Whistles are for emergencies, bells to get someones attention. Can you imagine if there were whistles at the service counter instead of a bell? Yikes!


I just put a bell on my bike and noticed even the squirrels get out of the way faster than if I yell.

Well if you build a small steam power plant, you can run the whistle off of that..

Ha ha... You dont need steam, get a fox 40 sonik blast CMG whistle they exceed 120 dB with very little effort.

I'd personally not use either and just go with voice, but I'd definitely not ever, ever use a whistle. I've never actually seen a cyclist use a whistle, but if I did, I'd think there was something wrong with them. Have you you ever seen that TV show "Portlandia"? (I think it's on Hulu now.) They have a couple of vignettes about a self-righteous, totally obnoxious cyclist that's actually pretty funny, but the point here is that the obnoxious bicyclist uses a whistle quite liberally.

Bell. People know what a bike bell sound is. They hear the bell, their brain says "Bike. Move over." They know you are about to pass 'em. Ding it a few times and they can sometimes tell how close you are and fast you might be going.

Shout "on your left!" Their brain says, "Left. Huh? What? Turn and walk left i guess."

Hear a whistle and my brain says, "ball is down. play is over." or maybe "Who is blowin' that whistle? Turn and look."

For me, the bell is A #1 solution to riding on the MUP.

But when riding in traffic I think something like the Airzound would be best. I should probably get one.

If you want to be annoying it would be. Personally, if someone came up from behind me and let loose with that thing I'd want to deck em. Use a bell and/or your voice. No sense in being an arse. Just yield to the foot traffic, it's our duty whether we like it or not.

Did you read my post? In traffic, I would want an Airzound. Like for a car with windows up and music blasting or a big truck with loud engine. Voice and bell won't do much good there.

Do you try to get out and "deck" anyone who honks their car born if you make a mistake while driving?

nope, sorry, had a one track mind going on an airzound and a bike path. I still wouldn't screw with an airzound even in traffic for the same reasons. To me, it's like hollering at somebody.

You wouldn't want to holler at someone about to run you over with a 2 ton death machine? Personally, I'd offend someone with a loud noise rather than die.

Of course I'd want to but accomplish what exactly? Are you saying it's gonna catch their attention and save you? Would you not defer to the cager whether they were in the right or not?

That coffee cup bell is too cute

Bell, I use the incredibell but it fits on my bars. I give it a flick or two just enough to advise peds that I'm passing. My local bike path is actually pretty good about knowing to stay to the right but here and there we get into the head on games of chicken.

I think the Incredibell works great on the MUP. A simple "ding" normally gets the attention of whoever needs to hear it. And, when it doesn't, I just slow down and make a safe pass. Riding isn't about trying to beat a meaningless time. IMO, there's no excuse for me to be in an accident on an MUP. Like on my motorcycle on the road, I need to know where my escape path is or I need to be riding slow enough to get through whatever congestion is nearby.

I hate it when I see cyclist ripping past little kids or the elderly while yelling "ON YOUR LEFT!!!". They are idiots that think that they need to fly down the MUP at high-speeds. No common sense whatsoever. Total chumps.

I guessin' that for every deaf person on the MUP there are >50 wearing earphones and listening to loud music.

+1 on the Crane hammer strike (the Suzu). It has the best sound and still works fairly well when wet (many just go "thunk" instead of ringing). Also the attachment uses two screws instead of one, so it should fit the 31.8 bars.

I use a pretty cheap ding-ing bell that I can hit a few times. All but headphone zombies seem to move on the MUP... Although I've noticed small children usually move the wrong way, I always slow down and wait for them to figure it out if I have to warn a family, parents seem to not keep an eye on their kids and let them wander into bicycle traffic around here.
A whistle seems to be an awkward thing to have to reach and grab and I'm not sure people are as well 'trained' to react to a whistle and assume it's a bike trying to pass.

A bell seems to work well enough in Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_MphtzCOEc :)

Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. If a car is about to squish you, chances are they don't see you. A honk is going to get their attention and I think most people would check and right themselves. I've had it happen to me while driving a car. I couldn't see a car in my blind spot while changing lanes, and when they honked me I immediately checked myself and went back to my original lane, because I didn't want to get in an accident. Honking does work.

Disagree. I appreciate when someone passing me alerts me to their presence, and that is exactly the right thing to yell out. It's better than not being aware of them at all and wandering into their line of movement. WTH wants to be involved in a high collision hug with a speedy bike. The bicyclists have every right to be on a MUP as much as anyone else - same as the slower recreational riders, walkers, joggers, elderly persons, mommies with jogging carriages, and dog walkers. Hence "multi-use."

I think he was specifically referring to riding at high speed past little kids and the elderly, i.e. those who may not know exactly what to do when they hear "On your left", or someone who physically can't move fast enough to get out of your way when going at such speeds.

I only ride the MUP at higher speeds when I see no one else in front of me. If I come up on anyone, regardless of what age, I will slow down.

Gotcha...different strokes I guess. I'd likely spend my time trying to avoid the accident by maneuvering the bike rather than trying to find the trigger on the Air Zound.

btw, wear a head mounted mirror and you won't have any blind spots. Just an idea. ;)

You're suggesting I wear a head mounted mirror while driving a car? Because that was what I was referring to - being in the position of a car driver, hearing a honk, and correcting the position of my car. If this is what you are suggesting, I think I'll pass.

The point was, it doesn't really matter if it's a car or a bicycle loudly honking at you - if you're a car driver, you're going to notice it.

I thought about this a lot when I started commuting. I went when an air horn because I can control the sound at any given time. This was the best thing to go with in my situation.

Sorry, I wrongly made the assumption we were talking about bikes, my mistake.