Putting the bell back on my bike!
digitaldave
Posts: 114
When I bought my bike last year, one of the first things I did was to remove things I felt I didn't need, i.e. reflectors (if it's dark, I'll have lights on), and the bell (they aren't cool 
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I went out for a ride yesterday, on a loop around the town of Stevenage, where I live. Now, the cool thing about living in Stevenage is that there is an extensive network of cycle tracks all over the town, so I can do most of my circuit riding on them instead of the roads. However, it seems that some of the pedestrians don't know that the large, wide bit with white dotted lines at junctions is the CYCLE track, and the smaller, unmarked paths next to it is for pedestrians. On my ride last night, I came across about a dozen people in different places, ALL walking on the cycle track part, not the pedestrian bit. I even got abuse from one of them.
So, the upshot is that I'm thinking about putting the bell back on my bike so I can ding it when approaching pedestrians from behind on the cycle tracks. It won't stop them walking on the cycle tracks in the first place, but at least they can't claim they didn't know I was there
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Dave.
).I went out for a ride yesterday, on a loop around the town of Stevenage, where I live. Now, the cool thing about living in Stevenage is that there is an extensive network of cycle tracks all over the town, so I can do most of my circuit riding on them instead of the roads. However, it seems that some of the pedestrians don't know that the large, wide bit with white dotted lines at junctions is the CYCLE track, and the smaller, unmarked paths next to it is for pedestrians. On my ride last night, I came across about a dozen people in different places, ALL walking on the cycle track part, not the pedestrian bit. I even got abuse from one of them.
So, the upshot is that I'm thinking about putting the bell back on my bike so I can ding it when approaching pedestrians from behind on the cycle tracks. It won't stop them walking on the cycle tracks in the first place, but at least they can't claim they didn't know I was there
.Dave.
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Comments
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Get a big honk honk horn!
There's cycle lanes in the park near me, well there was until they resurfaced it. The amount of people in the bike lane as they saw me coming was quite amusing. Even had one woman tell me off to which she got some education 'bike on pavement means cycle lanes, savi?'.http://www.youtube.com/user/Eurobunneh - My Youtube channel.0 -
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If you ring a bell at them , or make any other kind of noise , they will abuse you even more.
Snake
My Library'Follow Me' the wise man said, but he walked behind!0 -
I use one on the works bike all the time, trouble is half of them take it as ' excuse me i'm behind you', the other half as 'get out of the way i'm a cyclist' and give you torrents of abuse
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Sorry, but I don't think these half cycle lane half footpath arrangements are cool at all, except maybe when you're first learning how to ride a bike or for a quick shortcut.
As you've found pedestrians don't keep to their side, you get dogs on really long leads, dogs not on leads that want to give you a chew, kids wandering along in a world of their own and so on.
I know its not the idea, but I find roads a lot safer!0 -
Coolest bikebell ever. Dinosaurs and an eyeball 8)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Eyeball-bicycle-b ... 0597571105
And now you know, and knowing is half the battle
05 Spesh Enduro Expert
05 Trek 1000 Custom build
Speedily Singular Thingy0 -
Bells are a must on shared use paths and bike lanes on pavements. I've never had any abuse from anyone for dinging my bell (!). A quick thank you to anyone who's moved out of the way (even somewhat belatedly) goes a long way. Of course you're in Stevenage so you might get stabbed instead.Bike lover and part-time cyclist.0
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The problem I've found with bells is that a) the first time I tried using my last one, it broke, and b) a lot of pedestrians blithely wandering into the bike lane are using ear/headphones and just don't hear me.
I actually bought a horn like the one pictured, fitted it to my bike, and gone is the problem of people not hearing me, gets their attention and more than once has stopped someone in their tracks as they were about to step right out in front of me.
The only occasional problem I have is the people who hear it and look at the road instead :roll: Very few though, and far safer now I can get someone's attention instantly...such as the woman about to drag her child straight in front of a moving bike...and no, I don't (and can't!) ride at speed!It may seem there's light at the end of the tunnel, but it's actually an oncoming train.0 -
I believe the law demands 'an audible means of warning'.
Interpret that as you will0 -
ynyswen24 wrote:I believe the law demands 'an audible means of warning'.
Interpret that as you will
As far as I'm aware there is no legal requirement to have a bell / audible warning on a bike, other than the point at which it is sold/supplied. So once you've purchased a bike from your LBS or elsewhere then there's no requirment to keep the bell on.
They may not look cool but they are helpful, I used to have one on my old commuter (new one is still being built) and it's helped let the dozy people wandering around town know that I am there!0 -
Ollieda wrote:ynyswen24 wrote:I believe the law demands 'an audible means of warning'.
Interpret that as you will
As far as I'm aware there is no legal requirement to have a bell / audible warning on a bike, other than the point at which it is sold/supplied. So once you've purchased a bike from your LBS or elsewhere then there's no requirment to keep the bell on.
exactly the point I was making, though at greater length.
the vocal chords constitute an audible means of warning. A bell just seems to be ignored in a sorry mate I didn't hear you kind of way, whereas an 'excuse me..' establishes some kind of contact with the foot user0 -
catapults do a good job. even with headphones if you get them on the neck back.0
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double post.
double post.
how did that happen0 -
perhaps, if riding a mtb with bar ends, you could rig some kind of catapult using them and a piece of knicker elastic? In a previous thread I advocated adapting the top tube of a bike into an air powered cannon shooting projectiles out of the head tube. I stand by that...0
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Speaking of headphones, seems more and more people are hiding themselves in their own little musical world these days. Even when the Sony Wankman came out you only really ever saw runners with them on. These days almost everyone has an MP3 player and a good percentage of them walk around, shopping, working etc with those damn headphones in.
Dunni get me wrong, I have an iPod myself which i would dearly love to use on the bike but it's just not safe
ANYHOO that statement could likely activate a hot-topic so ignore that :P
I dont have a bell, I'd get grief if I did. If I need to pass someone I usually start whistling, badly, then shout 'coming through right side!' to which they ALWAYS move to the right http://www.youtube.com/user/Eurobunneh - My Youtube channel.0 -
click click click click click click click click clickclick click click click click click
A noisy freewheel is the only audible warning system allowed on a road bike.0 -
So damn true, i almost prefer the road home because i slow down as many times due to fat bums blocking the path or dogs turning into my path of motion.Moaner wrote:Sorry, but I don't think these half cycle lane half footpath arrangements are cool at all, except maybe when you're first learning how to ride a bike or for a quick shortcut.
As you've found pedestrians don't keep to their side, you get dogs on really long leads, dogs not on leads that want to give you a chew, kids wandering along in a world of their own and so on.
I know its not the idea, but I find roads a lot safer!
I wouldn't get a bell, get a pumped air horn off CRC, it fits it a bottle cage and hell, it's good for letting cars know where you are and anyone else that youre coming!0 -
Despite being lucky enough (or so I thought) to have door to door cycle paths for my from home to work commmute, I now ride almost totally on the roads. The paths just seemed too dangerous, peds, dogs, children and having been threatened with physical abuse by a bunch of youth last year this was the last straw.
One thing I did notice before i moved to the roads was that older people couldnt hear the high pitched "ping" of the bell, most saying (once you get right behind them) why dont you ring your bell??? although they usually picked up on a polite "excuse-me" albeit delivered at close quaters. Any one with head phones and your wasting your time with any thing less than an air horn!I ache, therefore I am.0 -
Bunneh wrote:I dont have a bell, I'd get grief if I did. If I need to pass someone I usually start whistling, badly, then shout 'coming through right side!' to which they ALWAYS move to the right
In my experience what they dozy twits do is turn around, right becomes left and they move in the wrong direction, straight into your path.To err is human, but to make a real balls up takes a super computer.0 -
Damn right!Shmo wrote:click click click click click click click click clickclick click click click click click
A noisy freewheel is the only audible warning system allowed on a road bike.0 -
ynyswen24 wrote:I believe the law demands 'an audible means of warning'.
Interpret that as you will
do my disc brakes screaming in the cold count?
otherwise I have a perfectly functional voice!
it has several settings for direction civility & volume going right up to an urgent declamatory mode if needs be. the battery pack and ECU for such a bell would weight more than the bike.
I've always found:
'morning (ono), coming through on your left' <passes> 'thanks' or something similar works fine as opposed to a feeble non directional ting ting noise0 -
Fit a gattling gun if you can get hold of one. Although you can expect complaints if you don't finish them off !!Science adjusts it’s beliefs based on what’s observed.
Faith is the denial of observation so that Belief can be preserved0 -
MattC59 wrote:. Although you can expect complaints if you don't finish them off !!
I find this to be true in a number of contexts.0 -
Pinging your bell just as you're about to overtake a walker at 20+MPH really annoys some of them.
Another good way is to run over their foot.....
But seriously, I reckon a bell is a must for shared use paths. I find that as long as you use it in plenty of time people react well. They absolutely hate it if you shout at them or if you leave it until you're just about to pass them, but if you start pinging about 25 meters so they've got time to register and react before you're on top of them they're generally fine!0 -
British Waterways has a "Two Tings" policy for cyclists warning others of their presence. Interestingly BW, like the Royal Parks, is firmly of the view that a cyclist is subordinate to every other user of the towpath and must defer. I enjoy cycling the towpaths down my way, except for the p****ures, but the rules are that you must give way.The older I get the faster I was0
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I find a well timed swipe with a machete works best. It also appeases the noise abatement 'souls. Cycling weakly0
