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Loud bike bells are not better for safety on busy roads
Everyone in this group keeps recommending those huge brass bells that sound like a church tower. I went against the advice and stuck with a cheap plastic bell from Dick's Sporting Goods that cost $4. Last month I was riding down a busy street near downtown Portland and a car started backing out of a driveway right in front of me. My little bell made just enough noise for them to stop without me looking like a jerk. Those loud bells just make drivers angry and ignore you. Has anyone else noticed that quiet bikes blend in better with traffic than standing out?
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milesrobinson1d ago
Funny how the fancy bell crowd acts like you need a foghorn to be safe, meanwhile a $4 plastic clicker did the job just fine. Pretty sure the secret to not getting hit is being aware, not making everyone within a block cover their ears. Maybe those expensive bells are just for people who like to announce themselves like they're in a parade. If you gotta wake up the whole neighborhood to back out of a driveway, that's a driver problem, not a bell problem.
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taylor1741d ago
Wait, did @milesrobinson just call us out like that? My buddy Dave tried the loud bell thing last summer and some guy in a pickup actually rolled down his window and yelled "shut that thing up" before nearly clipping him.
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