Forget the Airzound

[jonny jeez]

Yep, I must say that I have indeed considered a 'zound or similar but I really don't see how it has any advantage over a good holler. What with all the messing about having to fit it, then as someone else pointed out; the decisions over whether or not the 'bad' manoeuvre deserves honking, fiddling for the button, etc, it's just easier to shout at them or have it out at the lights.

Plus...no one understands what they mean...I' be posted the word salami on this post three times ( I suspect a mod has deleted the last) and no one understands why, or even asked what it meant.(even the mod)...zounds are exactly the same, just a noise to hide behind, like a tut or a grumble...meaningless and totally ignorable.

If people want to tell someone they have done something wrong, they should just tell them....with a holler

I agree with you, shouting is more effective, safer and far less inhibited...it also has a greater chance of being understood.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

I agree with you, shouting is more effective, safer and far less inhibited...it also has a greater chance of being understood.

Although, as the situation has already been pointed out in the thread, what do you do when you are physically unable to shout? It's easy for you and me, we shout at the person. But if we couldn't, what's a decent alternative?

 

[vernon]

This. So many times. Airzounds are un-necessary and cumbersome affairs.

They're tat for tits who like tit-for-tat equipment.

 

[PpPete]

I agree with you, shouting is more effective, safer and far less inhibited.

Not in my case, or at least not any more.
I gave vent to my feelings at a near SMIDSY not so long ago (motorist deciding not to give way on a roundabout because after all it's only a bike)
My full throated roar of "W*NKER" which came more instantaneously to my lips than "Whoah" was heard by half the village, including the minister of the church my family sometimes attends, who just happened to be walking past

 

[jonny jeez]

Although, as the situation has already been pointed out in the thread, what do you do when you are physically unable to shout? It's easy for you and me, we shout at the person. But if we couldn't, what's a decent alternative?

I have missed the post up thread...are we suggesting people who are mute, unable to speak?... If so are there really very many people riding in city centres with the inability to speak, I guess if you are genuinely unable to speak then of course you will need anything at all that helps you communicate, you can't used maketon when riding a bike, so a horn or a bell would likely be essential.

Or are we saying people who just don't like to shout...if so then the answer stands, if you don't want to shout, why honk a zound

 

[jonny jeez]

None of these address the point I made

I
They hear the honk, and stop their dangerous manoeuvre..

a shout does precisely the same job...trust me I use it A lot. (It also helps to vent built up,adrenalin.)

I'm not Traffic Droid. I'm just a commuter trying to get to and from work.

this doesn't answer my point at all, I make no reference to the droid, I ask you to consider how much it offends you, if it's enough to enrage you then you can vent your rage in person...

I
It isn't passive aggressive. It's alerting a road user who hasn't taken proper observation to my presence. Cars have horns for exactly that purpose, and they are tested as part of the MOT. Why shouldn't I have a horn for the exact same purpose?
.

You are not a car driver...you are a cyclist. Comparing yourself to a car is as meaningless as comparing ypirself to the lamp post that also shares your road.

Pedestrians don't carry horns, can you imagine if society collapsed so far that they did and only communicated by blasting each other with horns, rather than simply saying "excuse me"....that comparison is an invalid as yours.

Car drivers are wrapped in sound deadening glass and materials designed to make their journey as detached from the outside as possible..shouting doesn't work so well from within a car. Hence the horn...and hence the reason it is a mot requirement

Ps cars also need seatbelts, road fund licence, hazard lights, registration plates and all manner of stuff that cyclist don't need...this just adds to illustrate how daft the comparison is.

Why? The fact that they took insufficient observation and got honked says everything that needs to be said.

My "salami test" above was design to prove this comment wrong, which it does admirably. Zounds tell the offender nothing, they still have no idea what they did wrong and most likely don't care as they know as well as I do that the noise from a zound will not be associated with their actions by anyone else but you..


Sorry to do the multi quote thing, I'm not deliberately picking on you here but I feel it is important to answer your points as those considering fitting a zound may consider my lack of doing so as some form of concession on your points and conclude them all as good reasons to hit the "add to basket" button.

Consider my pedestrian comment above, and perhaps just give it a go without a zound, shout, scream or ignore...they are all far healthier than an anonymous tooting...plus zounds are just another step along the geek spectrum of adding needless clutter to your already beautiful bike.

 

[Smurfy]

None of these address the point I made

a shout does precisely the same job...trust me I use it A lot. (It also helps to vent built up,adrenalin.)

this doesn't answer my point at all, I make no reference to the droid, I ask you to consider how much it offends you, if it's enough to enrage you then you can vent your rage in person...

You are not a car driver...you are a cyclist. Comparing yourself to a car is as meaningless as comparing ypirself to the lamp post that also shares your road.

Pedestrians don't carry horns, can you imagine if society collapsed so far that they did and only communicated by blasting each other with horns, rather than simply saying "excuse me"....that comparison is an invalid as yours.

Car drivers are wrapped in sound deadening glass and materials designed to make their journey as detached from the outside as possible..shouting doesn't work so well from within a car. Hence the horn...and hence the reason it is a mot requirement

Ps cars also need seatbelts, road fund licence, hazard lights, registration plates and all manner of stuff that cyclist don't need...this just adds to illustrate how daft the comparison is.



My "salami test" above was design to prove this comment wrong, which it does admirably. Zounds tell the offender nothing, they still have no idea what they did wrong and most likely don't care as they know as well as I do that the noise from a zound will not be associated with their actions by anyone else but you..


Sorry to do the multi quote thing, I'm not deliberately picking on you here but I feel it is important to answer your points as those considering fitting a zound may consider my lack of doing so as some form of concession on your points and conclude them all as good reasons to hit the "add to basket" button.

Consider my pedestrian comment above, and perhaps just give it a go without a zound, shout, scream or ignore...they are all far healthier than an anonymous tooting...plus zounds are just another step along the geek spectrum of adding needless clutter to your already beautiful bike.

Thanks but I'm not going to be one of those louts who shouts at people in the street. A horn is a sound that road users instantly recognise as a warning, a shout just makes you look aggressive and angry, which I'm not. As for cluttering up my bike, it's a commuter that I use for commuting and nothing else, I don't give a monkey what it looks like.

 

[jonny jeez]

As for cluttering up my bike, I don't give a monkey what it looks like.

Oh Tim...now you take that back this instant!

No problem.ride how you feel comfortable riding and do whatever you feel is right to keep on adding to the cycling numbers in towns I'm just putting up a counter to your points, it's isn't a personal thing.

Ps, sorry I can't resist this last responce but shouting isn't loutish, it's effective communication, you'll note I never condone swearing or insulting...just shouting "whoa"..followed by "thanks", I like to think I am as far removed from a lout as I would hope to get...but I am also pretty assertive and don't like others to confuse my intentions, which is why zounds just fail for me.

 

[BlackPanther]

View: http://youtu.be/IxO3FYkPono

To all who say AirZounds are useless, may I suggest you watch my own video above, then, rather than bleat on about 'aggression' and 'shouting is better?' just spend a couple of minutes on you tube! Ttpe in "AirZound saves" and watch the results. Yes, some people are aggressive arses using them, but others have genuinely had their lives saved, or at least have avoided a serious accident. A shout may work 90% of the time, but it's the other 10% that may be the difference between me getting home to see my kids every day......or not.

O.K. the guy below could've stopped in time, BUT a lesson in observation has been given to the driver, and had the driver started to turn 1 second later, the Airzound would've been the only way to avoid getting knocked off. Having an Airzound is a vital necessity for commuting imho.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjPK5bj9VTc

 

[jonny jeez]

View: http://youtu.be/IxO3FYkPono

To all who say AirZounds are useless, may I suggest you watch my own video above, then, rather than bleat on about 'aggression' and 'shouting is better?' just spend a couple of minutes on you tube! Ttpe in "AirZound saves" and watch the results. Yes, some people are aggressive arses using them, but others have genuinely had their lives saved, or at least have avoided a serious accident. A shout may work 90% of the time, but it's the other 10% that may be the difference between me getting home to see my kids every day......or not.

O.K. the guy below could've stopped in time, BUT a lesson in observation has been given to the driver, and had the driver started to turn 1 second later, the Airzound would've been the only way to avoid getting knocked off. Having an Airzound is a vital necessity for commuting imho.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjPK5bj9VTc

I don't think anyone is bleating on about aggression. Rather trying to put across the point to all those considering cycling in a city that they can do so without the insistence that these things are, as you put it, a vital necessity...I've been riding through London...like right through, for close to 7 years and never ...ever felt them even slightly needed, let alone vital.

Also, how did the zound protect the cyclist in the first video?...and the second, as you say the rider had plenty of time to take evasive action...or just as easily shout out to the slow moving driver, I suspect the picture will be similar if I did take the time to trawl through you tube, which I shant.
In every instance where a zound can claim to have saved a life I put up the counter that evasive action and a good shout will have proved just as successful.

I'm starting to bang on a bit about this now so shall let this thread run its course and simply say...please people, if you wish to ride through town don't feel you MUST strap one of these things to your bike, learn to communicate effectively first, just as you would if you were walking along the pavement.

 

[CopperBrompton]

To all who say AirZounds are useless, may I suggest you watch my own video above

In both those videos, a shout would have worked just as well. There are also times when you would have time to shout but not to reach the horn while braking.

 

[gaz]

Skip to 4min to hear it -
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jf5rd0-DXc

 

[BlackPanther]

In both those videos, a shout would have worked just as well. There are also times when you would have time to shout but not to reach the horn while braking.

In the first video, I'm sitting amongst heavy traffic. The van sets off through a red light. The windows are up, and presumably the driver is listening to the radio/music. Are you seriously stating that in this circumstance, the driver would hear my shout above all the traffic, inside a vehicle with closed windows and the radio blaring? If you can shout loud enough to make yourself heard to the driver then I applaud your Brian Blessed-esque voice. I personally cannot shout louder than the 115db Airzound. Re the "times when you would have time to shout but not to reach the horn while braking." My horn 'button' is on the trikes bars so my thumb hovers over the button whilst steering, and covering the brakes. Admittedly, if I had to reach 6 or 7 inches over to reach the horn it would take time, but why would someone mount a horn button out of reach, they'd have to be a bit of a prat. I've mounted Airzounds on mountain/road/hybrid bikes, and on recumbents with over seat/underseat/hamster/superman type bars, and I've always been able to mount the button in an ideal place.

I've come to the conclusion that those who knock Airzounds have never owned one, and if they have they've fitted them wrongly. I want to survive my daily commute. To do so, I always use (very decent) lights, high viz, decent tyres, brakes, and yes an Airzound.

I'm not sure why so many people want to argue about them. I just hope that the anti-Airzound brigade never find themselves in the situation where one could've saved them. It's saved me from a couple of side street emerging cars. Fact!

 

[CopperBrompton]

Are you seriously stating that in this circumstance, the driver would hear my shout above all the traffic, inside a vehicle with closed windows and the radio blaring?

The record for the loudest shout is 129dBA. Sharapova's grunts when playing tennis have reached over 100dBA. A normal shout will be somewhere between the two, so in the same sort of range as an Airzound.

If you can shout loud enough to make yourself heard to the driver then I applaud your Brian Blessed-esque voice.

Put it this way: the times I've needed to yell, I've been heard.

Re the "times when you would have time to shout but not to reach the horn while braking." My horn 'button' is on the trikes bars so my thumb hovers over the button whilst steering, and covering the brakes.

If you can brake fully when pressing the horn, that's great. That's not going to be the case for most of the Airzound mounts I've seen.

I'm not sure why so many people want to argue about them.

I know, different cyclists with different preferences when it comes to gear – shocking!

 

[jonny jeez]

I." My horn 'button' is on the trikes bars so my thumb hovers over the button whilst steering, and covering the brakes. Admittedly, if I had to reach 6 or 7 inches over to reach the horn it would take time, but why would someone mount a horn button out of reach, they'd have to be a bit of a prat. I've mounted Airzounds on mountain/road/hybrid bikes, and on recumbents with over seat/underseat/hamster/superman type bars, and I've always been able to mount the button in an ideal place.!

Actually I agree with you on this point.

Those who ride recumbents (I recall bent mikey raised this point a while back) don't need to support any of their weight on the tiller, as such moving hands around is easy...much like on the steering wheel of a car.

On an upright, your hands support weight, at least some of the time and in an emergency it is counterintuitive to take your hands off of that support, and off of the brake, to find a button.

So the button location argument doesn't stack up for recumbent riders...it's just easier for them.

You're right, I've never owned a zound but then I can think of a long list of things I've never owned that I insticntivley know to be a bad idea, listing them would be facitious.

You don't need to have something to know it's not right for you.