Rick Johnson

As soon as the iPod phenomenon caught on I haven't seen where bells are
significant. There's simply too many people - runners as well as bikers
- on the trail with no audio awareness of their outside environment
because of the personal musical nirvana. I can't count the number of
times I've rolled up on people and nothing short of tapping them on the
shoulder clues them into the fact that other people are on the trail too.

Rick Johnson
Bend Oregon

* * *

On 12/9/2013 7:04 AM, dacrizzow wrote:
> i ride with a bear bell. not to alert other bikers but for hikers. i can be calling "on your left" for several yards as two hikers are walking and talking until i'm finally just coasting along behind them repeating myself until they finally get startled out of their trance and notice me. the bell ALWAYS alerts them and manages to avoid this situation. they generally thank me for the bell too. leaves them with a better hiker/ biker encounter experience, i think
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org

dacrizzow

i ride with a bear bell. not to alert other bikers but for hikers. i can be calling "on your left" for several yards as two hikers are walking and talking until i'm finally just coasting along behind them repeating myself until they finally get startled out of their trance and notice me. the bell ALWAYS alerts them and manages to avoid this situation. they generally thank me for the bell too. leaves them with a better hiker/ biker encounter experience, i think

Brady Brady

Ever since I rode with some Eugene riders using them, I've been meaning to
get a bell (not a bear bell, just a ding-ding thumb bell like when we were
kids), just never seem to remember it when I'm in the shop. Have
definitely thought it might be nice for, say, climbing the cinderblock
section of Funner or some of the blind corners climbing C.O.D., Storm
King, Upper Whoops, South Fork, etc� when you're going up something almost
everyone else goes down� so much so that they might forget to look as
carefully as they might elsewhere.

Or alerting one of the many people disregarding the leash law on the DRT
(no, I swear, I actually saw someone complying with it once, honest) that
there is a biker around.

Cool? What is NOT cool is getting in a wreck, and for the rest of the
season listening to everyone tell you about all their epic rides while
you're stuck on a trainer. If a bell can help avoid that, it's pretty cool
in my book.

As for bar ends, the list of ways my bike can maim me is too long
already--no need to add evisceration to the list!

On 12/8/13 8:51 PM, "Adam" wrote:

>Being new to Bend (Sept. 1st) I'm surprised that no one seems to use
>bells on their Mt. bikes. I have almost be gunned down a number of time
>going up hill by downhill riders. I have a bell and use it on blind
>corners when bombing downhill. A couple of times it has altered rides to
>my presence and I generally get a thanks. I'm wondering what the deal is,
>is it "not cool" to have a bell ? . or bar ends ? Riding in Capital
>Forest in Olympia and The Playground in Bellingham most people used them.
>Ding Ding :-)
>_______________________________________________
>OBRA mailing list
>obra@list.obra.org
>http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
>Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>

Eric Aldinger

Nothing is worse than riding with some with a bear bell. My opinion.
On Dec 8, 2013 5:53 PM, "Adam" wrote:

> Being new to Bend (Sept. 1st) I'm surprised that no one seems to use bells
> on their Mt. bikes. I have almost be gunned down a number of time going up
> hill by downhill riders. I have a bell and use it on blind corners when
> bombing downhill. A couple of times it has altered rides to my presence and
> I generally get a thanks. I'm wondering what the deal is, is it "not cool"
> to have a bell ? . or bar ends ? Riding in Capital Forest in Olympia and
> The Playground in Bellingham most people used them. Ding Ding :-)
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>

cheney@bendbroadband.com

I have neither seen nor heard many bells in 16 years of riding here in Bend. I think you meant to say "alerted" riders to your presence. Many of us are "altered", but that's another thread. Our trail etiquette here, as clearly posted and often ignored, dictates that downhill riders yield to uphill. Safety conscious riders will control speed and keep eyes peeled to yield safely to others. People simply need to be aware that no individual owns the trail. In recent years it has become increasingly dangerous with more riders, many of whom seem to be oblivious to etiquette and common sense safety. In the famous words of Rodney King (who was not a mountain biker), "Can't we all just get along?"

Amory Cheney

----- Original Message -----
From: Adam
Date: Sunday, December 8, 2013 5:51 pm
Subject: [OBRA Chat] Bells on Trails

> Being new to Bend (Sept. 1st) I'm surprised that no one seems to
> use bells on their Mt. bikes. I have almost be gunned down a number
> of time going up hill by downhill riders. I have a bell and use it
> on blind corners when bombing downhill. A couple of times it has
> altered rides to my presence and I generally get a thanks. I'm
> wondering what the deal is, is it "not cool" to have a bell ? . or
> bar ends ? Riding in Capital Forest in Olympia and The Playground
> in Bellingham most people used them. Ding Ding :-)
> _______________________________________________
> OBRA mailing list
> obra@list.obra.org
> http://list.obra.org/mailman/listinfo/obra
> Unsubscribe: obra-unsubscribe@list.obra.org
>

Adam

Being new to Bend (Sept. 1st) I'm surprised that no one seems to use bells on their Mt. bikes. I have almost be gunned down a number of time going up hill by downhill riders. I have a bell and use it on blind corners when bombing downhill. A couple of times it has altered rides to my presence and I generally get a thanks. I'm wondering what the deal is, is it "not cool" to have a bell ? . or bar ends ? Riding in Capital Forest in Olympia and The Playground in Bellingham most people used them. Ding Ding :-)