Bell on a Bicycle

[rcorfman]

I'd much rather hear someone's podcast or ebook than a bell on a bicycle. Those cyclists must be ding-a-lings.

[ALMAL]

@Thoreau
When it comes to alerting hikers or other bikers to my approach, I've always found squeaky brakes to be more effective than a bell.
Funny though, just because they squeak doesn't mean they don't work really well.

[Thoreau]

@Thoreau
On what trail do you do most of your riding

I ride frequently everywhere from the Tucson area up to Flag, but most mileage has been near home at either Phoenix Mountains Preserve, or Brown's Ranch.

@Thoreau
When it comes to alerting hikers or other bikers to my approach, I've always found squeaky brakes to be more effective than a bell.
Funny though, just because they squeak doesn't mean they don't work really well.

I start shopping for new brakes when they make even the slightest sound. Aside from the hub, any noise from the bike drives me nuts. A bit of a leftover OCD thing from doing a lot of off-roading.... noises usually mean problems, so silence makes it easier to spot new problems. Can't afford even small issues when bombing down National or similar chunky trails =)

[markthurman53]

Remember bicyclist yield to hikers and horses.

[CannondaleKid]

Remember bicyclist yield to hikers and horses.

I'm all for everyone yielding to equestrians, but realistically as both a hiker and mountain biker, I've always found the other part troublesome.

Example:
If a biker is approaching a hiker from behind and the hiker does not yield, what is the biker supposed to do? Stay behind the hiker until the end of the trail?
I think we'd all agree that is not a reasonable option. (Eventually one or both would likely end up pissed at the other)

In real-world practice what actually happens in a case like this? The obvious... the hiker yields TO the biker.

Digging back to the archives of my earlier days in Minnesota when I was an inline skater, a biker (road & mountain) and a hiker, we generally followed the rule faster yields to slower and if you're standing still BS'ing, stand to the side!

This worked quite well because in most cases, it was easier and safer for the slower one do the yielding. When you really think about it (you know, use critical thinking), this works no matter if both are on the same mode OR a mixture of modes.

The one (universally accepted?) rule I follow (which at times will override slower yielding to faster), no matter what the modes, downhill yields to uphill. Ok, so I DO have an exception here... if I'm hiking up any downhill bike trail above the NRA gravel pits and a biker is coming downhill, I get the hell out of the way! (Which coincidentally brings me back to slower-yields-to-faster)

Oh yeah... my bike is very quiet with hardly any mechanical noises and near-silent brakes (they DO NOT work better when noisy) but I do have a very unobtrusive bell, usually giving it a tiny 'pling' from a distance which won't require lightning-quick action (deer-in-headlights or scattering to both sides) followed up by a slightly louder ding, and this seems to work well as we both thank the other as we pass by.
If they have earbuds or the like and can't hear the ring or think it's part of their tunes? I suppose I'd probably blast the bell a number of times, but in reality I've never felt the need to.
Could it be the trails I ride don't have as many 'it's all about me, I have my rights, screw yours!' folks? Or simply the folks riding/hiking these trails are more courteous, or simply acknowledge the need to be more aware of others?

[Alston_Neal]

We give the right of way to both bikes and horses, it's just easier for us to stop and pause. Truth be told our dog hates people riding trail vacuum cleaners and atop really big dogs.

[cw50must]

I've always found squeaky brakes to be more effective than a bell.

Same here, sometimes I even hit them when I don't need to just so someone will hear them.

[nonot]

Remember bicyclist yield to hikers and horses.

I'm all for everyone yielding to equestrians, but realistically as both a hiker and mountain biker, I've always found the other part troublesome.

Example:
If a biker is approaching a hiker from behind and the hiker does not yield, what is the biker supposed to do? Stay behind the hiker until the end of the trail?
I think we'd all agree that is not a reasonable option. (Eventually one or both would likely end up pissed at the other)

Like most rules, this one was made in the idea that common sense would apply, and when a convenient opportunity arises in the future, the person with the right of way will voluntarily yield the right of way. The idea being, the rule says who by default gets the right of way, and therefore if you meet perhaps on a narrow trail on the edge of a cliff the one without the right of way will need to be patient until the trail conditions widen to permit passing.

Like most rules, when you apply it to a modern-day public full of people that have no common sense, and refuse to ever yield the right of way, problems will develop. It's the same situation I encounter with all the idiots on the road everyday that drive slow in the left lane refusing to yield to allow passing, even though the rules of the road are to keep right unless you are passing.

If you crash into the back of someone because they choose to fail to yield, you are still in the wrong, whether you are driving your car on the road or a bike on the trail.

When patience is exhausted, I suggest honking (or bike bell), but only if it clearly is going on longer than is reasonably appropriate. Maybe you can annoy them to death. This assumes you can't simply off trail around them.

[markthurman53]

@CannondaleKid
Yes usually I yield to bikes because it is easier but on rare occasions I have had the experience where the biker just assumed the right of way and I didn't yield. This is a very rare, usually everyone is quite courteous.

[ALMAL]

I hope my squeaky brake comment did not encourage any intentional collisions. It's brand new disc pads on a brand new rotor and the angle of the Trek adapter mount my older bike required is not optimal to make the best contact between the pads and rotor. This is only on the rear, my fork has a mount, it's newer than the bike. They stop on a dime compared to the old V-brakes the bike came with. A squeak will yield a head turn, the sight of dust flying and a slight skid almost always causes someone else to voluntarily jump off the trail. I always thank them.

[big_load]

Where bikes may be present, I keep my ears open and give way at the earliest opportunity, which is nearly always immediately. Once in a great while I encounter a knucklehead who would have run me down if I hadn't heard him first (it's never been a woman yet). They're usually the kind of people who go screaming around a blind corner without thinking that there might be a tree down on the other side, of which around here there a few new ones on every trail every couple days.