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Just put a bell on your bike easy peasy saves lots of aggro i would rather hear a bell than someone skidding on gravel and frightening me which has happend on tow paths please spare a thought for walkers some can be awkward but then so can cyclists as i have encounterd.
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Bells do have the advantage that people know what they are. Well decent ones anyway, not the single ring pingers.
A skid indicates that something is stopping too fast. A clicking freewheel means nothing to a non cyclist (or someone with a properly maintained or designed bike.
) A voice can work but is so often misued and isn’t cycle specific. A bell says that a bike is coming as a horn says that a motorised vehicle is there.
I refuse to accept that a bell cannot be mounted. They fit bars or the seat post, which is where mine is. . As you should be slowing when approaching a pedestrian or slower cyclist or what ever control isn’t an issue. If it is then the riding speed should be slower still.
Of course bells don’t work with the dimwits who are deliberatley deaf but remember the idea isn’t to get them to move out of your way, its to tell them you are there. What they do then depedns on their nature as a human.
Nothing of course will work for those with no genuine hearing or they complete antisocial morons who use headphones in public. Its not the wearing thats wrong, its the oblivion to the world around you.
To those who say “bells don’t work”. Of course they don’t always but why should that be an objection to them? NOTHING works in every situation does it but that never ever is the reason to stop using something.
Bells also have the disadvantage that they often involve you moving your hand away from the controls.
You can’t change the volume of most of them.
You can’t change/modulate what information they are conveying.
Using your voice doesn’t really have those disadvantages, so why should bells be preferred to human voices?
Indicating also involves moving your hands away from the controls, but this is another important safety manouvre to alert others
I can modulate my bell by the distance that I pull the hammer back, the number and frequency of the pings
Relying onveying of information is not always good, I witnessed a crash a month or so ago where a cyclist anounced “on your left” and the pedestrian took this to mean move to your left and they collided.
Using your voice can have disadvantages of blending in to the other background noise and, if you have been cycling hard, the inability to use it or increase the volume significantly.
Also in my experience you can use a bell to alert at a greater distance. I have also been safely alerted of oncoming bikes round a blind bend by bell several times, never by someone giving istructions that they are aproaching!
I really don’t get this being a great debate, it’s not like disc brakes vs rim brakes or helmet vs no helmet. In the arguement of Voice vs Bell, if you have a bell that does not stop you using your voice. You can actually use both, unlike the other arguements listed where it’s and either/or situation (at any one time).
If you have to take your hand off the steering wheel to indicate, your car has been designed badly, otherwise which controls are you referring to?
The dude that crashed after shouting “on your left” would probably have crashed with a bell too, method of warning wasn’t the contributing factor. Not being able to stop was.
I am often belled by cyclists on the tow path as they fly through, I perceive them as being demanding in that there is a ring and the rider expects to come through. There is no disputing that it’s a bike though, and often coming through at speed.
Personally I don’t care if it’s a bell or an audible warning, if it’s a shared path, share it.
I give an audible warning, moderate speed and pass to the tones of a cheery “thanks” or a wave, very few dickheads out there these days. But like everywhere, they exist.
The knobends are those who pass in absolute silence, often fully lycraed up, so not casual riders/peeps on bikes, but cyclists (as we so often like to differentiate ourselves)
I was talking about indicating on a bicycle, sorry if that was not obvious.
I believe that if the person that shouted “on your left” had a bell then they would have been able to alert the pedestrian earlier. I believe that bells can be heard and recognised at a greater distance. This would have enabled the pedestrian to move to one side and the cyclist plenty of time to go around them on the other side. In my experience, most of the time, if you are close enough to give instruction then you probably don’t have enough time to react to what you are not expecting.
How do cyclists without a bell alert people that they are coming round a blind corner?
Bells do have the advantage that people know what they are. Well decent ones anyway, not the single ring pingers.A skid indicates that something is stopping too fast. A clicking freewheel means nothing to a non cyclist (or someone with a properly maintained or designed bike.
) A voice can work but is so often misued and isn’t cycle specific. A bell says that a bike is coming as a horn says that a motorised vehicle is there.
I refuse to accept that a bell cannot be mounted. They fit bars or the seat post, which is where mine is. . As you should be slowing when approaching a pedestrian or slower cyclist or what ever control isn’t an issue. If it is then the riding speed should be slower still.
Of course bells don’t work with the dimwits who are deliberatley deaf but remember the idea isn’t to get them to move out of your way, its to tell them you are there. What they do then depedns on their nature as a human.
Nothing of course will work for those with no genuine hearing or they complete antisocial morons who use headphones in public. Its not the wearing thats wrong, its the oblivion to the world around you.
To those who say “bells don’t work”. Of course they don’t always but why should that be an objection to them? NOTHING works in every situation does it but that never ever is the reason to stop using something.
Bells also have the disadvantage that they often involve you moving your hand away from the controls.
You can’t change the volume of most of them.
You can’t change/modulate what information they are conveying.
Using your voice doesn’t really have those disadvantages, so why should bells be preferred to human voices?
Indicating also involves moving your hands away from the controls, but this is another important safety manouvre to alert others
I can modulate my bell by the distance that I pull the hammer back, the number and frequency of the pings
Relying onveying of information is not always good, I witnessed a crash a month or so ago where a cyclist anounced “on your left” and the pedestrian took this to mean move to your left and they collided.
Using your voice can have disadvantages of blending in to the other background noise and, if you have been cycling hard, the inability to use it or increase the volume significantly.
Also in my experience you can use a bell to alert at a greater distance. I have also been safely alerted of oncoming bikes round a blind bend by bell several times, never by someone giving istructions that they are aproaching!
I really don’t get this being a great debate, it’s not like disc brakes vs rim brakes or helmet vs no helmet. In the arguement of Voice vs Bell, if you have a bell that does not stop you using your voice. You can actually use both, unlike the other arguements listed where it’s and either/or situation (at any one time).
If you have to take your hand off the steering wheel to indicate, your car has been designed badly, otherwise which controls are you referring to?
The dude that crashed after shouting “on your left” would probably have crashed with a bell too, method of warning wasn’t the contributing factor. Not being able to stop was.
I am often belled by cyclists on the tow path as they fly through, I perceive them as being demanding in that there is a ring and the rider expects to come through. There is no disputing that it’s a bike though, and often coming through at speed.
Personally I don’t care if it’s a bell or an audible warning, if it’s a shared path, share it.
I give an audible warning, moderate speed and pass to the tones of a cheery “thanks” or a wave, very few dickheads out there these days. But like everywhere, they exist.
The knobends are those who pass in absolute silence, often fully lycraed up, so not casual riders/peeps on bikes, but cyclists (as we so often like to differentiate ourselves)
Bells do have the advantage that people know what they are. Well decent ones anyway, not the single ring pingers.A skid indicates that something is stopping too fast. A clicking freewheel means nothing to a non cyclist (or someone with a properly maintained or designed bike.
) A voice can work but is so often misued and isn’t cycle specific. A bell says that a bike is coming as a horn says that a motorised vehicle is there.
I refuse to accept that a bell cannot be mounted. They fit bars or the seat post, which is where mine is. . As you should be slowing when approaching a pedestrian or slower cyclist or what ever control isn’t an issue. If it is then the riding speed should be slower still.
Of course bells don’t work with the dimwits who are deliberatley deaf but remember the idea isn’t to get them to move out of your way, its to tell them you are there. What they do then depedns on their nature as a human.
Nothing of course will work for those with no genuine hearing or they complete antisocial morons who use headphones in public. Its not the wearing thats wrong, its the oblivion to the world around you.
To those who say “bells don’t work”. Of course they don’t always but why should that be an objection to them? NOTHING works in every situation does it but that never ever is the reason to stop using something.
Bells also have the disadvantage that they often involve you moving your hand away from the controls.
You can’t change the volume of most of them.
You can’t change/modulate what information they are conveying.
Using your voice doesn’t really have those disadvantages, so why should bells be preferred to human voices?
Indicating also involves moving your hands away from the controls, but this is another important safety manouvre to alert others
I can modulate my bell by the distance that I pull the hammer back, the number and frequency of the pings
Relying onveying of information is not always good, I witnessed a crash a month or so ago where a cyclist anounced “on your left” and the pedestrian took this to mean move to your left and they collided.
Using your voice can have disadvantages of blending in to the other background noise and, if you have been cycling hard, the inability to use it or increase the volume significantly.
Also in my experience you can use a bell to alert at a greater distance. I have also been safely alerted of oncoming bikes round a blind bend by bell several times, never by someone giving istructions that they are aproaching!
I really don’t get this being a great debate, it’s not like disc brakes vs rim brakes or helmet vs no helmet. In the arguement of Voice vs Bell, if you have a bell that does not stop you using your voice. You can actually use both, unlike the other arguements listed where it’s and either/or situation (at any one time).
Bells do have the advantage that people know what they are. Well decent ones anyway, not the single ring pingers.A skid indicates that something is stopping too fast. A clicking freewheel means nothing to a non cyclist (or someone with a properly maintained or designed bike.
) A voice can work but is so often misued and isn’t cycle specific. A bell says that a bike is coming as a horn says that a motorised vehicle is there.
I refuse to accept that a bell cannot be mounted. They fit bars or the seat post, which is where mine is. . As you should be slowing when approaching a pedestrian or slower cyclist or what ever control isn’t an issue. If it is then the riding speed should be slower still.
Of course bells don’t work with the dimwits who are deliberatley deaf but remember the idea isn’t to get them to move out of your way, its to tell them you are there. What they do then depedns on their nature as a human.
Nothing of course will work for those with no genuine hearing or they complete antisocial morons who use headphones in public. Its not the wearing thats wrong, its the oblivion to the world around you.
To those who say “bells don’t work”. Of course they don’t always but why should that be an objection to them? NOTHING works in every situation does it but that never ever is the reason to stop using something.
Bells also have the disadvantage that they often involve you moving your hand away from the controls.
You can’t change the volume of most of them.
You can’t change/modulate what information they are conveying.
Using your voice doesn’t really have those disadvantages, so why should bells be preferred to human voices?
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