Pedestrians' view of bells ?

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Flinders
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by Flinders »

Re the brake lever clack, I find unclipping a foot (which I do when approaching people and dogs anyway on a shared path) has the same effect. People think 'what's that?' and look round to see, and it's not loud enough to startle anything.

As for horses, this is a helpful leaflet with advice for bother riders and cyclists:

http://www.bhs.org.uk/~/media/BHS/Files ... aflet.ashx

It does make the point that if a rider doesn't wave a thank you, it may be because they need both hands on the reins. It's generally only cowboys that ride one-handed and they don't need such precise steering out on the ranges. :mrgreen:
The convention with riders who can't take a hand off the rein is to say thank you out loud or nod their head downwards. If they don't, I apologise for them, but in all groups of people you get rude persons.... :roll:
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mjr
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by mjr »

Flinders wrote:As for horses, this is a helpful leaflet with advice for bother riders and cyclists:
http://www.bhs.org.uk/~/media/BHS/Files ... aflet.ashx

Bit of a missed chance there. It portrays all people riding bikes as helmetted warriors, finds space to witter about rare events but says nothing about widespread bells, doesn't mention in the cycling section that horses have priority on bridleways, doesn't mention that we need to pull flags in, doesn't mention that riders of non-DF cycles should be particularly cautious because horses seem even more spooked by them ...
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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hondated
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by hondated »

Brucey wrote:in recent years I've been doing more utility type journeys on shared use paths, and I have found it desirable to have a bell fitted, and to use it. Not everyone associates the sound of a 'ping' bell with a bicycle as swiftly as they might a 'drrring' bell, and the latter sounds friendlier if it is rung slowly, so that is what I fit to a roadster. However it seems like overkill on a lightweight, so they get pingers instead.

cheers

Whatever happened to those battery operated buzzers I remember having on my bike as a kid.
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hondated
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by hondated »

Flinders wrote:Re the brake lever clack, I find unclipping a foot (which I do when approaching people and dogs anyway on a shared path) has the same effect. People think 'what's that?' and look round to see, and it's not loud enough to startle anything.



That's a good idea.
SA_SA_SA
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by SA_SA_SA »

I find pinging a (ping) bell (and deciding how soon to ping) when on shared paths a mild bit of a drag:

I wondered about an electronic box with a sampled 'meep meep' from the road runner cartoon*set to repeat periodically enough to obviate bell ringing except for blind corners etc? :D

*or some other jokey friendly noise
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GranvilleThomas
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by GranvilleThomas »

SA_SA_SA wrote:I find pinging a (ping) bell (and deciding how soon to ping) when on shared paths a mild bit of a drag:

I wondered about an electronic box with a sampled 'meep meep' from the road runner cartoon*set to repeat periodically enough to obviate bell ringing except for blind corners etc? :D

*or some other jokey friendly noise


You can get all manner of 'noises' in 'Loud ringtone' apps. Sirens, hooters, alarms, animal noises, laughter etc, the idea was to purchase a handlebar mount for the phone and try some of the 'noises' on the local shared use path, but after fitting the bell, the computer and the front light, there was not a great deal of room left for a phone mount so never tried it.

Not sure if any can be set to repeat periodically or not but they are a lot louder than the standard ringtones/alerts that came as standard in the phone so come in handy when my phone is in my pocket when walking or cycling.
ferdinand
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by ferdinand »

SA_SA_SA wrote:I find pinging a (ping) bell (and deciding how soon to ping) when on shared paths a mild bit of a drag:

I wondered about an electronic box with a sampled 'meep meep' from the road runner cartoon*set to repeat periodically enough to obviate bell ringing except for blind corners etc? :D

*or some other jokey friendly noise


Mini Hornit, I think, except for the repeat.

[youtube]oeI5GkI1LsU[/youtube]

If you are young at heart, that is.

Lots of noises, including Fanfare, which is lovely, and Dukes of Hazzard, which is strictly for jumping broken bridges.

F
Bicycler
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by Bicycler »

Several posts by David Hembrow on the deficiencies of shared use paths: http://www.aviewfromthecyclepath.com/se ... se%20paths
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Audax67
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by Audax67 »

Haven't found a place to put one on my new bike, but for the last 1000k no-one I've met on cycle paths has taken a friendly hello badly.

For the sake of passing the PBP bike check I'll maybe mount one under the saddle.
Have we got time for another cuppa?
olimanjaro
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by olimanjaro »

There will be always be the odd person with a chip on their shoulder who takes issue with being "rang at". Personally I think a bell rung in plenty of time surely beats having to shout "excuse me!" from sufficient distance for it to be adequate warning, and comes over as far more polite!
Tangled Metal
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by Tangled Metal »

There is a mixed use bridge on my way home that has a real mix of users from cyclists to pedestrians to dog walkers to mothers/fathers with prams. I used to have a bell on my bike and used it. However I found that people were idiots. You found them turning and just moving in front of you. Or if in a group one turns gives you a dirty look then carries on as a group walking across the bridge with barely enough space for you to pass. If you do pass then they give abuse.

I am not saying it is everyone but on that one stretch a bell seems to annoy people so I stopped using it. It is easier and less hassle/abuse if I just cycle up to them and past them quickly without a fuss. This is the opposite to that on a local towpath. A bell worked well there. The shout "excuse me" or "bike" also works well there. The only people it does not work on is the few elderly out for a potter with a little pooch. The regulars fitting that description seem to all be slightly deaf. Some older people also think that they have a lot more right and expect you to stay behind them or at least dismount first.

Dogs are a big issue. Dog owners know their pooches but I do not. How am I supposed to know if your dog is going to stay sat there without a lead or any sign of control from you? I treat all dogs and their owners with distrust. What I mean is I will assume one or both of them will jump out at me and I take car accordingly. I have nothing against them it is just my experience. Also dog mess in plastic bags is worse than dog mess without plastic bags IMHO.

As an aside, some types of mixed path users will never hear or react to a bell. Even a 120dB horn would not get a reaction or if it did it would be abuse. That is what I have experienced. As a commuter and someone with a kid who rides a lot of the local mixed use paths as a leisure rider and commuter this is my findings. A real mixed bag.

What is a good bell to get BTW? My son bought me a large dringdring bell for fathers day but it has a bracket too small for my handlebars. The bars are wide in the un-taped part and the stem is too big too. I'm kind of on the lookout for a very small and good looking bell that is effective but also discrete or that adds to the look somehow. Not too expensive would be good too.
Bicycler
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by Bicycler »

I found that people were less likely to turn round startled when I used a dringdring style of bell, so that's what I now use. I think that perhaps the distinctive sound is more readily associated with a bicycle (at least to British ears).
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mjr
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by mjr »

Tangled Metal wrote:What is a good bell to get BTW? My son bought me a large dringdring bell for fathers day but it has a bracket too small for my handlebars. The bars are wide in the un-taped part and the stem is too big too. I'm kind of on the lookout for a very small and good looking bell that is effective but also discrete or that adds to the look somehow. Not too expensive would be good too.

What sort of bars? The mention of tape makes me think we're probably talking typical drop bar size (15/16ths inch) and yes, most nice bells are really designed for modern upright size (⅞ths) which you can fit to an old-style stem. On a modern bike, you either have a limited choice (Lion or Crane bells, which are basically richer pingers but compare well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo76L7S7DzM - or harder-to-find imports like Spanninga and Widek which either ding-dong or brring often have bands that will open enough for road bars) or bodging your own bracket to fit.

Do you have a good bike shop nearby that will let you test them?

Sorry that there's no easy answer - such is the UK market at the moment :( Maybe if more start asking for good bells, more places will stock them?
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by Tangled Metal »

Yes, drop bars. A london road from Planet X with/for 31.8mm clamp their own brand road bars. They are narrow around the tape region but go wider where the tape ends and through the clamp area. The cables under the tape make the taped region of the bars on the top a similar diameter as the clean, fatter section of bar. If that makes sense. Not sure why it is like this as my old road bike had smaller diameter drop bars.
John Holiday
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Re: Pedestrians' view of bells ?

Post by John Holiday »

Have Dutch type 'ding/dong' bells on most of my cycles , & almost always get a positive reaction from people that I pass.
They seem to be effective at up to 50 m.range, but obviously fail to penetrate to walkers using headphones!
The Sustrans mantra of 'Share with Care' comes to mind!
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