[Sparticus]

I'm surprised to find MTBR doesn't have a BELL forum. Oh well, 'Misc Components' will do.

IMHO no bike is complete without a bell.
Not only does a bell make a friendly sound, but the people that you want to get out of your way appreciate this friendly sound much more than the obnoxious, "On your left!"
The problem is, on crowded pathways, the friendly sound of a bell is easily ignored as the walkers spread themselves across the path, oblivious to those behind them no matter how much those of us trapped behind them ring our bells.
I digress.
As I said at the beginning of this post, no bike is complete without a bell.

That said, I'm not a fan of mountain bike bells that go jingle jangle jingle all the time.
Fact is I hate such annoying bells. Personally I wouldn't employ one unless I lived in grizzly country.
I don't live in grizzly country.
Anyway I like the kind of bell that I ring with my thumb, one ring at a time.

So back when Spurcycle came out with their gorgeous bell a few years ago, I had to have one.
I don't have much art hanging from the walls of my home but I have a Spurcycle bell which is functional art that hangs on my handlebar.
Just look at this thing.

These days I'm down to 5 bikes but at $50 apiece I only have one Spurcycle bell.
But recently I broke the perch of a lesser bell (Electra) while repositioning handlebar controls on one of my bikes, so I visited Spurcycle's website to see if their prices had come down since I bought my Spurcycle 4 years ago.
Nope.
Well, kinda.
Spurcycle has a new bell. New to me, anyway. It's cheaper than the original Spurcycle bell.
Spurcycle calls this new one their "Compact Bell." Here it is:

The new compact bell cost $10 less than the original, so I thought, "What the heck" and ordered one. I was over cheap bells.
The new bell arrived today and I'm blown away. The photo above doesn't do it justice. The ring sounds the same as the original but if you're mounting your bell on a 22.2mm handlebar (aka mountain bike bar), this new compact bell is easier to mount plus I like the ringer dinger even better.
This is the one. I'll never own another bell.

Just thought I'd share my first favorite new product of 2022 so far. Thanks for tuning in.
=sParty

 

[Monty219]

I'm surprised to find MTBR doesn't have a BELL forum. Oh well, 'Misc Components' will do.

IMHO no bike is complete without a bell.
Not only does a bell make a friendly sound, but the people that you want to get out of your way appreciate this friendly sound much more than the obnoxious, "On your left!"
The problem is, on crowded pathways, the friendly sound of a bell is easily ignored as the walkers spread themselves across the path, oblivious to those behind them no matter how much those of us trapped behind them ring our bells.
I digress.
As I said at the beginning of this post, no bike is complete without a bell.

That said, I'm not a fan of mountain bike bells that go jingle jangle jingle all the time.
Fact is I hate such annoying bells. Personally I wouldn't employ one unless I lived in grizzly country.
I don't live in grizzly country.
Anyway I like the kind of bell that I ring with my thumb, one ring at a time.

So back when Spurcycle came out with their gorgeous bell a few years ago, I had to have one.
I don't have much art hanging from the walls of my home but I have a Spurcycle bell which is functional art that hangs on my handlebar.
Just look at this thing.
View attachment 1964477

These days I'm down to 5 bikes but at $50 apiece I only have one Spurcycle bell.
But recently I broke the perch of a lesser bell (Electra) while repositioning handlebar controls on one of my bikes, so I visited Spurcycle's website to see if their prices had come down since I bought my Spurcycle 4 years ago.
Nope.
Well, kinda.
Spurcycle has a new bell. New to me, anyway. It's cheaper than the original Spurcycle bell.
Spurcycle calls this new one their "Compact Bell." Here it is:
View attachment 1964478
The new compact bell cost $10 less than the original, so I thought, "What the heck" and ordered one. I was over cheap bells.
The new bell arrived today and I'm blown away. The photo above doesn't do it justice. The ring sounds the same as the original but if you're mounting your bell on a 22.2mm handlebar (aka mountain bike bar), this new compact bell is easier to mount plus I like the ringer dinger even better.
This is the one. I'll never own another bell.

Just thought I'd share my first favorite new product of 2022 so far. Thanks for tuning in.
=sParty

I like the timberbell as i can turn it on or off. on for twisty downhills so I don’t need to manually ding it although it does get annoying at times and although i am far from a weight weenie it does seem rather heavy. So it has its + and -.

 

[FJSnoozer]

We own 4 spur cycle bells on various bikes.

For me, the spurcycle is replaced with me greeting everyone in a friendly voice and telling them their dog is cute. Not everyone likes having a bell ding from right behind them.

For riding casually on high traffic and even going fast on the trail, the timber bell is the Jam! Hikers, walkers, oncoming riders and even Karens love it. The complement the ice cream cart jingle and are already moved to the side by the time I get to them with a snails on their face.

I use the quick release version on rides where I will need it. It’s weight is not far off from any other bell. The spurcycle is surprisingly heavy. A knog won’t survive a real MTB crash.

Knockoff bells never work the same or sound as loud. Buyer beware.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bikesbikesbikes]

Ding Ding Ding

I’ve found that pedestrians almost always react positively to the sound of a bell.
Crane bells are a bit cheaper than the spur. They are nice and loud with a pleasant ring. The brass one sounds the best.

 

[wschruba]

Having noodled with the Spurcycle+Knog bells, I have to say that they are lovely, beautiful affairs...that are way too mellow to alert anybody.

My main mountain bike has a timberbell--unobtrusive, loud enough, and great for the twisty, closed sight lines we have here.

My preference, though (if we're talking about simplicity/art) are, in order of desirability, the Crane Suzu, or Crane Karen [yes, really]. The sound of a hammer strike bell is like no other, with a sound that projects, pierces, and yet remains mostly mellow. I have a 'small' version that is intended for mounting on a headset spacer, instead screwed into a shifter mount on the brake lever of my single speed.

It is mostly self-ridiculing there, as I invariably go to shift desperately for an easier gear while suffering, only to hear DING.

 

[BadgerOne]

* Flame suit on *

Zefal brass bell, 'Lord of the Ping', lol. Works great, sounds great, loud, $6.97 at Wally World.

Go ahead, fight me.

 

[Monty219]

* Flame suit on *

Zefal brass bell, 'Lord of the Ping', lol. Works great, sounds great, loud, $6.97 at Wally World.

View attachment 1964489

Go ahead, fight me.

If its as good as my zefal magnum waterbottle its a winner for sure.

 

[Monty219]

The complement the ice cream cart jingle and are already moved to the side by the time I get to them with a snails on their face.

Such a good visual… do the snails leave trails?

 

[CLDSDL43]

Thanks for this thread! Been wanting a bell but just a bell that dings when I need it to.

 

[Bacon Fat]

I picked up the franken bell Spur bell. It's a blemish or put together with extra parts. Discounted price. Works great, sounds great. Might have to pick the newer small one. Looks good

 

[KidCharlemagne]

I put Spurcycle bells on our touring bikes, because our first tour was going to be the GAP trail/C&O Towpath... 340 miles of rail trail, likely with tons of pedestrians as well as cyclists riding 2-abreast. One problem with the bell is that walkers wearing ear buds can't hear you. It happened often enough that I began to dream of the possibility of a dual signal strategy: bell first, then Taser if they ignore you, but I eventually shelved that idea. I tell myself it's because the generator hub won't charge the Taser batteries fast enough, but I'm probably just afraid of being sued.

 

[BrianU]

I need to get a bell as it seems lately there are more people out walking on one of the trails I ride most often. Question for all you Spurcycle bell users...does yours have resonating ding or just a dull "dunk" sound. I have checked out a couple of these bells at the trailhead and they did not sound much different than if I was lightly tapping on my carbon bars with a screw driver handle. I wondered if they did not have it setup correct and just did not know better. Maybe had it clamped down too hard or something.

 

[Bassmantweed]

A different perspective on the timber bell. I never use mine as it is just too much. I find a ping every 20 seconds or so is more than enough. The constant jingling of the timberbell gets annoying after about 3 seconds.
Most bells are easy enough to position where you can flick it every so often when in doubt. There is just NO need for the constant jingling. My 2 cents.

 

[Bikemusher]

Question for all you Spurcycle bell users...does yours have resonating ding or just a dull "dunk" sound. .

My Spurcycle has a really nice "ding". If it is touching anything it quickly turns to a "dunk"

 

[Bikemusher]

IMHO no bike is complete without a bell.
Not only does a bell make a friendly sound, but the people that you want to get out of your way appreciate this friendly sound much more than the obnoxious, "On your left!"

I couldn't agree more. A bell has been on my mt bike for as long as I've been biking. Also, they are great at signaling your dog.

 

[Bacon Fat]

I need to get a bell as it seems lately there are more people out walking on one of the trails I ride most often. Question for all you Spurcycle bell users...does yours have resonating ding or just a dull "dunk" sound. I have checked out a couple of these bells at the trailhead and they did not sound much different than if I was lightly tapping on my carbon bars with a screw driver handle. I wondered if they did not have it setup correct and just did not know better. Maybe had it clamped down too hard or something.

Mine has a nice resonating ring.

 

[Monty219]

anyone have input on the incredibell?

 

[baker]

A different perspective on the timber bell. I never use mine as it is just too much. I find a ping every 20 seconds or so is more than enough. The constant jingling of the timberbell gets annoying after about 3 seconds.
Most bells are easy enough to position where you can flick it every so often when in doubt. There is just NO need for the constant jingling. My 2 cents.

I'm with you on this...I have a Timberbell and just found that I always turned it off and had to turn it on when I need to alert someone. For me, I feel I might as well just ding a regular bell... I still have the Timerbell on my cyclocross (MUT) bike...

 

[hoolie]

Timely post for my situation Spartacus. The incredibell mini is great. I have had them last about 2-3 years (About 300-500 rides). I eventually break them, usually from a random “flip your bike upside down to work on something trailside”. If you are careful, and rig bell to move if you twist it it out of the way, I’m sure you may be able to get more durability. I guess the per ride cost is fine, but after breaking mine last week, I’m ready to upgrade to the Spurcycle or Crane. As far as Knog Bell, I had a cool silver one for my all silver bike, and it exploded within the first week. One trick with Incredibell, is when they get worn out and start to rattle, pack some grease in the plastic hammer hinge area and it stops rattling.

 

[AEyogi]

I buy cheap Chinese brake pads, and they make a horrible screeching noise just as I prepare to enter a corner. Works great!