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Ideally I want one that sits in the space between brake mount and grip that I can reach just by extending my thumb. The louder the better - shared path and earphones.
Spur Cycle.
Rock Bros (Spur clone) - you may need to adjust it slightly with some pliers to get the dinger to work properly. I’ve got a Timber one too -but that’s more dingley than dongley. Pay extra for the ‘artisan’ produced, beardy-weirdy, stars’n’stripey yee-ha made in USA Spur one if you like.
Spur.
Those type are all quiet and short.
AirZound button has a small bar-presence (?) but you’d need to factor in the air-bottle in a bottle cage or somewhere.
Not very friendly-sounding though. Earphones + wandering dopes piss me off but I have to remain an ambassador for cycling, follow them at walking pace shout-announcing my presence VERY POLITELY BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T HEAR MY INCREASINGLY FURIOUS DING-DINGS
- ‘Oh you should have a bell’
- ‘I do (ding-ding!)’
- ‘Well I didn't hear it 🤨 ‘
- ‘Well, how about that? 🧐 ‘
- ‘You’re a bloody menace the lot of you’.
I’ve taken instead to a trad rotary type mounted on the side of the stem DINGTRINGALINGATRING
The persistent ‘tringaling’, has it. Friendly and yet persistent. Quite loud too.
For something more modern and versatile (like a dinger-Timber hybrid) have a look at the
Why not get a Hornit to complement the Spur?
https://hornit.com/products/v3-db140
Sharp pull on the back brake!
Ride on the grass.
Say thank you sarcastically as you pass.
These are the methods I use.
I think the reason people are a bit oblivious to bike bells is that they don't really sound like bike bells. The number of times I've had the "oh I wondered what that sound was" response. Well dickhead you could have looked round to see.
p7eaven has it with old fashioned rotary bell. They tend to be "ahem, excuse me" rather than "GET OUT OF THE WAY", you know, a request rather than a threat.
I use a Spur though!
Got a Spur on the gravel bike, huge life improvement.
Nice little side-by-side of the Cricket vs Spur
May get a Cricket for the gravelbeast.
I use the Knog Oi on my 3 bikes. Looks pretty discreet, Loud enough for the most part. Doesn't work with the full-on earphone users, but I've had a *95% improvement in walker/runner responsiveness (and friendliness) since using these.
*not scientifically tested.
Some of the comments above are a bit, well, not totally in the spirit of rule #1 ...
THEY DIDN’T HEAR MY INCREASINGLY FURIOUS DING-DINGS
Sharp pull on the back brake!
Ride on the grass.
Say thank you sarcastically as you pass.
Well dickhead you could have looked round to see.
We have no more right to shared use paths, trails in the woods (not trail centres), bridleways, towpaths etc than dog walkers, families, runners etc. In fact, in many places, we should be giving way and stopping to let them past if need be. Stop being in such a hurry and exercise a bit of patience, politeness and friendliness...
I use the Knog Oi on my 3 bikes. Looks pretty discreet, Loud enough for the most part.
I find the standard Oi isn't quite loud enough, but the Oi Luxe is appreciably better, albeit more expensive. Looks neat too.
Looked at this thread because it was about time I bought a bell. In fact I bought two because I can't be bothered to swap from bike to bike.
Rock Brothers spur clone is awful. Designed by Walt Disney on a bad day. Despite advice to bend the ringer still barely pings. And it takes up a lot of space on the bars.
Pro Tool bike bell . Much better, fitted in seconds , decent ding and a narrow base to fit between levers and two quid cheaper!
May get a Cricket for the gravelbeast.
@p7eaven - Why would you get a Cricket after watching that?
Never thought I'd be this person...... but I've had to double up as I was so sick of nobody bloody hearing me, despite the loud hub noise. Have a Timber Bell Mk4 and Oi Luxe (I got it with 40% off) on the other. Yep, it's a bit overkill, but on the trails the Timber Bell is brilliant and can be heard quite a distance away and most folk appreciate it. However once on the flat, the Timber Bell is completely useless and that's when the Oi Luxe comes in, it's too quiet for the trails but fine on flat pathways!
Why would you get a Cricket after watching that?
Yeah, that's put me off buying either. I have an original Timber and it's mostly great, but a loud dinger would complement it nicely.
Pro Tool bike bell . Much better, fitted in seconds , decent ding and a narrow base to fit between levers and two quid cheaper!
The ones that are a tenner on Amazon? They look just as good as the Spurcycle and similar ones, but a lot of reviews saying they're not very loud.
I've got the granite cricket bell, needed a clanger and a dinger on the MTB, does the job fine.
The dinger isn't the loudest but when I use that I'm normally riding on flat bridleways/towpaths so don't need anything that loud.
Got 2 Rock Bros "Spur" copies - bit fiddly to fit, but do produce a nice 'ping'. That said, old crusties don't always hear it as they can't hear high pitch noises.
I recently snapped the band off one though is a crash on hully gully in the mud.
I've picked up a PX Raleigh Bell and it's a bit louder and slightly lower tone. The 'pinger' is movable so you can get it nearer your thumb. Fast to fit too.
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BERLBLK/raleigh-mini-bell-dd-mo1-bell
We have no more right to shared use paths, trails in the woods (not trail centres), bridleways, towpaths etc than dog walkers, families, runners etc.
Absolutely. But if I've slowed right down, moved over, rung my bell and said "excuse me" then I would expect a modicum of courtesy in return.
Absolutely. But if I’ve slowed right down, moved over, rung my bell and said “excuse me” then I would expect a modicum of courtesy in return.
Yep, and surely if they are shared use paths, walkers shouldn't be spread across the entire width of the path... It goes both ways.
Trigger Bell sits under the bar and can be used while maintaining full grip on the bar and braking. Not terribly loud though so on easy terrain with many people, the compromise wouldn't be worth it.
I like
" excuse me, can i come past on your left/ right please"
When mates have bells, they ring, people Panick and jump unpredictably left or right.
The long bit up above shouted far enough back gives people time to Jump, look and move. Just because I rabbit on, there is more time to work out where the sound it coming from and move.
One mate has a bell that goes TTTTTIIiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnggg
That seems to have the same effect because f gives people time to place the sound.
If they have headphones on, it's. Lost cause.
I've tried the lot and now use a Crane ENE to sort out people of a certain age with dogs off the lead. I can ring it from a good distance away and they usually hear it in enough time to out the bloody thing on a lead and step to one side. It's lasted a good 18 months so far, compared to only a few months for my old ones.
The others -
Spur - not actually that loud and expensive. When mounted most discreetly doesnt work as well in the rain.
Spur copies - same problem as the Spur but they only last a few months. And very quiet in the wet.
Knog Oi - badly built tat. Only lasts a few weeks if used on a mountain bike. Not loud.
Knog Oi copies - much more robust than the Oi but still not that loud or long lasting
Basil Portland - cheap, well built, loud but not small or discreet.
I use a headset spacer bell if you don’t have slammed bars it’s a nice solution. Not as lovely as a spur but doesn’t take any bar space. I tend to avoid shared use paths anyway, except as a pedestrian. And according to the Highway Code, there’s a hierarchy of users and pedestrians are at the top, cyclists and horse riders next down.
The Pro Tool bell is reasonably loud , certainly as loud as Timber on another bike and a lot louder than Rock Bros Spur which is hardly audible
Nothing short of an airhorn will alert some headphone wearing folk,so I back up my knog oi with an advance warning (loudish) "Hello" ..
Knog Oi – badly built tat. Only lasts a few weeks if used on a mountain bike.<< Not my experience ,I have had/used 3 on different bikes for years.
I've got a Timber bell because everyone from this parish was banging on about them for so long that I thought I was missing a trick.
It's lovely, well-designed, a pleasant sound. The noise is so relaxing that it seems to put walkers in a trance, during which they stop dead in the middle of the trail / footpath, forcing me to have to call out my presence which jolts them from their dreamlike state and results in me receiving a barrage of abuse along the lines of "don't you have a bloody bell????"
I'm going to put my old pinger bell back on. I'd rather deal with "your bloody bell just startled me!!!!"
I’ve tried a few bells and now just slow down to sub-walking pace and stay behind until someone hears me or there’s enough room to pass. Then just smile and say hello. Still get the occasional dickhead with something smarmy to say but 99% of folk are polite.
Weird bit is that I spend lots of time walking on local towpaths too. I’ve never not noticed a bike coming up behind me. Either I’m some sort of X-Man with precog powers or there are a lot of seriously unaware people out there.
One of these tyre bells
I've never seen one of those before. Have a strange longing for one now.
Industry nine hubs. Bit of back pedalling saves hands coming off the grips and everybody within a 3 mile radius thinks ‘****’ and looks.
Ps. I may have i9 hubs and regretted if after 2 rides.
I have a cheapo knog copy offf ebay - its OK but very neat and also one of these that is nice and loud but the best one I have is a large brass bell
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124107342773?hash=item1ce55fc3b5:g:xncAAOSwO29f983j&var=424938209192
I Bought one these from Ali express for £3 to try. Pretty impressed with it. Has 3 types of tones to chose from. If anyone plays gta the clown horn sounds just the same.
I wanted one I could quickly put on and off.
Dixie air horn, very 1970's 😀
Knog Oi – badly built tat. Only lasts a few weeks if used on a mountain bike.<< Not my experience ,I have had/used 3 on different bikes for years.
I bought one last week - it lasted less than 40 minutes. The warranty replacement has lasted a few more days. 😀
Yep, and surely if they are shared use paths, walkers shouldn’t be spread across the entire width of the path… It goes both ways.
We've had signs put up on the busiest shared use NCN routes saying that pedestrians have priority, which has resulted in a few people on social media have posted that they won't be getting out of the way of bikes (or horses, presumably?). Stupid people are stupid.
