Audible warning was :Re: Pedestrian on the phone

[bludger]

I am wary of Hope freewheels as I fret that they might spook horses into thinking I'm a giant lycra rattlesnake.

[Wowbagger]

I don't possess a bell. I also ride a rather quiet bike. I do, however, possess a voice which is louder than most, and (although I say it myself as shouldn't) seems to carry with it an air of authority and gravitas honed by many years of teaching.

My audible warning is always a warm and friendly "Good morning!*" from some distance back. I always ride slowly anyway, so that's not a problem. But I seldom get any response other than one of co-operation and cheerfulness.

*Other times of day are available.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I don't possess a bell. I also ride a rather quiet bike. I do, however, possess a voice which is louder than most, and (although I say it myself as shouldn't) seems to carry with it an air of authority and gravitas honed by many years of teaching Pooh bear impressions.

Tiddley pom! 

(Other sorts of weather are available.)

[Chopper]

I was given an electric horn by a well meaning colleague (also a commuter). It sounds like one of those rape alarms. It is totally useless; not loud enough for a driver to notice, but loud enough to give a pedestrian quite a fright.

I still have it on my handlebars though as I don't want to look ungrateful. And at least I might be able to deter any would-be rapists on my journey.

[ian]

My old broken bike has a honk-honk horn that my wife gave me. I've never used it in anger, it's generally used by people at traffic lights, because they can't resist walking up and giving it a good squeeze.

I find bells aggressive, I'm not sure why. I think in part it's a cultural thing – we fear the bicycle – and in the same way, car horns in the UK seem aggressive. I learned to drive in NYC and you lean on the horn all the time, no one generally gets too het up if you honk them, it's a general hey-I'm-here.

[Kim]

I was given an electric horn by a well meaning colleague (also a commuter). It sounds like one of those rape alarms. It is totally useless; not loud enough for a driver to notice, but loud enough to give a pedestrian quite a fright.

I still have it on my handlebars though as I don't want to look ungrateful. And at least I might be able to deter any would-be rapists on my journey.

TBH, I'm not convinced they're much good against rapists, either.  Mainly because people tend to carry them when walking around in the dark, rather than keeping them handy on their bedside table.  But also because my instinctive reaction to hearing that sort of noise is "somebody's toast is ready".

[teethgrinder]

A Hope freewheel has practical application in that regard

I think they're better than bells. You have to slow down to get it to make a noise unless you're going down a hill. They're hands free, distinctively associated with bicycles, not overly loud, give an indication that you are slowing down and not a sudden noise that might startle someone.

[Mr Larrington]

I think the rain keeps the BEARS out of Lancashire.

If BEARS had an issue with rain they wouldn't live in for e.g. Alaska, western Canada, the Pacific Northwest ect ect.  Though grizzlies hate getting their ears wet.  Trufax.

[ian]

That's true. It's a pain when you're trying to bath one, that's for sure.

[quixoticgeek]

I think they're better than bells. You have to slow down to get it to make a noise unless you're going down a hill. They're hands free, distinctively associated with bicycles, not overly loud, give an indication that you are slowing down and not a sudden noise that might startle someone.

Not round these parts. Pretty much all bikes make some sort of sound, usually a squeak, and a rattle. I thought I was being over taken by someone freewheeling a hope hub, but turns out they just had crap stuck in their wheel...

That said we do have more bikes round these parts...

J

[Karla]

I have no idea which side is LEFT or RIGHT unless I think about it. Generally, if you shout anything at a pedestrian you're telling them to PANIC and thus do something fabulously unpredictable.

This is why I tend to favour mechanical noises, once I get up close on a shared use path.  Flicking brake levers, a deliberately noisy gear change, creaky seat, expensive freehub, that sort of thing.  (Studded tyres on brick is the absolute best, if only practical on limited occasions.)  It says "something, possibly a bike, is coming" without being open to being misinterpreted as aggression or an incorrect instruction.  The exception being squealing brakes, which means they're about to be killed utterly to DETH, and I try to avoid except for actual lemming situations.

I tend to keep vocalisation to a cheerful "morning/afternoon/evening" or "thanks" as appropriate, but will keep witty retorts in reserve in case they decide to tell me off for not using the bell I just rang^[1], or make the "lying down on the job" joke.


_{[1] Last time this happened, the dog heard it and moved to one side.  The pedestrians didn't, and shuffled over to fill the resulting gap.}

At uni I used to deliberately toe-out my brakes to squeak during freshers week, to provide all the new drunk-droid eighteen year olds with an automatic warning that cyclists used this campus too.

[Zipperhead]

The cowbell for bars might avoid that by making a continuous noise thereby being more akin to mechanical noise than any sort of deliberate action. Dunno though, I reckon it's probably a bit too quiet to make much difference.

I have seen a courier in Londonton who rides around with quite a large cowbell under the back of his saddle. It makes a nice noise at a reasonable volume and people turn their heads to find the source.

[DuncanM]

Properly squeaky brakes are brilliant for clearing pedestrians out of the way.  They have this "I'm trying to avoid you but I'm probably going to fail unless you take action" element to them that means they aren't aggressive, but they prompt action. Sadly, that means that you need to squeak every time you stop (unless you have a spare squeaky brake). I wonder if there's mileage in a horn that replicates that noise.

[Kim]

Properly squeaky brakes are brilliant for clearing pedestrians out of the way.  They have this "I'm trying to avoid you but I'm probably going to fail unless you take action" element to them that means they aren't aggressive, but they prompt action. Sadly, that means that you need to squeak every time you stop (unless you have a spare squeaky brake).

I gave up trying to de-squeak the Koolstops on the front of my Dawes for this reason.  I only really ride it around town anyway.

[Jurek]

Properly squeaky brakes are brilliant for clearing pedestrians out of the way.  They have this "I'm trying to avoid you but I'm probably going to fail unless you take action" element to them that means they aren't aggressive, but they prompt action. Sadly, that means that you need to squeak every time you stop (unless you have a spare squeaky brake). I wonder if there's mileage in a horn that replicates that noise.

In a previous life, I used to drive the sort of crane you see recovering artics from the roadside. It had a massive amount of ballast behind the front bumper (in order to keep the front wheels on the ground when you had one on the hook), and rear suspension which was pretty unyielding without substantial weight applied to it.
Very easy, in those conditions, to lock up the rear wheels and skid whilst under braking.
Very effective for getting people out of your way quickly. 

[hellymedic]

[Veering OT but]

Properly squeaky brakes are brilliant for clearing pedestrians out of the way.  They have this "I'm trying to avoid you but I'm probably going to fail unless you take action" element to them that means they aren't aggressive, but they prompt action. Sadly, that means that you need to squeak every time you stop (unless you have a spare squeaky brake).

I gave up trying to de-squeak the Koolstops on the front of my Dawes for this reason.  I only really ride it around town anyway.

I found swapping front brake blocks with back cured this without capital expenditure.

[Kim]

I found swapping front brake blocks with back cured this without capital expenditure.

Nahh, nothing fixes it for long.  Once new (for various values of 'new') blocks have bedded in, the squeal comes back.  Always on the front, thus demonstrating that it's a resonance thing, probably related to the frame/fork or cabling, rather than the brakes, blocks or rims which are all identical.

If I really cared I'd replace the fork with something less nasty that could take a disc brake.  Or fit Maguras.  I expect a different compound would help, but I appreciate the stopping power in the wet.