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bells on bikes

by bonnie
Sun, Aug 19, 2018 15:22
39

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.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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39 comments

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BehindTheBikesheds | 6 years ago
7 likes

Just wear a bell when you're walking, it's easy peasy, whilst you're at it wear a helmet too and some hi-vis garments, oh and lights during the day. If not you're showing no consideration to others, how on earth can anyone see/hear you coming otherwise.

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ktache | 6 years ago
4 likes

Some pedestians react by randomly jumping either left or right upon hearing a bell, apparently believing that you are cycling right at them, whereas you are only notifying them of your presence.  And beacause they are walking down the middle of the shared path they have a 50% chance of jumping in front of the cyclist.

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Deeferdonk replied to ktache | 6 years ago
0 likes

ktache wrote:

Some pedestians react by randomly jumping either left or right upon hearing a bell, apparently believing that you are cycling right at them, whereas you are only notifying them of your presence.  And beacause they are walking down the middle of the shared path they have a 50% chance of jumping in front of the cyclist.

If they jump in front of the cyclist on hearing the bell, the cyclist either hasn't sounded his bell early enough or is travelling too fast for a shared path.

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hawkinspeter replied to Deeferdonk | 6 years ago
5 likes

Deeferdonk wrote:

ktache wrote:

Some pedestians react by randomly jumping either left or right upon hearing a bell, apparently believing that you are cycling right at them, whereas you are only notifying them of your presence.  And beacause they are walking down the middle of the shared path they have a 50% chance of jumping in front of the cyclist.

If they jump in front of the cyclist on hearing the bell, the cyclist either hasn't sounded his bell early enough or is travelling too fast for a shared path.

...or they didn't hear you the first five times you rang the bell.

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Deeferdonk replied to hawkinspeter | 6 years ago
3 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

Deeferdonk wrote:

ktache wrote:

Some pedestians react by randomly jumping either left or right upon hearing a bell, apparently believing that you are cycling right at them, whereas you are only notifying them of your presence.  And beacause they are walking down the middle of the shared path they have a 50% chance of jumping in front of the cyclist.

If they jump in front of the cyclist on hearing the bell, the cyclist either hasn't sounded his bell early enough or is travelling too fast for a shared path.

...or they didn't hear you the first five times you rang the bell.

Well if they haven't heard you and you are still ringing your bell when you are right on top of them, then you are being too aggressive. A couple of pings from a distance, followed by a polite "excuse me" if you get very close to them.

If they refuse to move, tut loudly, lick your finger and put it in their ear and they soon jump out of the way.

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hawkinspeter replied to Deeferdonk | 6 years ago
2 likes

Deeferdonk wrote:

hawkinspeter wrote:

Deeferdonk wrote:

ktache wrote:

Some pedestians react by randomly jumping either left or right upon hearing a bell, apparently believing that you are cycling right at them, whereas you are only notifying them of your presence.  And beacause they are walking down the middle of the shared path they have a 50% chance of jumping in front of the cyclist.

If they jump in front of the cyclist on hearing the bell, the cyclist either hasn't sounded his bell early enough or is travelling too fast for a shared path.

...or they didn't hear you the first five times you rang the bell.

Well if they haven't heard you and you are still ringing your bell when you are right on top of them, then you are being too aggressive. A couple of pings from a distance, followed by a polite "excuse me" if you get very close to them.

If they refuse to move, tut loudly, lick your finger and put it in their ear and they soon jump out of the way.

The missus and I were trying out riding a tandem and got stuck behind an elderly couple on a shared use path. A polite bell ring, followed by another, followed by another... after about 20 seconds or so, we managed to get their attention and they apologised for being hard of hearing.

I don't mind bells, but they don't always work how you want them to.

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Mungecrundle | 6 years ago
0 likes

Bells are OK but you have to plan ahead to use them. In an emergency, shouting 'Oi!' is both quicker and more effective.

I use my bell almost as a pre warning, warning. It is pretty weedy to be honest, can't see how anyone could take offence at it.

I'm also looking forward to the time when someone uses their horn aggressively, then I pull level at the next lights and as they wind their window down to spout some crap about road tax, I can ding my weedy bell, and say "Ha, how do you like that?"

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TheHungryGhost replied to Mungecrundle | 6 years ago
5 likes

Mungecrundle wrote:

I'm also looking forward to the time when someone uses their horn aggressively"

I was riding along the bus/cycle lane, and the road was blocked by a car pulling out of a side road trying to push into traffic.  The driver of this car, and the driver of a car on the main carriageway, who obviously wasn't keen on letting the other driver pull in, were having a horn blowing showdown.  I pulled up on my Pashey, which has a lovely two tone brass bell, and decided to join in, much to the amusement of passing pedestrians.

Even more surprising, the car pulled back a few feet to let me pass.

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EddyBerckx | 6 years ago
2 likes

No one takes any notice of them else they see it as an aggressive command to get out the way. On road bikes (this is predominately a road bike based site in truth) you can't easily reach most bells without taking one hand off the bars/brakes.

This means you need to do it with plenty of notice or risk crashing into someone if they don't move out the way. If you have plenty of time anyway you can simply slow down, go round them and maybe call out excuse me or something? It's not cut and dry.

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