[Closed] Bell on your MTB?

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?

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

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.

ill need wider bars to fit all them on!

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

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.....

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yes but its a wasted effort:

[nobell]"oi why don't you get a bell![/nobell]

[bell]"oi that'a bit rude![/bell]

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

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 😈

Maybe the thank you and big smile pre-empts it

Just comes naturally to me antigee

Very polite and non confrontational hilldodger. Not like you

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.

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.

TandemJeremy - Member
[s]Very polite and non confrontational[/s] Po faced with no sense of humour hilldodger. Not like you

Miserable granite faced ole scrote 😆

*chuckles*

:thumbs nose at TJ and goes for iLunch:

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.

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 😐

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.

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

Mine have a compass in. useful.

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.

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6955864035_fdfdb937c1_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7196/6955864035_fdfdb937c1_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/58162507@N07/6955864035/ ]2_98aee87d1aab223d19116308e44665c0[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/58162507@N07/ ]SGMTB[/url], on Flickr

[i]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. [/i]
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.

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[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
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.

[url= http://mirrycle.com/incredibell_bells.php ]Collection of bell ends[/url]

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!

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.

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?

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

I've got one of these.

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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). 😉

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

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

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.

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.

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.

My 13 month-old just finally worked out today how to operate our 'ping' bell from eBay. He did it constantly on our 45min 'see the cows' ride tonight, and laughed to himself all the way. Magic.

I'm sure it will get annoying, but not yet...

I used to not use a bell, figuring that my cranking along through the rocks, roots, etc. created a noise akin to a threshing machine with a lot of loose parts would be enough to warn everyone within half a mile----then the years passed, with my hearing gradually going the way of all those older hikers/strollers--so I, too, now have a bell and give a quick ring when approaching.
The old standby "bike on your left" or "bike on your right" can prove problematic as I am pretty sure some of those people either don't know their left from their right---or they misinterpret and move left when you say "on your left"

[url= http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/avatar235.jp g" target="_blank">http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/avatar235.jp g"/> [/IMG][/url]
[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
Marin County, Cali

Might add this, when I toured in northern Canada on my MTB, the purpose of the bell was so you didn't surprise the grizzly bears.

Grizzly bears hate surprises.

used to have one just to ding at the annoying type of ramblers who would say "you should have a bell".

these days living in the South I just shout "howdo" for comedy northern effect.

Walkers love bells. I have suggested they wear them 🙂

I love my bell. Best £5 I have ever spent. 8)

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

It takes 95% of the shock factor out of any encounter, almost anywhere, priceless.

Same with slowing down and just being cool and courteous to others (people and animals) - karma sure is a fine thing!

+1 for bell and polite shout followed by thanks - Ride a lot on Peak family trails (with my Peak family!).

Biggest dangers are the bemused reaction as described ('I heard a bell so I'd better act like a bollard'), walking pole gestures ('Look at that wonderful scenery' - gestures with extended walking pole across trail) and dogs, either loose or (worse) on those long extending leads