bells

COSCA has stocked the bell boxes again. I picked one up, they are pretty cool. They ring endlessly on the way up. They don't ring on the way down. That's because the bell is horizontal and the clapper is too. So the bell got its one adventure and will not be traveling with me anymore. I like being stealthy on the climbs and the on the drops the wind in my ears coupled with the mashing of the trail screed makes it just the way I like it. The noise is high intensity and you do not notice until you hit some air, then all you get is the wind noise, so calm, land and its back to mash.
happy hells bells trails

 

Are you kidding me?
Could post a pic(s) of noted bell?

 

I hate bells. And speakers. Both annoy me on the trails.

 

I stopped using bells because of the people with speakers. The bell seems to fall on deaf ears.

 

They are just annoying as hell. I can't stand getting stuck on a climb next to someone with a bell. Descending is just as annoying. Combine that with people still wearing headphones, not paying attention, etc, and I don't think it really helps all that much. People that will hear bells will hear bikes. Don't ride aggro on trails/sections you can't see or you know are going to be busy and be polite...it's not that hard.

 

Ive noticed this as well. Commonly, after ringing the manual ringer on my bikes, I end up yelling at them so that they can hear me. Scares the crap out of them and I feel bad about that.

 

I have a different experience with bell's and don't mind at all in the right setting.
I have it turned off on the climbs and on on the1 trails with hikers etc.

Coming down with the ding ding going, by the time I get to the hikers they're off the trail, say "Thanks for the bell!" And I continue the flow uninterrupted. Everyone is happy!

Heck, even yesterday I was coming up behind a slower rider and they moved over to let me pass.

Of course there are exceptions, like the cone of silence called headphones. Figure when they get bitten by a rattler, cougar, coyote or whatever then thet might learn.

 

I use the Timber Bell which I turn off on climbs. I do not like the noise of it, but it makes a big difference on the downhills & singletracks. I get many thank you's from hikers and even other rider's, which I think is funny because I feel like I should be thanking them for getting out of the way .

 

Same experience for me. The bell only comes on when I'm descending or if I happen to be on a flat trail with a lot of traffic.

 

Same bell on all of my bikes. Works great.

 

I stopped feeling bad a long time ago. If you can't go out and enjoy the trails without blasting your earbuds then you deserve to be startled.

 

It takes a lot more than a bell or someone playing tunes to get my hackles up while I'm on the trail. You pass, they pass, thirty seconds later they're gone, everybody's doing their thing and happy. Use a bell? Good on you, I prolly should, too.

Getting up earlier and going farther into the BC could help...

 

You ever hike? You can hear bells way before you hear a bike without bells (bikes are pretty quiet these days). Obviously if someone has headphones on they won't hear bell nor bike nor yelling. Can't help stupid. So as much as I hate riding with a bell as I feel like cattle ring a ding dinging my way down the trail, I do it because it means I don't startle the uptight hikers who hike without headphones who are more likely to have enough free time to advocate for me not being able to use the trails. The idiots with the headphones ain't showing up to meetings demanding bike access be cut off "their" trail...

 

That's kind of harsh but I understand. The problem is, those hikers will spread rumors that we mountain bikers are rude yelling a-holes, and they will deny ever using ear buds. People SUCK.

 

It does sound kind of harsh but it comes from my most recent experience. Last Thursday I took the day off to ride. On one of my local trails I was approaching a man standing in the middle of the trail looking down at his phone. I called out coming up behind you! A few seconds later I called out again coming up behind you! As I approached him I saw he had two wires dangling from his ears and I yelled HEY!!! He about his pants. He didn't say anything but I'm sure I pissed him off. I'm not about to roll up on somebody really slow and politely tap them on the shoulder and ask if I can pass. They are the ones being rude. This post is a little exaggerated as I am very polite and courteous on the trails. Just how I felt that day.

 

+1 for that Chicken Nugget.

 

I don't mind bells, speakers on the other hand drive me up a wall. If you must listen to music on a well traveled/populated trail, maybe use one ear bud rather than subject everyone else around you to your music.

 

I got that beat. Saturday morning I did a quickie through Cherry Canyon. As usual, most dog walkers had their dogs off the leash (but not all). So, I am approaching a guy from behind on one of the ST trails who is walking forward with two large dogs roaming freely. Neither dog was aggressive. I was ringing my bell repeatedly and he did not respond so when I got about 10 feet behind him I yelled "HEY" rather loudly and his reply was "yeah?". I said to him that his dogs must be on leash and that he needed to maintain control of them. His reply was "yeah". As I was passing by, one of his dogs stopped on the trail just ahead of him completely blocking the trail, causing me to stop. I said that I should not have to stop because of his dogs that he had no control of. His reply was "yeah". I then said that perhaps it was time for me to call Animal Control to get them out here to cite the offenders. His reply was "yeah, I have them on speed dial".

WTF?! People SUCK!

 

I like my Timber bell... And I don't think hikers wearing earbuds are a reason for us to drop to their level, and not use a bell. Like is stated above, getting a "thank you" from an old lady who renews her Sierra Club membership annually is worth a lot more than pissing off a jackass with ear buds in...

If I have the bell and said jackass doesn't hear it until the last second, that's leverage in the conversation on our part... "Oh... I thought you heard me. My bell has been ringing behind you for the last two minutes. I'm sorry you didn't hear it." It's a teaching moment, and it might go a lot farther in the long run than the confrontational approach.

But, like mike says, the higher up you get and the farther into the forest you venture, the nicer people become... when you do run into one.

 

I've used those same lines many times with those who could not hear me approaching. But I'm not gonna play dumb, either. I can tell when someone cannot hear anything due to ear buds. I am not positive about this but I think that it is illegal in California to have ear buds in both ears at the same time in public.

 

I just filed a complaint with Animal Control regarding the jackasses in Cherry Canyon who do not maintain control of their dogs. It's about time that this issue get's some attention.

 

"Not playing dumb" is code for "I know I'm right, and my ego won't let it go." Play it extra polite and you might just win the war with that particular hiker, instead of feeling vindicated in a single pitched battle... Now, excuse me while I go find some dog walkers to yell at. They're all over in O'Neill with 16 foot leashes.

I know earbuds are illegal for both ears in the motor vehicle code... So on the trails that only applies to earbuds on e-bikes?

 

I hate bells, but definitely necessary in high traffic trails. Timber bell for me too, turned off for climbs.

 

Dang, you're causing trouble all over the place here today.

Didn't have your Wheaties this morning, did you?

"playing dumb" is inside info for everyone here. I would not dream of doing that in the presence of any fine feathered, law breaking, dog owner jerk-off. A Dummkopf is going to be a Dummkopf no matter what.

 

I hike all the time. I get both sides and I get the point. I honestly don't mind the reasoning behind the bell, they just drive me nuts and I hate listening to them. When I hike, obviously I pay more attention to bikes than non-riders probably do. I go out of my way to move for non-riders and try not to be in the middle of the trail unless needed. On the flip side, on the bike, I try to reign it in on stuff I know is popular and/or busy times. Riding Laguna or Oaks on a Saturday is different than a Friday on my day off.

I really am the live and let live type and don't really care if people use a bell. I just dislike them and will never use one. Same as I will never be playing music either on a speaker or headphones. Just personal preference.

 

Timber bell here as well. I got chastised once a while back for not having a bell, and have gotten thanked for having one. I'm sure a lot of the cordial waves and affirmations from hikers that stepped aside are actually defacto thank-yous. I thought the bell would annoy me more than it does, but like others I have it off (for the most part) when I'm climbing, and on when I'm going down, so maybe the bell is providing some Pavlovian type response saying that it's party time. Ding-a-ling, mothereffers.

 

that I can do

 

I got admonished for not having a Bell on my maiden ride down El Prieto on the SquiggleBug.

 

Been running these for years. Pull up the center button and the bell rings freely. Push it down and use the thumby for on-demand. Brass bell has a nice ring.

 

Wow, dual functional!