Who uses a bell on their commute?

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guitarpete247

Just about surviving
Location
Leicestershire
I've not had a bell for at least 20 years but I'm thinking of getting one for both my bikes. As others say, it's much more polite than shouting. I've had situations like SatNav with dog walkers in the road, especially when there is no pavement like here a couple of weeks ago. 2 women with 3 dogs spread out across the road. To avoid shouting I braked and changed down noisily. The moved off road no problem but I think a bell would have been better.
 
I've not had a bell for at least 20 years but I'm thinking of getting one for both my bikes. As others say, it's much more polite than shouting. I've had situations like SatNav with dog walkers in the road, especially when there is no pavement like here a couple of weeks ago. 2 women with 3 dogs spread out across the road. To avoid shouting I braked and changed down noisily. The moved off road no problem but I think a bell would have been better.

I have a shared cycle/walk way that starts outside of my home. It is a converted disused railway which dog walkers frequent.
But around here, dog walkers, runners, walkers or even other cyclists just don't seem to know what a bell actually is. I get no responce when I ring it, even really loudly, so I talk to them instead... human voices they understand (politely - such as "sorry, don't want to cycle down the dual carriage way" (this was in the friday evening rush hour, to 2 people walking dogs down the cycle lane - the pedestrian lane was separated from the bike lane by a muddy/grass strip about 1.5m wide and not good for 23mm tyres, the dual carriage way was the A556 - fine during the day, but as it is going dark on a friday evening...) The man's response was "yeh, I can understand that" as they stepped aside.

For some reason bells just don't work here... but then I think common sense is lacking in places as well personally!
 

CharlieB

Junior Walker and the Allstars
Rarely needed it until I discovered canal commuting about two months ago. Adds about 2½ miles to my journey, but hey, no motor traffic, no traffic lights etc.
Mind you, so many people are plugged into iPods these days, they just don't hear you.

Off topic - the canal route is going to become unusable after about this week, because it's going to get too dark to use safely. I started because post-Olympics the roads have become insane. My perception is that they are now busier than ever - is this others' experience, too, I wonder?
Tbh, I'm dreading having to go back to road commuting again.
 

akb

Veteran
Yes I use a bell. It takes me most of my commute to wake up in the morning. The bell eliminates the need to speak to people as my missus says I am a grumpy bastard in the mornings.
 

WobblyBob

Well-Known Member
Yeah i use my bell on shared paths/tracks etc...sometimes it works & i pass with a cheery 'thanks' & all is well, other times people don't hear (or choose not to) then i have to slow right down or even stop & these lot get a sarcastic 'thanks'...then i'm on my way.
Generally it works pretty well to clear a path but you will always get the odd (loads) few who go out their way NOT to move to one side....for those people i think a handle bar mounted AK47 would be more handy !
 
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J.Primus

J.Primus

Senior Member
Yeah i use my bell on shared paths/tracks etc...sometimes it works & i pass with a cheery 'thanks' & all is well, other times people don't hear (or choose not to) then i have to slow right down or even stop & these lot get a sarcastic 'thanks'...then i'm on my way.
Generally it works pretty well to clear a path but you will always get the odd (loads) few who go out their way NOT to move to one side....for those people i think a handle bar mounted AK47 would be more handy !

I'm quite lucky to be blessed with a very loud voice that I've recently discovered can carry all the way across a building site. I find a full throated yodel will make people move out of the way instinctively out of sheer panic so they don't even have time to consider being difficult. Only save it for special occasions though.
 

Nocode

Senior Member
Location
Orpington, Kent
You could try shouting 'beep beep! (I do occassionally)
But then you'd have to whizz past at Roadrunner speeds otherwise the effect is lost :smile:
 

jonny jeez

Legendary Member
I find my bell very useful, it's currently mounted on my monitor arm at my desk and is very handy for ordering cups of tea from the intern:whistle:.

I've never missed it yet. If I'm on a shared path I just wait till the person/thing in front has moved and then ride on, or I call out (my voice works fine and doesn't need a thumb to activate it).

I think bells remove the opportunity to communicate with people, a polite "excuse me" followed by a "thanks very much" always seems to do the trick without coming across as impatient or demanding and in full on confrontations a bell just sounds pathetic, a good shout is more effective.
 

davefb

Guru
hell yeah.. shared path, dozy whassanames about to step out, unsighted corners... carriers better than voice so you can ting a bit early instead of leaving it late...
 
Occasionally used but as most of the peds have headphones on its use is waisted. The creaky pedal that developed last week though does tend to get noticed.
 

Cyclopathic

Veteran
Location
Leicester.
I use my bell a lot. It's a very inoffensive noise and doesn't seem to aggravate people. On the roads it's very useful for those peds who aren't looking and along the tow path and central way it's a good warning on blind corners.

I prefer the older style of bell with the fly wheel inside. I just think they are a more pleasant sound than the little blobs that make a single ping. These are much harder to express an air of urgency on if needed.
 
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