through my workshop, but after purchase the customer is able to remove their bell as the Highway Code suggests a bell as a “recommendation” rather than a requirement for running a road legal bicycle

    pennine
    Free Member

    I’ve used a bell for years and generally find people are more receptive to the ‘ding ding’. My local rides use several (legal) very busy walking routes at some point. I also walk the self same routes & I can hear a bell some way behind. I don’t always hear (bit deaf so my wife says) a bike approaching until the last minute unless the rider shouts.
    Personally, I prefer the bell rather than ‘excuse me’ which is often called about 3 feet away. The immediate reaction is to turnaround, which in effect, stops my momentum & then make a move to let the rider through. Many ‘cyclists’ just weave by without any notice.

    amodicumofgnar
    Full Member

    I dont have a bell, I just yell “Ding Dong”.

    Shouting’s just rude, you need yer best Leslie Philips ‘Ding Dong’. Works for any haranguing about bells as well.

    JoeG
    Free Member

    I have a Mirrycle Incredibell Omnibell (top left on lipseal’s link above) which uses a rubber mounting strap like some car mounted bicycle racks. It takes about 2 seconds to mount or dismount. Highly recommended.

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 87 total)

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