Something better than a cycling bell.
Comments
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although not a cyclist myself(am motorcyclist) my son has encountered similar issues on his pushbike. Due to most pedestrians walking around with earphones in/on mobile etc, he has found that since fitting his white flashing LED light to his bike the number of near misses has reduced.
ive always ridden motorcycles with headlights on, be seen, be safe. The need for really loud horns is excessive i feel.
Sensible views. I think I'll do like your son, it ought to work.0 -
The trouble with a lot of pedestrians that walk out in front of you, is they rely on their hearing too much. If they don't hear a vehicle they assume the road is clear. Bikes are stealthy, much like electric cars will be if nothing is done about it.0
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sun-n-moon wrote: »The trouble with a lot of pedestrians that walk out in front of you, is they rely on their hearing too much. If they don't hear a vehicle they assume the road is clear. Bikes are stealthy, much like electric cars will be if nothing is done about it.
God -- I hope nothing is done to make electric cars noisy. The terrible noise of motor vehicles is a blight on many people's right to peace and quiet. The noise disturbs the wildlife too. The sooner we have silent cars, the better.
As an added bonus, people will learn to look before crossing the road, or risk being removed from the gene pool.0 -
I think the tiny little bells you get on most bikes these days which only go "ding" aren't really good enough. They're not really loud enough, and even if you do manage to flick it strongly enough to be heard, I don't think many pedestrians immediately associate the sound with a bike.
My new bike came with a bell that makes a proper "ring-ring" sound which I have found much more effective. Whilst it doesn't actually sound much louder, I think the sound is more easily picked up and recognised by pedestrians.0 -
Yes, proper "pig ignorant ". The old lass was toddling across as fast as she could.Sigh. There's no need for that! It is infuriating when pedestrians jump in front of you because "you're not a car" but the cyclist wasn't even moving when the woman stepped out in to the road! No one had to take evasive action. An accident was never going to happen.
Its berks like that cyclist who get us a bad name.
The tinkling bell is polite enough to draw attention if not , slow down a bit.
Blasting that thing out will get him in trouble one day. Cars are not allowed to use their horns unnecessarily and that was as loud as my car horn. A £30 ticket will stop that0 -
The tiny bells are pretty useless.
I had a Lion Bellworks brass bell on one of my bicycles. It made a really nice and clear sound. Unfortunately the bike it was on was stolen.
If you go here you can play a recording of the sound, and my experience was that this is an accurate representation. http://www.lionbellworks.co.uk
I keep meaning to buy another one.0 -
^^ Oooh -- that bell sounds amazing!
My bike came with a bell that sounded really harsh, and I'm sure people reacted more aggressively/irritably than when I replaced it with a slightly less high-pitched bell with a bit of echo/reverb/decay or whatever it's called (a longer sound duration).
Any idea what the difference is between the "classic" and "urban" versions of that fancy bell?
EDIT: Oh -- it looks like the "classic" bell is made of brass, while the "urban" one is made of some kind of alloy that is supposedly more durable. I wonder if they sound the same... :-/0 -
although not a cyclist myself(am motorcyclist) my son has encountered similar issues on his pushbike. Due to most pedestrians walking around with earphones in/on mobile etc, he has found that since fitting his white flashing LED light to his bike the number of near misses has reduced.
ive always ridden motorcycles with headlights on, be seen, be safe. The need for really loud horns is excessive i feel.
I agree. Most pedestrians who walk in front of my bike have headphones in and a bright flashing LED light does seem to have reduced this for me too.0 -
As a countryside walker, I am fearful of cyclists who come up behind me, and guess where I am going to be in the next few seconds before overtaking. Many don't use or even have a bell. I think it is natural to walk along country footpaths, not always in a rigid straight line, but sometimes veering slightly to the left or right to admire a view or a flower which my grandchild is pointing out. One day I fear a cyclist, of which I am unaware, will guess wrong, and will collide with me. Perhaps some are reluctant to sound a bell on a footpath as it might seem impolite, but it's better than a collision.0
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Perhaps some are reluctant to sound a bell on a footpath as it might seem impolite, but it's better than a collision.
This is a somewhat old thread, but the issue you raise is a real one, given that some people seem to think that ringing your bell is being aggressive.
Personally on footpaths I'd just give a cheery "coming through" and similarly passing horses on a country lane. In more urban contexts it may be something like "whaaargh!".0
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