When we were kids, you may have had a honky-horn with a bulb on the end, perhaps you had bells with gears that strike multiple times as they unwind like one of those self-propelled matchbox cars. Maybe you unscrew your bell halfway so the cracks on the trail ring it as you weave through a crowd of other trail users. Or maybe you ride a folding bike through the airport with a little electric horn. Perhaps you’re the best kind of DIY redneck and have fitted a literal tugboat horn to a bike trailor so you can scare the bejeezus out of a coalroller after they dump a load of black smoke on you.
Whatever it is, I want to know about it and why you chose it.
I just use my lungs. I’m loud from my time in the army so shouting has always worked.
ON YOUR LEFT, MAGGOTS!
When I was a kid, it was playing card rubberbanded to my chainstay so I could pretend I was riding a motorcycle from the noise
Nowadays, I prefer to just let out wolf whistle. Pierces even the best noise cancelling headphones and busiest traffic noise.
Air horn because it works against cars.
Air 'zounds is great. https://citruscycles.ca/airzound-cycle-bike-horn
That’s nice and it’s cheap but how about A 150db impact horn that can be heard over 1.5 miles away
Yes please, this one for the cars and the twinkly sounding glockenspiel bells for the peds.
I’ve got a little Knog bike bell. You press it once and it lets out a “ding” once. I’ll press it two or three times if I see someone wearing headphones who won’t hear the “On your LEFT” as I come up on them.
Bonus, I can put my thumb on the bell real easy and it shuts up.
It was cheap, does the job, and is really small.
I never thought I would be able to like a damn bike bell as much as I like the Knog Oi.
They’re such a sweet sound, but I feel like it’s easy to ignore.
Once I heard a kind verbal “toot toot!” from some toddlers riding past their teeny tiny bikes
I use a small and simple bell, mainly because of the size.
Very reasonably sized. This looks like the exact bell that came on one of my two bikes. It works, the sound is okay, though I find the bell binds with the mounting sometimes and muffles the ring.
That is the one i have too, just not in fancy red. I like it.
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Just a random small bell that was already on my bike. I don’t want to annoy pedestrians and i ring it from way far away. Not interested in having a bell that “works against cars”.
playing music publicly works and probably the only time it’s not annoying.
I’m not going to step to the side of the trail because I think I hear music nearby.
What if Ludacris is very politely asking you to Move?
Crane e-ne bells are neat with a nice sound and probably outlast the bike too
I like those classic ring ring one as it doesn’t sounds aggressive just to tell people i’m approaching, but sadly i couldn’t find it in market near me. On the other hand, i almost had a collision with someone who wear earphone and stare right into their phone while on their evening stroll, where after i ring my bell, he proceed to shift his direction onto my path. Have to move out of the way to not hit him, and he only see me after i went pass him.
I’ve got a tiny bell installed upside down on my handle bars so that it’s barely visible. I almost exclusively ride on forest trails but people clearly don’t seem to hear me coming as I constantly sneak up on them so I had to give in and buy one.
With everyone using those god damn earpods now, I think you could literally have an air horn attached to your bike, and they still wouldn’t hear it. I just have a little plastic bell attached to my bike, and I have about a 20% success rate with it. It always gives me pause when someone acts startled, and shocked, yet I’ve rang my bell 4 times, and my 108 tooth hub freewheeling is literally roaring like a swarm of bees. Yet it’s naturally my fault I’ve startled them.
I love loud freewheels/cassettes. The sound difference between a normal and high engagement hub is fascinating too. Just like driving a car, I use audio feedback a lot while biking.
I have one of those modern bells that basically hits a little tuning fork, and a modern electric bell that is essentially just a motorcycle horn if there’s a blind turn or dangerous situation.
