Well it might be real but those deliveroo riders are actors, no black balaclava and wearing helmets, not a chance they are genuine 😂
Great product though and really good that they have made all their work available for anyone else to use, they deserve credit for that
good that they have made all their work available for anyone else to use, they deserve credit for that
I think Volvo did the same with the 3 point seat belt design in the 50s or 60s. It doesn't happen often, but it's great to see a bit of altruism like this from corporations. Especially when it's a safety product.
Looks (sounds) good… where do I get one?
Looks (sounds) good… where do I get one?
No info on that yet, I reckon there might be quite a wait! If they've made enough to dish out to London couriers and Deliveroo riders for testing, it does suggest they have some kind of manufacturing up and running, at least at small scale. It'll be interesting to see whether they upscale to mass production, or let others take it up. Škoda have sold lower tech bike bells before, so maybe they will sell it?
As above, show me the "buy now" button and I'll buy three or four
Love that searching via google for it brings up video doorbells and no mention of bike bells, bloody dead internet
I think Volvo did the same with the 3 point seat belt design in the 50s or 60s. It doesn't happen often, but it's great to see a bit of altruism like this from corporations. Especially when it's a safety product
Also sawstop who have done the same with there safety cut out for table saws.
Amongst all the shit going on at the moment, driven by a handful of psychopaths with unchecked power it's refreshing to be reminded that there are still people driven by the greater good rather maximum harm
good that they have made all their work available for anyone else to use, they deserve credit for that
First thing I did was google it and take a look at the actual page, they've shared a study report, not any actual design information (from what I could see, maybe I missed something?).
So yeah, it's useful to know that a ~750Hz ping gets past noise cancelling headphones, I still don't know what geometry, materials, temper or anything else helps create a bell that achieves that...
The video still showed some chonkier looking bells, their packaging of it was neat, but I can't see many wanting that particular configuration on (for example) a gravel bike...
If it was an actual Skoda product, available to buy (at a reasonable price) I'd be interested, something more timber-like with a vibration operated pinger would make sense for my own use as I encounter more headphone clad numpties when rattling along our local NCN paths than anywhere else.
The promo video above doesn't accurately reflect the research
Video: "We found a narrow frequency window that ANC can't fully suppress, then engineered a bell that hits it exactly."
Research: "Given the observed attenuation profile across all headphones tested it is advised to tune the bell to below 1000 Hz in order to target the range of frequencies which are less well attenuated by ANC."
So yeah, it's useful to know that a ~750Hz ping gets past noise cancelling headphones, I still don't know what geometry, materials, temper or anything else helps create a bell that achieves that...
I suppose it's all rather irrelevant whether it has any patent protection, as soon as one arrives in China they'll be on AliExpress within no time. It's got to be pretty easy to copy.
In the Salford uni acoustics report, they consider the pros and cons of all sorts of other mechanical and electrical bells and horns. This made me laugh!
Squeeze Horn / Bicycle Horn (Clown Horn)
- Pros: Simple pneumatic operation; distinct, recognizable timbre.
- Cons: Rubber bulb could degrade in UV light/weather; difficult to tune to specific high-frequency harmonics; low SPL; potentially too comical.
In the Salford uni acoustics report, they consider the pros and cons of all sorts of other mechanical and electrical bells and horns. This made me laugh!
Squeeze Horn / Bicycle Horn (Clown Horn)
- Pros: Simple pneumatic operation; distinct, recognizable timbre.
- Cons: Rubber bulb could degrade in UV light/weather; difficult to tune to specific high-frequency harmonics; low SPL; potentially too comical.
Not to mention the matching shoes will have front wheel overlap issues.
Interesting that internally they look like the good old fashioned ratchet type "ding dong" bells. Modern isn't always better.
Mmmmm 😋
That would be so good if she was on here...her YouTube channel is generally excellent. It would save me time scrolling through my subscription notifications to watch her videos.
Squeeze Horn / Bicycle Horn (Clown Horn)
We had a "clown horn" on the tandem, got really great reactions to it out & about.
Is there any comments about frequency & older people, as I find they are the worst reactors to "ting ting" bells.
Vag group said each one would currently cost 125 euros to manufacture hence there looking to outsource
Interesting.
€125 for VAG to manufacture …their overheads will be huge, hence outsourcing.
Anyone else notice Bradley Wiggins reinventing himself at 2:23 in that video? Brand Ambassador for Skoda Duobell 🤔
Vag group said each one would currently cost 125 euros to manufacture hence there looking to outsource
I’ll wait till there’s a decent copy of it on aliexpress to buy for my mums bike, give it a few weeks and they’ll start to appear
For the moment, however, we understand that Škoda are not planning to release the model commercially, but are making the research available to improve safety for both cyclists and pedestrians.
As above, I use a clown horn on my commuter and it's very effective, but I just can't bring myself to put one on the 'proper' bikes.
this seems more like a problem that the manufacturers of earphones should be addressing
I used to have a clown horn on my commuting bike as well as a normal bell. Cars could never hear the normal bell but they could the clown horn, and it used to make people smile. But they had rubbish built quality, used to just rust and degrade over time. I went through at least two before sacking it off
I tend to give people a couple of ‘dings’ with my normal bell when I’m coming up from behind - if they can’t hear me because they’re using headphones on a shared use path, that instantly becomes their problem not mine, and I’m not that fussy about having to lean on them a bit to get past.
As long as you're not behaving that way towards people with hearing difficulties.
I'm not putting that great big ugly thing on my bike - just to address an idiocy problem of other people.. I dress in colours not black, I don't use headphones, I wear a helmet, I use a ringing bell, and say please and thank you and cycle pretty moderately in shared spaces. TBH, if folks want to occupy those same spaces as me but take none of the precautions or show any inclination to be co-operative with other users, then ****'em if they don't/won't get out of the way.
Well the bloke just got on the same train carriage as me must've helped with the development of these bells. I have nose cancelling on and buds at almost max volume and I can still hear his droning ****ing voice!
They cancelled my nose too 😎