For whom the bell tolls

Every bike needs a bell. There, I said it. Every bike needs a bell just like every car needs a horn, there are times you need an audible way to alert somebody to your approach. For decades I went with the "pardon me!" approach, but often that fell on deaf or ear plugged ears as I attempted to negotiate a narrow bike path or dirt trail along the forest floor. I went decades this way because I hated how the bells usually look.

Lets face it, the ubiquitous chrome bell may do the job, but it has no place on a modern road or mountain bike. It's big, it's bulky, and it's ugly. A single season of riding would have it's cheap chrome finish rusting and it's internal mechanism gummed up. They also do not fit on road bikes and they are in the way on a kitted out mountain bike. Definitely not something you want to meet on your way to face planting on the side of the trail, I do not need a bell shaped bruise along with the road rash.

I simply do not know why bicycle shops keep pushing this kind of junk.

Then I found this: The "Oi Bell" a lovely piece of kit from down under that clips neatly to your bars and has a nice adjustable sound depending on how hard you pull down the striker.

Now I have a bell on my bars that I barely know is there until I need it. With it's ability to cut through most conversations and music yet still not startle horses, this little piece of gear is exactly what every bike needs
www.knog.com.au/oi-bike-bell-large.html