Of all the times to malfunction..

[LeighPing]

 

[georgehenry]

Get a tring tring traditional bell, £5 from Halfords. I get a great reaction from those I tring tring, mostly perhaps because pedestrians are grateful to get any warning and have got used to cyclists whizzing by with no warning. Why do cows have bells? Because their horns don't work. you know it makes sense.

 

[Gaz]

Disaster!! Stop press..... hold the front page

I get more thanks than scowls when I ring my bell. Get it sorted LP, for all our sakes and the rest of humanity

Gaz

 

[Gubbins]

Is it just me or what?, but I find the ping ping bells supplied with bikes embarrassing.... I have had a few Halfords bells but they dont seem to last long,,

 

[flecc]

Is it just me or what?, but I find the ping ping bells supplied with bikes embarrassing.... I have had a few Halfords bells but they dont seem to last long,,

The modern ones are mostly useless, those from half a century ago worked well with a loud double ring.
.

 

[Benjahmin]

Hey Leigh, get yourself one of these:
https://www.evanscycles.com/pashley-ding-dong-bell-00103089?esvt=54872-GOUKE2287764&esvq=&esvadt=999999-0-1219432-1&esvcrea=189703373516&esvplace=&esvd=c&esvtg=pla-156744246056&esvo=00103089-NA-NA&esvaid=50080&gclid=CJbK5t6oodQCFQaeGwodCrQLCw
It's big, it's blingy and it gives the most friendly sing song ding dong possible. And it doesn't frighten the horses. I use it just for the smile factor 'cos riding empty country lanes can be a bit boring
I mounted it on the right so it's a finger pull trigger rather than a thumb push. It's well made and the mechanics are sound. (Get it - sound ).

 

[danielrlee]

Yeah, that siren is way to aggressive to use as your first warning signal on a shared path - I'd think you were a complete a**hole if you directed that at me.

Get yourself a bell and then by all means use the siren as a secondary measure if the bell isn't heard.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

The best bells by far are the bring-bring type. People seemed to be more tuned to the sound and recognise it as a bicycle for some reason. The problem is that they normally all have plastic levers, which break in no time. I now have this one. Perfect!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152308907578?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Is it just me or what?, but I find the ping ping bells supplied with bikes embarrassing.... I have had a few Halfords bells but they dont seem to last long,,

your prayers will be answered for £1.28.

P.S. Disregard that weird photo in the listing. It only mounts like a normal bell. They must have used a special bracket for that one.

 

[grldtnr]

The modern ones are mostly useless, those from half a century ago worked well with a loud double ring.
.

Yes,I used to have one like that Flecc, got it at a cycle jumble, a big one ,which really chimed, like one of those shop counter ones, one strike and it chimed on the down stroke then on the return, unfortunately it was liberated from me along with the rest of the bike.
Now I have an air horn, yes it's very loud ,but gets used in the modern day traffic, certainly heard, often get clocked with the face ' what! Who me!'
With skill you can get a short pip,a fuller press of the trigger gets a loud blast, and generally noted.

 

[greyfox69]

I bought this after my battery operated one failed in the rain it's very expensive but absolutely brilliant had many many compliments as pedestrians can here it from a great distance and it's made in England
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0077PQX9S/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[flecc]

The weakest cycle bell implementation has to be the 2007/8 Kalkhoff Agattu one. It was a tiny dome inserted in the left brake lever housing with a little lever which one flicked.

The result was a tiny single ping. Here it is illustrated below:

 

[grldtnr]

I bought this after my battery operated one failed in the rain it's very expensive but absolutely brilliant had many many compliments as pedestrians can here it from a great distance and it's made in England
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0077PQX9S/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Very much like the former donger I used to have, maybe get one for polite warnings to passerbys ,at the moment using air horn ,I need to pip it some distance before passing.

 

[LeighPing]

Yeah, that siren is way to aggressive to use as your first warning signal on a shared path

Which tone would you use?

 

[danielrlee]

Which tone would you use?

I'd choose the loudest, most obnoxious tone it has to offer and use it as my secondary 'bell'. IMO, if a ped can't hear a regular bell for whatever reason, your siren is then fair game. I use a single tone 12V motorbike horn as a secondary warning and it always gets heard, even by those inside other vehicles.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Which tone would you use?

We tried one of those. It made a nice loud noise, but somehow the pedestrians couldn't hear it, no matter what tone. As I said above, the only thing that works is a bring-bring bell. Anything else just confuses them if they do hear it.