Big Dutch bike coming along the canal the other way from me at Fountainbridge, had one of those big "dung-dung" bells. Got a most excellent doppler shift from it as we passed.
Don't get that with your usual "tink tink" canal bells.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Cycling News
Today's excellent bike bell
(99 posts)-
Posted 10 years ago #
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"Got a most excellent doppler shift from it as we passed."
Constant ringing?
Posted 10 years ago # -
I need a new bell for the Brompton. Unfortunately it has to be small because of the fold. Is there an alternative to the usual kind of bell?
Posted 10 years ago # -
Posted 10 years ago #
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I have a big ding-dong Dutchie bell going cheap if anyone wants it. It was a pressie but will only fit on 'traditional' handlebars.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Usual" = small black bell with thing to flick with your thumb, that produces a single "ding". Seems to be the standard bell for a new bike (i.e. I assume they are pretty cheap) - my new big bike came with the same design but of a size that fits on big rather than small handlebars.
Yes, I should jfgi, but I wondered if anyone had any recommendations.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@Fimm look for a brass bell, much more effective resonance than the wee pressed steel "usual" things, particularly in the rain. Should clamp nicely to a Brompton.
Portland Design Works do one.
Posted 10 years ago # -
"small black bell with thing to flick with your thumb, that produces a single "ding"."
Yes, I was hoping a Google image search would find some nice alternatives, but...
This was the least "usual" -
http://sogrenibikes.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=2
Posted 10 years ago # -
"Got a most excellent doppler shift from it as we passed."
Guy coming the other way on the canal this morning was wearing a maillot jaune, though curiously once we'd passed I turned round for a second look and he was wearing a maillot rouge. I wonder if quantum tunneling could be a solution to the shared space issue?
Posted 10 years ago # -
I got a lovely Crane Suzu bell after recommendations on this forum. I think they do a smaller version which would fit on the Brompton.
It makes such a nice sound that I'm sometimes disappointed if I don't get a chance to ring it!
Posted 10 years ago # -
I ordered one of the brass Crane Suzu mini-bells last night for the road bike. Never had a bell on it until I took the cheap little 'ping'-ey one off the MTB for ringing at POP this year, and then kept it on. It's been coming in quite handy, so I thought I'd replace it with something a bit better and nicer sounding. (Then the little-used MTB can get it's bell back).
I was going to get a headset-fitting version (where the attachment bracket replaces a bar spacer), but realised my Ay-Up battery pack is velcroed around the headset).
I'll let you know how it goes once it's been fitted and used!
Posted 10 years ago # -
The Crane Suzu bells look lovely - especially the painted versions. However I'm not sure if even the small ones are small enough. I need to do some measuring...
Posted 10 years ago # -
I have a massive Dutch ding-dong bell on my bike, but I think the chinese-style ching-ching ones come in a wider range of sizes and styles, for example
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girls-Hello-Kitty-Pink-Metal/dp/B00ISEIBGU/ref=sr_1_16?s=kids&ie=UTF8&qid=1403270782&sr=1-16&keywords=bicycle+bellPosted 10 years ago # -
I am currently looking for a bell with a friendly and predictably loud/prolonged ring that could be mounted in such a way that I am able to ring it with my left thumb without moving my hand at all on the handlebar (now that I am using hub gears my left hand has less to do). In the short term I have managed to mount my old rotatable 'ping' bell facing partially downwards to approximately achieve the desired functionality. This has the added (if initially confusing) bonus that the bell rings itself when passing onto rough ground at speed, e.g. when moving onto cobbles from a smooth surface, but it is lacking my desired ring properties.
If anyone knows of a suitably designed or flexibly mountable bell with a decent ring to it then I would be very appreciative. In the process of searching I came across the Trigger Bell, which has exactly the right design style, but unfortunately it is ultimately just a 'ping' bell.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I'm not sure if this is quite what you are looking for, but I eventually got a small bell from Decathlon (last of the big spenders, me). It gives a nice double "ding - ding" which seems quite loud but not agressive. Oh, and you get a choice of colours - mine is a nice red one :-)
Posted 10 years ago # -
@jdanielp
The sonorous tone of my Big Red Bell has attracted compliments on the canal. If you liked it, I'll tell you the exact streetmarket in Amsterdam where it can be had for €10.
It's made in Taiwan - must be available here somehow...
Posted 10 years ago # -
halfords sell a bell that makes a great tung-a-lung sound it is massive chrome style affair. nearly bought but my bar is over size and whilst the mounting is old style fit most places I went off it. Worth checking it out as sound is mellifluous
Posted 10 years ago # -
I was vaguely thinking about trying to find the camera cable release I know to be somewhere in the loft and mounting the trigger bit somewhere near my rarely-used left thumb so that I can modify it to ring a bell mounted on the main bit of my handlebars.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Thanks all.
@fimm is it the following bell that you're referring to: Decathlon bell? It looks to me as if it doesn't have any rotational positioning of the ringer like my current 'ping' bell does, which makes me worry that mounting it upside down may put the ringer a little bit out of reach of my thumb...
@IWRATS your bell did indeed have a pleasant tone as I remember (perhaps a little too relaxed, if anything?), although I don't plan to visit Amsterdam any time soon.
@gembo is it the following bell that you're referring to: Halfords bell? It is hard to see how flexible the position of the ringer is on this bell. The reviews suggest that it could be noisy a lot of the time, but I may try to drop in and take a look.
Posted 10 years ago # -
yes that is the halfords bell. Real chrome I am not so sure. Also would have thought a less scratched bell for their picture? the sound tho remains sonorous.
the fitting allows it to go one of two ways. The left handed way might work for you. The fitting though put me off. two long thin bolts, two hump back clips and two nuts
Posted 10 years ago # -
That looks like the right bell, but I'm convinced that I've got it mounted so that I use it with my left thumb...
Posted 10 years ago # -
@fimm does the double "ding-ding" continue even when wet?
Posted 10 years ago # -
perhaps a little too relaxed, if anything?
Amsterdam's a mellow old town - aggression will not stand, man.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Posted 10 years ago #
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@jdanielp I have a bell like the Halfords bell (but bought off Amazon and in black). I use it exactly the same way you want to: mounted by my left thumb on a hub-geared bike so I can use it without taking my hand off the bar.
Here's the bell. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0038VVEKS I didn't pay anything like that much for it.
Works a treat and is good for the canal because it does the 'two tings' in one stroke. The only complaint is that the metal of the thumb thingy is a bit soft, so every now an again I have to bend it back up so I can get a full stroke.
Posted 10 years ago # -
...oh yes, and it works in the rain
Posted 10 years ago # -
@jdanielp yes it works in the rain, why wouldn't it?
I don't quite understand why you want to mount it upside down. I took a photo of mine to show how I have it mounted and then forgot to upload it. I have it on the top of the handlbar so I can just push the lever with my left thumb; it goes ping and then when I release the lever it goes ping again; so if you wanted a continuous ring you'd need to keep your thumb moving: ping-ping, ping-ping, ping-ping.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@fimm my 'ping' bell works well in the dry, but as it gets wetter it becomes more of a 'pin', then 'pi', and eventually just a 'p' bell, which is far from effective. The reason that I want to mount it upside down is just for the convenience/laziness of not having to move my hand or lessen my grip at all to ring the bell, which means that I can (in theory) maintain better control. I found it quite awkward to ring on top with my left hand, although that is clearly partially a lack of practise...
Posted 10 years ago # -
@Greenroofer thanks for the suggestion, I'll investigate.
Posted 10 years ago # -
@lorlane I think that the first of the Tiger bells is maybe the bell that I have already, albeit in black. I don't know if I fancy taking the comedy horn route ;-)
Posted 10 years ago #
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