Bell? Or Voice?

[Pax]

Who is frowning about having a bell on a road bike? And why do you care?
This is about your safety. Maybe you'll never need it. But maybe you will.

No one else is sitting on your bike with you. Don't let your own common sense be overruled by someone else's opinion.

As Northstar, I expect you to be above and beyond common opinion.
go for it. Last time I looked, there were no laws against it.

ps I know a lot of hardcore road bike riders that have bells!

I'm so oppositional/defiant that if someone sneered at my bike for having a bell I'd go find the biggest squeaky plastic dinosaur horn I could find and add it on next to the bell.

[mimitabby]

I'm so oppositional/defiant that if someone sneered at my bike for having a bell I'd go find the biggest squeaky plastic dinosaur horn I could find and add it on next to the bell.

me too! My raleigh hybrid has a ball horn. (you know, the squeaky ball on a trumpet thing?) My DH muttered about it constantly. But man, it works great!
The problem is, it didn't attach very well, and it would be even harder to put on the roadbike handlebars.

[7rider]

I'm so oppositional/defiant that if someone sneered at my bike for having a bell I'd go find the biggest squeaky plastic dinosaur horn I could find and add it on next to the bell.

My sister's GF gave me a big plastic bunny squeaky bell for my bike.
Uh....never made it to my bike, but I "re-gifted" it to a friend for her (then) 3-y.o. daughter.

Like several here, I use a bell for initial warnings at distance, then announce my passing by voice as I get closer. That's on my commuter, which I ride more regularly (although rarely, still) on a MUT. My road bike has no bell, and when I pass cyclists on the road, I just yell "On your left" as I approach.

I wouldn't put a bell on my road bike. It's fine for my commuter, although even that bell was given to me as a joke-gift from a friend when I bought a cruiser at a yard sale...she said a big beach cruiser needs a bell! Funny...it just occurred to me...all bells were given to me as gifts...I never bought a single one.

[Cindyloo]

I have a bell on my path bike but rarely use it. I feel that I and the folks I am passing are more comfortable with "I'm on your left". I think the "I'm" part helps them know that I will be on the left so you move to the right! If hubby is with me I will call out "We are on your left" so they can expect more than one rider. It seems to work well around here.

Our paths go under roads via tunnels and i use the bell to alert others that I'm coming through the tunnel to avoid a head-on collision!

[Lise]

I was too vain to put a bell on my bike until I saw how well people (pedestrians, in particular), responded to my BF's bell. They "hear" a bell in a way that they don't hear a voice, it seems. Especially folks standing in the street with their car doors open--who KNOWS which way they're going to move, and the bell gets their attention. I went to the LBS and bought a brass bell for the Larkspur toot-sweet. It's brass on a silver bike, and I may get vain enough to change that... I saw some very cute, funny bells at Bike the Drive. Let's see...there was a giraffe, a dinosaur, and a frog!

Like Cindyloo, I start dinging the bell as I approach a blind spot or underpass, so the approaching folks have warning and can get over!

I had never thought of announcing the number of bikes passing....I guess because I've almost always ridden alone. But now that I get to ride with my honey, I'll give it a try!

It is always a challenge to figure out how close I should be before I use my voice. I feel hostile when I yell, and that is a drag, so the bell actually keeps me in a better mood.