Courtesy and Safety

[Tim Hall]

And yet, in all my years riding, I've never heard anyone actually manage to achieve that instead of bawling some horrible squawk which maybe was meant to be "hello" before they raised their voice to be heard over the din of the motorists at the third attempt.

Maybe I should just keep wishing for @Tim Hall to overtake me, but it's far easier to advise people to keep it clear and friendly - fit a nice bell or a parp-parp horn.

Ah, but here's the thing (in my opinion): A friendly hello or comedic spoken ding dong is more friendly than a bell or horn. You can do nuance with a voice. You can't with a bell.

 

[mjr]

Ah, but here's the thing (in my opinion): A friendly hello or comedic spoken ding dong is more friendly than a bell or horn. You can do nuance with a voice. You can't with a bell.

And yet, somehow, the only "nuance" they ever seem to manage is daffodil.

 

[smutchin]

And yet, somehow, the only "nuance" they ever seem to manage is daffodil.

That you think that probably says more about you than it does about them.

 

[mjr]

That you think that probably says more about you than it does about them.

You another bell-less wonder, then? Who'd've thunk it?

 

[smutchin]

You another bell-less wonder, then? Who'd've thunk it?

Rash assumption.

 

[Mugshot]

You another bell-less wonder, then? Who'd've thunk it?

If I'm chasing a KOM down the local shared use I don't want the additional weight of a bell do I? Plus they play havoc with your aeros.

 

[Drago]

I don't have a bell - in don't expect to be judged for not having one, any more that I judge cyclists who do choose to have one.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Hmmm. There's a scale here to be devised here. Like the Beaufort wind scale.
Bells are "high wind" on the cyclechat scale of things not to mention, WD40 as a chain lubricant and saying hello are "strong breeze". Hats and hi vis are "gale force 10".

 

[mjr]

I don't have a bell - in don't expect to be judged for not having one, any more that I judge cyclists who do choose to have one.

I don't judge cyclists for not having one - I judge cyclists for thinking they can say hello melodiously from far enough away when it actually comes over as more of an aggressive hurunk - a sort of self-image dissonance like

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9kMK4PyNic

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don't have a bell - in don't expect to be judged for not having one, any more that I judge cyclists who do choose to have one.

You wait til you get to the pearly gates, and St Peter says, after some delay, "Well, Mr Drago. We seem to be deadlocked. So here's the tiebreaker. Did you have a bell on your bicycle?"

 

[Crackle]

I tend to swing wide, slow down and nod, unless I think there might be a bit of a race challenge going on, in which case I hang back and then boot it past, arse out the saddle with an easy look on my face whilst in sight before returning to my normal suffering grimace. If it looks like they might catch me again, I turn off.

 

[Drago]

I split the difference - instead of wasting money in bicycle bells, I simply shout "ding-a-ling."

To be honest though I think there's little chance of me making it as far as the pearly gates.

 

[Cuchilo]

I fitted a bell on my bike after getting told off by a four year old girl for not dinging my bell and then telling her mum on me

 

[reacher]

To be fair theirs a certain type of rider that just can't wait to try and blast past you like they are Bradley wiggins on a time trial and as close as possible without so much as a hello, I put them in the same catogary as the nobs that don't acknowledge you going the other way and the ones that see you obviously stopped due to a mechanical and just ride straight past you, it's not difficult or hard to be polite, of course theirs plenty of people who will now say you don't have to do any of the above

 

[Bollo]

To be fair theirs a certain type of rider that just can't wait to try and blast past you like they are Bradley wiggins on a time trial and as close as possible without so much as a hello, I put them in the same catogary as the nobs that don't acknowledge you going the other way and the ones that see you obviously stopped due to a mechanical and just ride straight past you, it's not difficult or hard to be polite, of course theirs plenty of people who will now say you don't have to do any of the above

Paging @ianrauk. You have some spending money!