Andy_K 

I was cruising along today on a suburban street when a car coming the other way turned left right in front of me. I squeezed the brakes hard and they screamed like banshees. Net result: (1) I got stopped in plenty of time, but (2) the driver heard the squeal and gave me a wave of acknowledgement.

Usually when a driver cuts me off, I feel like they don't even notice. Lacking an air horn, the squealing brakes are a nice attention getter.

chrys9989

yes, its awesome, it also lets my wife know that I'm home

Popeyecahn

^Or the milkman... lol

neilfein

It also cuts through loud mosic, and makes oblivious pod-people walking in the middle of an MUP jump.

bhop

My squealing brakes saved a pedestrian jaywalker's life once.

dalmore

An oblivious jam in a convertible once panicked stopped while doing the 360 head swivel thanks to my squealing brakes. I don't think he ever realized it was me.

nahh

yeah, I generally don't mind when my brakes squeal. It helps with squirrels and kamikaze rabbits better than anything else.

srmatte

good reason for brake squeals, I'll have to fix mine back.

BarracksSi

Hehe... next we'll see a thread asking, "How can I make my brakes LOUDER?"

I probably don't need a bell on my bike with Fulcrum wheels -- that freehub is loud as hell.

BBnet3000

yeah my front brake squeals when i apply it hard, and i dont see any reason to do anything about it

mjw16

Mine alert pedestrians and scare squirrels out of my way.

Andy_K 

That's exactly my situation. When I'm using normal braking pressure, the brakes don't squeal. It's only when I'm braking hard that they squeal. Perfectly adjusted.

Leo1903

When break squeal happens on my bike I generally thought it was good.

In fact, I sometimes wondered whether a manufacturer could develop a gizmo which would incorporate some kind of mechanism which would be sensitive enough to trigger an alarm, if for example, both breaks were depressed at an accelerated rate.

Usually the first line of defense when approaching danger at an accelerated rate is to break. Ringing your bell is at best second and it's sometimes too late at that point to alert who you're likely approaching and about to crash into. In addition, in an emergency stop both hands are occupied on the break...who has the time to loosen your grip on the brakes, in order to find and then activate the bell? Even if one did, valuable time has been lost.

Could such a mechanism at least reduce the frequency of cyclists being "doored"?

BarracksSi

Nope. By the time the driver realizes that it's a sound other than squealing bus brakes, looks to their left, then looks back because they don't see anything unusual to their left, then sees you, decides that you're doing to hit their door, reaches forward again, possibly having to pull their leg back into the car, and pulls the door shut again...

... it's too late.

Best defense against getting doored is lateral distance. A bright headlight helps, too, but only if you're visible -- which requires lateral distance as well.

BarracksSi

Speaking of which --

I know it was daylight, but did you have a front light?

uke

That, and taking routes that don't include parked cars.

Leo1903

OK, so such a mechanism may or may not be beneficial in preventing cyclists being "doored" but given the testimonials from posters on how squealing breaks have saved them from accidents, there still should be some benefits to such a gizmo.

BarracksSi

Impossible where I live (no, really -- if there's a curb, there's a parked car).

Never said there wasn't any benefits.. If there were enough cyclists, though, it could become a problem..

MrCjolsen

Also makes suicidal squirrels re-think their plans to use your front wheel to end it all.

RayB

I luv my squeeling breaks... here in Japan peds are ultra unattentive.. they will just walk out blindly from a side street without even looking to each direction.. until they hear my squeeeling and jump out of their skins.....

Andy_K 

Yes -- flashing even -- and a safety orange helmet, although my clothing was otherwise dark.

BarracksSi

Sheesh... yeah, that driver was definitely an idiot.

Maybe they thought you were a traffic cone..

Andy_K 

I figure the typical driver thinks bicycles move at about the same speed as pedestrians. I try to take that into account.

BarracksSi

I just realized that the fact that the light was flashing might've confused them about your distance and speed...

Sorry, going on a tangent again..

Andy_K 

You know, I've wondered about that. I've read that people can't judge speed with a flashing light, but I figure in the daylight they can see my bike and body well enough to judge my speed apart from the light, so the light just draws attention to me. When it's dark, I use a steady light.

I've looked for some rule as to when to use a flashing light and when not to, but I haven't been able to find anything.