Following a massively successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, Knog’s Oi bicycle bell is now hitting the shelves of bike shops across the country. And we’ve just got our hands on one to review, here’s a quick first look before we hit the road.
The bicycle bell hasn’t changed much since it was first invented in 1877, but there’s something of a renaissance occurring at the moment, with a focus on smart and compact design bringing about a new generation of bicycle bell that you wouldn’t be embarrassed to fit it to your bike. The Knog Oi is just one of a number of options for compact and sleek bicycle bells.
“We wanted to reinvent what the humble bicycle bell was,” says Knog founder Hugo Davidson. “We wanted to design a product that was sympathetic to all bikes, that looked great on vintage bikes, all the way through to road bikes.
Knog has designed a circular bell that wraps around the handlebar, with a single bolt clamp to keep the aluminium and nylon product in place. No problem if you have a tangle of cables out the front of your bars, the Oi bell can sit over two cable outers quite happily.
Not only has Knog sweated the details when it comes to the aesthetics, it also apparently carefully considered the sound it makes when you ding the spring-loaded actuator.
“Our bell actually has several pitch tones – one core and several supportive higher tones to ensure it’s unmistakable and safely heard,” says Knog.
Have a listen to it in our video above. What do you think of the sound? We’ll find out if it’s loud enough when we hit the road and find some busy streets and see what sort of reaction we get from other road users.
It’s available in two sizes to fit 22.2 and 23.8 – 31.8mm handlebars, and four colours, including the copper finish we’ve got, and costs £15.99. It’s available from all good retailers now. More info at www.silverfish-uk.com
Were you a Kickstarter funder of the Oi bell? How have you been getting on with it?
42 thoughts on “Video First Look: Knog’s Oi bicycle bell”
Is it just me, or was anyone else disappointed?
I was expecting something that bellowed “OI!” not this apologetic ‘ping’
I’ve had mine for a couple of
I’ve had mine for a couple of months now (bought from a shop, not through kickstarter or anything) only criticism is that it’s a bit quiet. also tends to ping when riding over bumpy ground.
looks nice though and sits out the way.
I’m not allowed to
I’m not allowed to ‘officially’ review this because I purchased five in a pack via Kickstarter. I have that copper one on my best bike. The video can’t do the sound justice. In practice I’d say they are as loud as other small bells typically fitted to road/commuter bikes – the thumb-spring type, not the rotating old-fashioned ones that stop working after a while.
No, they are nowhere near as loud or tuneful as a proper brass bell from the likes of Lion Bell Works (of which I own one). But then they are a lot lighter and – critically, for busy handlebars – almost zero-profile, so they don’t get in the way of GPS, phones, lights, etc. I purchased one specifically for my wife’s CX bike, where handlebar real estate is at a premium due to the crosstop levers.
Plus there’s a generous cutout so the under-bar-tape cables can feed through it, if you want to put it close to the tape.
All in all, I’m very happy with mine.
Got a couple of these, they
Got a couple of these, they’re quiet as I’ve mentioned here before. Sound alright in the house, but outside they’re bad in busy places like canal towpaths and such at the weekend. Replica ones are louder but not obnoxious and just right for getting noticed when you want it.
Not happy with ours. Wouldn’t pay a fiver for one.
Got a couple of these, they
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Got a couple of these, they’re quiet as I’ve mentioned here before. Sound alright in the house, but outside they’re bad in busy places like canal towpaths and such at the weekend. Replica ones are louder but not obnoxious and just right for getting noticed when you want it.
Not happy with ours. Wouldn’t pay a fiver for one.
Where did you get the replica bells from ?
ping ping PING PING DING dong
ping ping PING PING DING dong PRRRANG ting
A good bell must have different loudnesses and tones that can be selected accord to the situations. LOUD and peercing by canal at weekend quiet and relaxing melodic indoors during evenings. Can this bell emit various monotones?
No Carbon or Ti?
Another cheap bell. Why can’t they use carbon for the frame and Ti for the ringer?? Seems silly to put such a cheap item on a 2.5k bike.
domats wrote:
My bike was so expensive I have a quartet of baroque trumpeters in full Louis XIV livery roller-blading ahead of me on my stately progress.
domats wrote:
They have a Ti option
I wish mine were louder. You
I wish mine were louder. You also have to be careful not to place too close to other things on the bars (including stem) or they will rattle or not ring as loudly.
They do look nice and the cable spaces are a nice touch, though not useful on my crowded bars as the things they have to sit next to don’t have such holes on their clamps!
I wish the screws were captive – it’s really easy to drop them while fitting! 🙁
Such a disappointment after
Such a disappointment after the long wait from signing up to it on kickstarter.
It’s not loud enough and the spring is cheap and nasty which means it’s constantly dinging over even small road defects.
Total waste of £15 and wouldn’t recommend to anyone
Afraid I’ll have to echo the
Afraid I’ll have to echo the negative comments. Massively disappointed with them.
They do look very pretty (which, shallow git that I am, was the reason I wanted them), but as bells they’re pretty much useless. Way too quiet, feel very cheaply made (I doubt that the pinger will survive very long), and agitated even by the slightest bump in the road. Took it off again after the first ride.
Not sure what to do with them now TBH, as I’d feel bad ebaying them off. Who would want a bell that’s that bad?
Nice try, Knog – but I’ll stick to Spurcycle bells, thank you very much. They may cost twice as much, but at least they’re audible, well made, and only ping when they’re supposed to.
userfriendly wrote:
This ^
I kickstarted it, but my Oi spent two days on my bike before I took it off and put my £5.99 Wilko special back on. Tinkling all the time, couldn’t get it in the right place from my grips.
Very disappointed, and am saving up for a Spurcycles bell…
waste of money Oi bell
Bought two on kickstarter, taken in by their hype.
Really not fit for purpose quiet and pings on rough surfaces and seems to reberate when windy.
Contcted Knog and should have returned for a refund but put in a drawer and fogot.
Stay well clear not a good product
I’m not impressed with mine
I’m not impressed with mine either.
With brifters you still have
With brifters you still have to take your hands of the controls. But I guess with brifters you cannot avoid it…
cyclisto wrote:
I tore the rubber cover off the button from a Hornit and put it under the right brifter’s rubber cover (where Shimano normally puts their buttons which I don’t have). Not an actual bell, of course, but pretty loud and I don’t have to take my hands off (including while in the drops).
Sounds like it should be
Sounds like it should be renamed the Knog “Excuse me, would you mind… I’m awfully sorry, never mind, I’ll go around”
I do not understand the need
I do not understand the need for a bell. You have a voice, use that. Not only is it free, but it does everything from a gentle “excuse me”, through “bike coming through” to a loud “STAY WHERE YOU ARE” at a beheadphoned ped.
srchar wrote:
well you say that, and I realise it might sound unusual but despite being able to offer cheery hellos to my fellow cyclists as I pass them and swear like a trooper when someone cuts me up badly, whenever Im in that situation where I need to communicate to pedestrians, nothing happens, I get completely tongue tied, the best noise I can manage is to squeak, unsurprisingly pedestrians dont respond much to squeaking cyclists, so a bell and especially a loud bell is actually something I would find very useful.
and I had considered the kickstarter but didnt bother with it in the end, though frankly if the volume on the video is accurate to its noise levels, I can squeak louder than that.
I have a small Cateye bell on
I have a small Cateye bell on my hardtail that gives plenty of warning to walkers when pinged as it can be heard from several hundred yards. No-one seems too upset by it and I wouldn’t want to be shouting from there. I wouldn’t use it right behind someone, that’s when the voice comes in handy.
I too was taken in by the
I too was taken in by the kickstarter campaign.
To be blunt they’re rubbish. No one hears them even on the country lanes we have in Wales and they tinkle constantly on the crap roads we have.
That no one notices it on the handlebars is the best thing I can say about it.
Don’t bother wasting your money
keirik wrote:
Tinkling seems to mean it’s overtightened and the screw tip is protruding too far through and the bell sounding bar is hitting it over bumps?
NPlus1BikelightsNJerseys
Nope. Not mine at least. Installed perfectly correct. It has a nice (quiet) ring that lasts a while. BUT it constantly pings on anything but billiard table smooth roads. I live in Surrey. You can see (hear?) my problem. Beautiful design. Crap execution. Don’t waste your money.
kevvjj wrote:
same here. not overtightened, just a bad design or bad implementation
Not really sure why I bought
Not really sure why I bought into this via kickstarter, finished item is decorative at best and I haven’t used any kind of bell on any kind of bike since I was about 6. Echo comments above about the human voice being far more useful in every situation.
Oh dear Road.cc
Unless road.cc’s video is not picking up the sound properly they also have one of the faulty bells – Mine (Classic via Kickstarter) was quiet and plinked a lot – and if you used it urgently in a dogwalker collision imminent situation it plinked even more, you had to use it a little gently to make it actually ring but this meant it was not loud enough.
I sent 2 videos to Knog (mine was not as bad as their “is my bell faulty” video) and they said it should be doing better and sent out another. The new one is 3 times louder with no plinking and even makes joggers with headphones look. Ring duration also nearly 4 seconds now and perfectly happy with it. I have the old one installed on the other side of the bars for looks!
I’m really surprised with all
I’m really surprised with all the negative comments. I have the copper bell and it is really loud (more than loud enough to be heard through Rusholm, Manchester in the rush hour!) and it works perfectly. It even works well in the rain which all my others have failed at.
Simply a great bell in my opinion.
Got one too. Like most others
Got one too. Like most others, it looks pretty cool, but is rather apologetic as bells go and won’t shut up over anything other than smooth roads.
Sounds rubbish
Save up and buy a spurcycle bell. They rock…
Sean here from Knog. Sorry to
Sean here from Knog. Sorry to hear some of you have been having issues with your Oi bells. If your bell is not sounding great, or ringing when you hit bumps then it could be that the bell is overtightened on your handlebars or the ringer is hitting the top of the mounting screw. Try loosening the screw by a turn or two and it should resolve the issue. If the problem persists or your bell isn’t performing as it should then please email us at hello@knog.com.au and we’ll happily troubleshoot the issue for you or replace the bell with a brand new one.
Sean Knog wrote:
email sent. Believe me Sean when I say I have tried everything, including different places on the bars etc.
Sean Knog wrote:
I have two on different bikes, they both perform equally poorly, and since I can build a bike from scratch I doubt I am so incompetent that I can’t fit a bell. It’s not tight on either bike and the pinging is because the striker hits the “bell”.
I’ve just put it down to experience – ie don’t believe the hype of kickstarter
That’s the thing Sean, most
That’s the thing Sean, most people complaining have tinkered with them and aren’t completely incompetent (though some will be I’m sure). It really is a pretty quiet bell design. You guys know that by now, though, judging by the onslaught of comments on Kickstarter.
Waited maybe 7 months for our bells, just cannot be bothered dealing with it any longer. It’s not an expensive item, just a bit of a disappointment. Looks nice but maybe fire the guys who did the decibel tests in a variety of environments. Clearly didn’t do a thorough job.
No matter how tight or loose
No matter how tight or loose I install it, it keeps dinging over anything put perfectly smooth asphalt. That was my first and last time as a kickstarter backer.
Pound shop kids hooter
Gives a nice toot, most people smile, doesn’t sound off over bumps, who could want more?
Should have read Pound shop
Should have read Pound shop kid’s hooter etc
Bought two through
Bought two through Kickstarter. Look great but a bit disappointed with the sound – much much quieter than the Spurcycle on my other bike.
But this depends on the situation – I find the Oi is loud enough on shared paths away from traffic to alert pedestrians, where the Spurcyle either scares the s*** out of them or leads them to accuse me of “ringing my bell aggressively”. If I just wanted loud then I’d pull out that big old bell I bought in Beijing -looks kinda weird on my road bike.
SO if I think about how I normally use my bell rather than is it the loudest bell out there, I’d say the Oi works, even if it is trying just a little bit too hard to look cool.
Same here, was taken in by
Same here, was taken in by the Kickstarter campaign.
And same here, utterly disappointed by the bell. The 31.8mm version has to sit right next to the stem because der, drop bars are 23.8mm except for a narrow section in the middle, a fact Knog only seem to have realised late on (they offered 31.8mm or 22.2mm).
Anyway, the sound is utterly pathetic. Would never be heard in London streets. Wasn’t heard in London streets.
I too had my Knog bell on for two days before reverting to my ugly but LOUD £3.99 Cateye bell with an ugly but flexible and adjustable strap that I can mount anywhere. I have it just below the shifters on the inside of the bars, so I can operate the bell with a thumb while I haul on the brakes for dear life as yet another iPed walks in front of me or I’m cut up on my commute to work.
The Oi is a complete and utter waste of money. I would have returned it for a refund had I not thrown out the box. Full marks for looks, full marks for marketing, zero marks for functionality. I won’t be supporting any more Kickstarter products!!
great bell
Finally a bell that you want to mount on a race bike. Indeed just not loud enough, but for the rest perfect, fits well, looks great, no issue on cobbles. I didn’t buy from kickstarter, maybe they improved design or production later on.
In the past when bking with my kids I was always annoyed by all those cyclists on the road passing us by without any warning. I understand a classic bell looks idiot on a race bike but now this excuse has gone. Just mount one and let people know you are about to overtake them.
guy vm wrote:
Knog are sending me out two more as replacements. Here’s hoping the dreaded tinkle has gone because they are a beautiful design…
Couple of thinks which have
Couple of thinks which have occurred to me while reading the comments:
1. If you’re riding a road bike with drop bars, to use a bell means that you take a hand off the brakes and steering. I don’t find this terribly safe. And I’m yet to see a bell which could be attached to shifters and used in any position.
2. Anyone who complains that use of a bell is rude should be told to take it up with Debrett’s: ‘… ring two tings on your bell to warn them that you are approaching.’
http://road.cc/content/news/24870-towpath-etiquette-tips-debrett%E2%80%99s
I’ve had several women of a certain age tut at me and it gives me great pleasure to refer them to the foremost etiquette experts. 😀