MadCat

I accept that there is no hope for me but perhaps someone out there can help others who are on the verge of being driven insane by an annoying rattling bell. My bell rattles all the time, on all terrain. I ride on 120 psi road tires so things can vibrate alot.
Is there a bell out there that doesn't rattle? I'm thinking of just attaching something to the straps on my pack instead. Has anyone encountered this problem? I need a bell; the pedestrians in this city are a little out of it with their head phones on. My air horn is an option but I feel it's a little bit of overkill.

MadCat

Wow neet, my 100th Post. Took me long enough. I'd enjoy it more if my bell didn't drive me insane.

DnvrFox

I have a little tiny bell that i got from some mail order house on a closeout. It only has a bell shaped metal dome and a spring with a plastic tiny handle on the end. You pull the dome and spring back and it dings against a small piece of metal on the bell support. It never rattles, but sometimes when going over rough areas it wiggles back and forth and rings itself!!

But, no rattles! I have one on both bikes.

thbirks

I know what you're talking about. I put one of those chromed bells on a Schwinn cruiser that i used to have. I just thought it would be cool, didn't really need it. It rattled so much i took it off after one ride.

Hopefully somebody will know of a bell that doesn't make noise when you don't want it to. If not I know there are battery powered horns made for bikes that operate with a little button on your handlebars. I found several on Ebay.

By the way i love your username.

KleinMp99

thats why you have a voice, yell at whatever you were going to ring your bell at.

DnvrFox

I much prefer a bell.

1. I get tired of yelling.

2. My voice, pitched as it is, is generally about the same tone as two people talking to each other ahead. Therefore, to "wake them up" I have to yell really loud to get through the noise they make themselves, if it is two peds I am passing.

3. I find that the peds like the bell, and respond well to it.

And, for some reason, I find that I too like the sound of that little bell.

I travel the same route a lot. The regular peds are now quite used to me and my bell, and smile and thank me for the warning as I pass them.

A bell advocate.

Is this thread going to be something like a helmet war thread?

I am curious as to why you care whether or not others use a bell. I doubt you will ever run across me or Kittyfurry in your travels. Is it some deep seated anxiety regarding bells? Did your mom spank you to the sound of a bell?

Let us know about your bell phobia, please.

Thanks.

ViciousCycle

I wear a whistle around my neck when I ride. I deliberately use it sparingly. Motorists in Chicago associate the sound of whistles with traffic cops. If an inattentive motorist is about to pull out of their parking spot directly into my path, the sound of the whistle can give them a moment's pause. And that moment can be just what I need to make it safely through.

The one disadvantage to the whistle is that I have to have it in my mouth before I can use it. (Therefore, I sometimes stick the whistle in my mouth when I'm going through a stretch where I think I might need to use it.) This disadvantage is offset by that fact that once it is place, I don't need to use my hands to operate it, and I can vary the volume and the duration of the whistle sound quite easily.

Oscar

I was on the lakefront path somewhere near Belmont when some lycra-carbon fiber dude was whistling at every one in front of him. Probably 1000 bikers and peds on that path per mile that day, and he tweeted off at all of them. Whaddajag.

Chris L

I've heard from path users that most peds in this country ignore a bell anyway. Mind you, apparently they ignore a 'yell' as well. In fact, I haven't heard of anything that has actually been successful in making them move, apart from staying away from those areas of course.

stumpjumper

I have a giant chrome rotating bell on my cruiser for fun, but I much prefer an "on yer left" for peds, and a kick in the rear qtr panel for autos if its desperately required. Otherwise, I simply give everyone who looks like a hazard the right of way.

MadCat

Problem solved.
I tore apart my lil black bell and replaced the rattly cheap plastic bolt thing with a quarter inch bolt and a hearty washer. Slapped it together with my blessed Makita drill. No more rattle.
Now it's back to that fused seat post that stuck on my old Fisher. Pure hell, that task has been.