Bike Horn

[Ryan]

Does anyone use a bike horn, such as the one nashbar sells, is it effective?

[Seanholio]

Does anyone use a bike horn, such as the one nashbar sells, is it effective?

I use an Airzound, which is sold by Nashbar, and it's plenty loud enough to be effective on cars, but I'm hesitant to use it on peds at close range because it's so damn loud!

I find that it does effectively reach truck- and Lexus-drivers.

[Tom_The_Bikeman]

Does anyone use a bike horn, such as the one nashbar sells, is it effective?

A smallish factoid for you...

I was booking home on last Friday, and two (12ish) year olds decided to hop off into the road in front of me as I closed in at roughly 40-45 kmh (24ish mph)...I used my trusty mark one eyeball and mark one voice (parade voice optional) to alert the children that it might not be such a good idea to walk in front of a 100+kg mass approaching at 40 kmh.

Cut to the chase...they moved. I've clocked my voice at 100 db in spinning class. Usually enough, and always at the ready, if I'd used my hands to use a horn, I'd have wasted them.

Then again, on our tandem, I use a AirZounds, works great on doggies and other hazards.

Ride smart.
Tom

[madpogue]

No idea what sound level my voice can produce, but to someone in/on another vehicle (or a wayward ped, etc.), it sounds like, well, a human voice. It's therefore usually ignored. An Air Zound sounds a bit like a car horn, so it has (as it should) a similar sensory / perceptual / psycological effect on the subject. Right now, I'm using a New York Blaster, an electronic horn, which, in my experience, produces an effect somewhere in between. People don't immediately recognize it as a vehicle horn, but it d@mn sure ain't just somebody yelling, so they at least pay some attention. (From what I can tell, it's the internals of a back-up beeper, like those found in commercial vehicles, put in a case with a 9V battery and equipped with a momentary button switch.)

One thing I've heard about the Air Zound is that it loses its effectiveness in winter, because the air bottle doesn't maintain its pressure in cold temperatures. Anyone here notice that?

Hey, who's the guy on these forums who uses a car horn wired to a 12V battery on his bike?

[Tom_The_Bikeman]

No idea what sound level my voice can produce, but to someone in/on another vehicle (or a wayward ped, etc.), it sounds like, well, a human voice. It's therefore usually ignored.

Guess that I can ...er... produce enough sound AND make my irritation known...it's not like I "said" anything, just yelled "HEY!" at parade strength. I know what you mean, however... :D

have fun,
Tom

[madpogue]

Guess that I can ...er... produce enough sound AND make my irritation known...it's not like I "said" anything, just yelled "HEY!" at parade strength. I know what you mean, however... :D

have fun,
Tom Yeah, that'd still be mostly ignored here. And maybe I'm conjecturing here, but I have a pretty good idea what subconsious thought patterns are going on:

Voice - person - just some guy yelling, so what; ignore.
Horn - car - something that may hurt me and/or my property; pay attention.