Ding, ding....ding, ding, ding.

I only use audible warnings as I would if driving or motorcycling, certainly not persistently.
I guess it's a bit like folk who drive around with fog ights on all the time, it's the "look at me I'm so important" attitude.

C0CKS all of them.

dondare wrote:

.... I find that riding sensibly, being attentive and appreciating that others have the right to use the road makes even this unnecessary most of the time.

That's a bit radical," Looking where you're going" :-)
"Others have the right to use the road too" You some sort of subversive ? :-)

snooks wrote:

Ding! ding! at pedestrians on the side of the road. Who "might", but didn't cross

...

Not sure what is problem with this one :?:

Surely its warning someone of danger. Isn't that what the bell is for?

Its a bit late to do so if they have stepped out

completely useless bit of kit,

on the few occasions i've dinged (should that be dung ?) it no-ones even heard it let alone acknowledged my presence (precence / prescense ? .... oh, me being there. however its spelt)

karl j wrote:

Completely useless bit of kit.

On the few occasions I've dinged it no-one's even heard it, let alone acknowledged my presence.

There's a shared use path through my local park which I take the kids through sometimes. I've used my bell there a few times, just to give friendly warning to people walking along ahead of us. As you say, people just don't seem to recognise the sound of a bicycle bell these days. When they finally realise there's a bike right behind them, they leap out of the way as if they're about to be mown down by a juggernaut. I've even had people tutting and muttering about giving them some warning!

Another time, I dinged my bell a couple of times at a group of people who were spread out across the path, backs to me, and as I went past one of them said, "Blimey, it's like Amsterdam round here!"

Bells are a legally required fitting on all new bikes, of course, so someone must think they're useful. Trouble is these days, most the people you want to alert to your presence are sealed away inside cars, so a bell is pretty much useless and it's air horn or nothing (nothing in my case).

I hate bells. I think I have an ingrained "they're for girls" thing going on. I do however use my brake levers, clunking, as an audible warning for pedestrians sometimes which seems to work quite well without sounding really girly (no offence to those who use bells!)

will3 wrote:

Don't work huh?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=rtv2_-2mHck

FWIW I think they're essential if you use any kind of shared path.

One place he didn't try it was on a shared-use path, which is the only place in Britain where a bell would have any use at all.

I used to just change gears in the hope the sound would alert pedestrians in my path. Now I'm riding single speed this is no longer an option so have to resort to a good old fashioned "excuse me" or "OI!!", depending on the situation. I have an airzound on my 2nd bike but haven't yet decided where to mount it on my bullhorns (plus I don't wanna ugly up my bike with it). There's a few times recently where it would've come in useful (mostly people turning right and only looking left).

lost_in_thought wrote:

Dondare, you're an ornery fellow aren't you?!

On the subject of places in Britain where a bell would have any use at all, I find a bell very handy for cycling amongst the buses nad hordes of pedestrians on Oxford street. They do often leap half out of their skins when they notice me, but I do think it's more polite than the alternate method of shouting 'Oi!' or similar.

The problem with bikes is that when well-maintained, they're effectievly silent, unlike most other vehicles which you can hear coming to give an audible clue. And having been taken out by a couple of peds who weren't paying attention, I am much happier to 'ding' than to not.

Also, DevUK, I am a girl! I also have no objection, and slightly agree with you. Maybe Dondare is having the same manly issue.

I am a very sweet-natured bloke, considerate, patient and law-abiding, which is why I give pedestrians crossing the road the time and space they need rather than using any kind of audible warning to hurry them along. (Actually, in Oxford Street I'll be a pedestrian myself, not a cyclist.) As far as bus drivers are concerned they won't hear a bell so there's no point in ringing it at them.
I have been brought down on several occasions by pedestrians running out into the road from behind stationary vehicles but a bell wouldn't have saved me here unless it was both loud and constant, like a 1940's fire engine. And probably not even then. So these days I simply take a lot more care if there's the slightest chance of a ped in the road; keeping well out from the kerb, riding wide of parked vehicles and slowing right down when filtering past lines of stationary traffic; and this works for me.