Looking for a loud horn
 

I'm looking for a horn to honk at ******* drivers on my commute.

Not really sure what the pros and cons of something like the airzound vs electronic horns are.

What do you suggest?

Academy - SeaSense® Mini Air Horn

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...heels/horn.jpg

loudbicycle.com

I'm actually thinking about buying some of the aftermarket air horns, the ones intended for use on a car that come with an electric compressor, toss out the compressor and hook up an air valve and a bottle sort of like the AirZounds does.

Either that or experiment and find a replacement diaphragm for the AirZounds that actually friggin' works below 30 degrees, so that I can use it the other 1/2 of the year.

I think it would take me until about 5 minutes after the car I wanted to honk at had already gone past me to find that in order to honk it. Even with the airzounds 2 inches from my thumb I often don't have time to honk.

Also, does that work below freezing? That's why I don't bother mounting the airzound in the winter.

That looks nice. Not a fan of how bulky it is but it does seem like it would do a better job than some of the other horns that make chirping noises or other odd sounds. Any idea what the delivery time frame is like if I pre-order?

No idea on the time. I don't think it's TOO heavy, it uses LiIon cells and the horns are probably plastic, not metal. It's a bit bulky but it's up around the bars where there's a bunch of clutter anyway.

I suggest you learn to adapt. Air horns are large and bulky and don't adapt to cycling very well. They may get the motorist attention, but that's mostly out of curiosity more than anything else.

Its really up to the cyclist to be aware and anticipate danger and make preparations to avoid or go around it; motorist seldom yield the right of way. That's just a matter of size, and the perceived road hierarchy.

I think you have that backwards. Electric horns are large and bulky and do not adapt to cycling very well. Air horns are very light and can be quite small.

I've never used my air horn and not had a motorist respond to it. I think the only time I've really used it is when a car was about to pull out in front of me. I was also prepared to avoid but I didn't have to since they didn't pull out. Sometimes avoidance is dangerous as well, it can force you into another situation almost as dangerous.

That's obvious. I'm basically just looking for a way to tell drivers they ****ed up either after they did or when I notice them about to pull a dip**** move. I'm not going to rely on this thing to keep me in one piece.

We're both in the same boat, so I understand your frustration. But my point was, it really doesn't work. Only law enforcement can fix something like that, and they're really too busy to care. We can try to educate them, but otherwise, we're pretty much on our own.

This is wise. As my father (RIP) said, to get angry is to lose the game.

Expect people to make boneheaded moves, because they surely will. Try to let it go as quickly as you can.

I let it go, I just like to tell drivers when they ****ed up. Same reason I honk at people that pull out in front of me when I drive. Every wreck I've been in or have almost been in was because of people doing that, so I always watch out for it.

At night I strobe my headlight at max directly into their rearview mirror if they come close to hitting me because they passed too close. I figured a horn would be a good daytime option.

Heh, the number of times I've muttered "Ode for a horn".

Recently I built my own. Used some refurbished horn speakers from a railway crossing (refurbished with a 2W speaker), a TDA 1905 amplifier and I used a Freetronics LeoStick (Arduino Leonardo clone) to produce the horn noise from a recording. The recording is a synthesized train air horn, or there's a bell sound that I can use (toggle switch selection).

I can also plug a microphone into it for PA use or plug my (amateur) radio into it to use it as an external extension speaker. For 2W it's surprisingly loud. Downside is it's a little more bulky and it needs a 9V supply to operate (not a problem for me as I have a 12V system) but it seems to be doing the trick. Only needed it once so far.

A lot more useful to focus on Prevention rather than on Vigilantism. The first is more likely to save death and injury. The latter may well get you in more trouble than you can handle.

Fact is society world wide is less courteous and seems to be more absorbed in the toys inside their vehicle or plugged into their ears. Yesterday, while driving, another vehicle ran a Stop sign barely missing me in my vehicle then ran a second Stop sign when entering a main highway. Didn't look around either time. Cyclists are no better or worse, just a different vehicle.

So, make yourself as visible as possible, motor or pedal power, keep your head out and operate as defensively as possible.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435410Been using Airzound airhorns for 20 years now (with a bell for close-in pedestrians). I now have three bikes, two drop bars and one straight. I mounted the Airzound's thumb button by my left hand on each bike, with the bell in a similar position on the right. On the new Charge Plug I ride on the hood of the brifters and I positioned the horn so I honk it with the three small fingers of my left hand. The bell with the thumb of my right (from the hood). On my Nishiki International road bike I'm mostly on the top bar when in traffic so the horn button and bell are under my thumbs. And on my Nishiki Blazer straight bar the horn and bell are under my thumbs as they rest on the cross-fire shifters. After a few days of noisy practice I got used to the new position and didn't have to think about it. The same with the brifters, vs, cross-fire, vs downtubes. It's like driving two or more vehicles regularly, you get used to the position of the controls. granted the horns are usually in the center of the wheels...but there was that '77 Ford Fairmont with the horn on the left stalk. And that was my first car where the switch for the brights wasn't on the floor. And oh, yeah, one car had a column shifter, one had an automatic on the center console and one had a manual on the floor. You get used to things. The only drawback to the Airzound is around freezing and below where it becomes less effective, but the new one has a metal bottle pumped up to 100psi and it seemed to get a couple of good loud blasts in the lower 20s. I think the Airzound elicits a better response than the electronic buzzers and chirpers I had before since it is a horn sound. These horns have saved my life from inattentive drivers a few times, and come in handy to warn other drivers before they get too close for comfort. I love, Love, LOVE them.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435414http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435415http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435410

theres one that sounds like a car alarm . LBS has them, mostly just scares the customers, when they push the button on the Display One.

Ill try to remember the brand name after my Next Visit.

A horn can be a useful warning device to announce ones presence once in a while, but not a must have like lights, bell or mirror for me.

To punish or "educate" a bone head?
No way, like the video vigilante, it smacks of looking for trouble, and its not our place to do so as a road user anyway.

You're a wise person. I have to confess that I've lost my temper out there a few times.

This is true. I have a bell because the local laws require me to have one. It is of limited use on the footpath and utterly useless in traffic. I have an indicator system with an 85dB piezo buzzer which works okay, but some people don't associate the "beep" with a bicycle, it's mainly so that I don't forget to turn them off. (Got the idea from the postie motorcycles that have a similar arrangement.)

Most drivers I've found around here are fairly decent. I have my close calls, worst being with taxis from one particular company (we have two operating in Brisbane) but in general I've had few problems. The one and only time my horn has seen use on the road was behind a driver that was half-asleep at a green light and needed the wake-up call or we'd have missed the cycle.

On the road I follow 3 rules:

1. Avoid an accident
2. Be predictable
3. Be alert

On the footpath a bell has to compete with increasinly distracted pedestrians. The bonus of a loud bell/horn arrangement though, the louder it is, the further away you can be when you ring it. So instead of practically sneaking up on the unsuspecting pedestrian then scaring the crap out of them, you can ring it when you're a good 30 seconds away, and give then plenty of time to turn around, see you, then move to either side of the path. No one gets hurt, no one gets scared, no one inconvenienced.

You guys know that I'm capable of riding defensively, wearing visible clothes, using lights AND carrying a horn, right? It's not one or the other.

I commute on 45mph two lane rural roads with no shoulder, bike lane or sidewalk every day. I know how to ride in traffic. I have no idea why half the responses to my question are implying I'm going to ride around blindfolded and expect a horn to save me?

Now, after this post, we know.

The thing to look out for are the pillocks driving around like they're blindfolded. Usually eyes glued to a small LCD screen of some description such as a smartphone or GPS navigator.

THAT is where the horn comes in useful. :-)

Thanks for making me look up a word. It's new to me.

pillock - definition of pillock by The Free Dictionary

I aim to please (and educate) :-) It's a UK term, and I feel that definition more than fits many drivers that undertake these dangerous combinartions of activities, no?

I'm thinking now of getting a loud air horn not because of motorists but because of pedestrians in the park trail. No matter how many times I ring my bell or even yell out "excuse me!" I get no reaction until I'm almost right beside them. I don't know if they are all wearing earbuds or something but maybe the hoods on their parkas are contributing to more sound insulation.