When we were kids, you may have had a honky-horn with a bulb on the end, perhaps you had bells with gears that strike multiple times as they unwind like one of those self-propelled matchbox cars. Maybe you unscrew your bell halfway so the cracks on the trail ring it as you weave through a crowd of other trail users. Or maybe you ride a folding bike through the airport with a little electric horn. Perhaps you’re the best kind of DIY redneck and have fitted a literal tugboat horn to a bike trailor so you can scare the bejeezus out of a coalroller after they dump a load of black smoke on you.
Whatever it is, I want to know about it and why you chose it.
I just use my lungs. I’m loud from my time in the army so shouting has always worked.
ON YOUR LEFT, MAGGOTS!
When I was a kid, it was playing card rubberbanded to my chainstay so I could pretend I was riding a motorcycle from the noise
Nowadays, I prefer to just let out wolf whistle. Pierces even the best noise cancelling headphones and busiest traffic noise.
I use a small and simple bell, mainly because of the size.
That is the one i have too, just not in fancy red. I like it.
Very reasonably sized. This looks like the exact bell that came on one of my two bikes. It works, the sound is okay, though I find the bell binds with the mounting sometimes and muffles the ring.
I like those classic ring ring one as it doesn’t sounds aggressive just to tell people i’m approaching, but sadly i couldn’t find it in market near me. On the other hand, i almost had a collision with someone who wear earphone and stare right into their phone while on their evening stroll, where after i ring my bell, he proceed to shift his direction onto my path. Have to move out of the way to not hit him, and he only see me after i went pass him.
With everyone using those god damn earpods now, I think you could literally have an air horn attached to your bike, and they still wouldn’t hear it. I just have a little plastic bell attached to my bike, and I have about a 20% success rate with it. It always gives me pause when someone acts startled, and shocked, yet I’ve rang my bell 4 times, and my 108 tooth hub freewheeling is literally roaring like a swarm of bees. Yet it’s naturally my fault I’ve startled them.
I love loud freewheels/cassettes. The sound difference between a normal and high engagement hub is fascinating too. Just like driving a car, I use audio feedback a lot while biking.
playing music publicly works and probably the only time it’s not annoying.
I’m not going to step to the side of the trail because I think I hear music nearby.
I’ve got a little Knog bike bell. You press it once and it lets out a “ding” once. I’ll press it two or three times if I see someone wearing headphones who won’t hear the “On your LEFT” as I come up on them.
Bonus, I can put my thumb on the bell real easy and it shuts up.
It was cheap, does the job, and is really small.
I never thought I would be able to like a damn bike bell as much as I like the Knog Oi.
They’re such a sweet sound, but I feel like it’s easy to ignore.
Air horn because it works against cars.
Air 'zounds is great. https://citruscycles.ca/airzound-cycle-bike-horn
That’s nice and it’s cheap but how about A 150db impact horn that can be heard over 1.5 miles away
