I have a chrome bell I got on my 7th birthday with my first bike. It works amazingly and is going strong after 26 years of service. I love my bell, it's loud, an unusual sound, and generally more easily received than yelling. What do you use for signalling? do you like a bell?
How do we, as a community, feel about bike bells?
byu/triathleteRN inbikecommuting
by triathleteRN
31 Comments
I don’t understand this post. Bells are good, and I would not expect that to be controversial.
Love them.
I love bells. What a pleasant sound to alert others of your presence! I hit that shit like it’s going outta style brrrng brrrng
Ring ring, ding or ding dong is the real question here. I was ring ring but now firmly in the ding dong camp.
Charming. Ding ding!
I like the ones that go ding ding, because you can hit one ding for an early polite warning and put your hand on it to muffle the second ding, or go ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding when you can tell someone is being an ass
Makes me want ice cream for some reason…..
OMG it’s the exact noise as the ice cream shop by the lake growing up.
Bells are legally required in my state, lol. I wish mine wss nice and loud like yours, I need to upgrade it eventually I just got a cheapie to make my bike road legal.
On multi-use paths I find bells confuse people more often than not and cause them to move into my path if they’re already off to one side. I only use them when I need to pass closely or for someone to move over so I can pass.
I use my bell to politely tell pedestrians I’m coming up behind them, and I yell at drivers who are putting me in danger.
It’s vaguely better received as compared to yelling, and where I live bells are one of the two legally identified ways to inform pedestrians that you’re passing. Beyond preferring ringing a bell over yelling, I don’t have any feelings about it. Bells and voice are both effective in direct proportion to the level of attention a pedestrian has, and are a crap shoot since some folks are too oblivious/entitled to usefully respond to any warning or notice.
Finally put a bell on my commuter and its lovely.
No more out of breath “excuse me” and it seems people can hear a bell a lot better than a voice even if they have earbuds in.
Well, most states require a bell on a bike, not a loud freehub.. just saying.. I’d like to put a train horn on my bike for folks that walk around and stop in the middle of a bike path..
I love bells but can’t find a way to fit one on my bullhorns with a light and phone mount. So I say “ding ding!” in a jovial tone and it does the job.
I think they are nice, but I do feel there is a dogmaticness to how aggressively some people talk about them. I have been yelled at probably 10 times by older people because I choose to signal verbally instead of using a bell and I think it’s bizarre and ridiculous.
Essential
I just don’t think it’s right to ding at people walking on shared paths. I see people on bikes go ding ding and people walking get a jump scare. It’s better to just slow down and say hello and then keep going.
It’s fun to make walkers and joggers check to see if they have a text
Bells are good, and also mandatory in my location.
I don’t use any bell where I live. I like to keep my bicycle as minimalistic as possible…
I just occasionally whistle very loudly when there are people in my way.
Bella are generally useful, and they are fine. I had one with the first bike I bought as an adult. But eventually the bell along with a kickstand went away. My voice works fine as well. I’m not a hardcore cyclist. I’m not saving any significant weight given my body weight and other stuff I’m often carrying, but I’m also happy to have one less accessory attached to my handlebars. However, bells are cool, and I’m just as happy to get a bell warning as a voice warning from someone about to pass.
If someone doesn’t have a bell while riding, they’re an asshole. It’s that simple. 🙂
Don’t assume the people ahead know you’re there, ring that fuckin’ thing every time, well in advance. Nothing is worst than scaring someone because they weren’t paying attention, that’s not a good outcome.
I like them in principle. I have never been a fan of the ‘on your left/right’ callout crowd as the statement is mostly not intelligible unless the cyclist is right behind the person (in all other cases cases it is ‘someone yelled someplace behind me for some odd reason’). At least a bell indicates ‘someone is behind me with a noise generator’.
I live in Tokyo where bike bells are supposed to be used in only emergency situations. Haven’t heard a bike bell in about a year (some old chap rang his bell at myself and my daughter despite being nowhere near him).
I am a much bigger fan of louder hubs. Doesn’t require violating local laws, doesn’t require interpretation of random shouts. Just some noise behind folks letting them know you are behind them. In my experience it is mostly enough and I rarely have to vocalize to pass.
Essential. Saying this as a Dutch person living in a very bike friendly Dutch city with lots of tourists. The most basic ones are best for scaring tourists of the bike path 😅
I have a bell for being polite and an air horn for when I need to make sure I am heard. Use both.
I have two bells. One is “hello, I am passing” and the other is “get out of the way”
Bells are wonderful devices that use sound to clear the path ahead of pedestrians. 10/10 would recommend.
How else am I supposed to clear a family of 10 people wide blocking the whole 15 foot wide bike trail?
I need one for the Canada geese not so much for human pedestrians
Essential so dog walkers can wind their dogs in.
On my commute bells are not heard, too slowly interpreted, or just cause the person to slowly turn and then panic because I am somehow a surprise.
Right now a very clear announcement works best. “Comming up on your left!” Or “Heads up!”