Show me your bells!
11-17-19, 06:18 PM
#51
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The Crane Riten isn't vintage but it is a very good bell. Fairly loud, but still with that friendly "bring bring" action that immediately says "bike bell" to anyone who hears it. Very good sustain, as expected with any brass bell, but I think being more massive than say a Spurcycle or an Ene improves the tone, loudness and sustain. Not a bell for your weight-weenie racer-boy bike.
Note, this one is modified by me to mount by threading into a hole in the stem, no separate clamp needed. Why that is, is a long story.
Classical French constructeurs used to make custom stems with a threaded hole for a bell -- maybe a few still do? I'm pretty sure the Japanese constructeurs who emulate the Golden Age French, like Toei and Hirose, still do that.
Toei:
Also some American builders -- here's a Brian Chapman.
https://flic.kr/p/N67XrG
Anyway, I had a stem I was putting on a used custom bike I was selling. The stem had the threaded hole and I decided to mod a Riten to fit there. After I got it done, the customer didn't want it (oops, my bad) so I was "stuck" with it. So I put it on my cheapest, ugliest bike, an early-'70s Schwinn Super Sport that I use as a grocery-getter.
The bars had slipped on me, once, on that bike -- rotated down in the stem from the impact of riding down a pretty tall curb. Cheap low-quality stem. Maybe just tightening it more would have been enough, but I drilled a hole through both the stem and the bars (after adjusting the angle just right) and threaded this bell in, locking the handlebar angle. Two birds with one bell. Is it safe to drill your stem there? I wouldn't recommend that everyone go out and do this, but in this case I made the determination that it is safe enough, for me.
I figure I have about $100 invested in this bell, between buying it and all the labor I put into modding it, so I just doubled the value of this old bike!
At least it gets used a lot. I ride mixed-use paths on this bike all the time, and pedestrians seem to like it. And they do hear it, usually even with earbuds in.
The mod consists of removing the existing clamping hardware, then silver brazing a stainless M5 screw there. Here's what it looks like, underneath:
I may be the only nutcase who thinks this is worthwhile to do, but I offer the idea to any other crazies out there who want to make one. (Gugie?) It's not really something your average home-handyman should take on. But then again, if an amateur does a poor job of brazing, what's the worst that could happen? The bell falling off is very unlikely to hurt anyone.
Mark Bulgier
Irony Cycles
Seattle
Note, this one is modified by me to mount by threading into a hole in the stem, no separate clamp needed. Why that is, is a long story.
Classical French constructeurs used to make custom stems with a threaded hole for a bell -- maybe a few still do? I'm pretty sure the Japanese constructeurs who emulate the Golden Age French, like Toei and Hirose, still do that.
Toei:
Also some American builders -- here's a Brian Chapman.
https://flic.kr/p/N67XrG
Anyway, I had a stem I was putting on a used custom bike I was selling. The stem had the threaded hole and I decided to mod a Riten to fit there. After I got it done, the customer didn't want it (oops, my bad) so I was "stuck" with it. So I put it on my cheapest, ugliest bike, an early-'70s Schwinn Super Sport that I use as a grocery-getter.
The bars had slipped on me, once, on that bike -- rotated down in the stem from the impact of riding down a pretty tall curb. Cheap low-quality stem. Maybe just tightening it more would have been enough, but I drilled a hole through both the stem and the bars (after adjusting the angle just right) and threaded this bell in, locking the handlebar angle. Two birds with one bell. Is it safe to drill your stem there? I wouldn't recommend that everyone go out and do this, but in this case I made the determination that it is safe enough, for me.
I figure I have about $100 invested in this bell, between buying it and all the labor I put into modding it, so I just doubled the value of this old bike!
At least it gets used a lot. I ride mixed-use paths on this bike all the time, and pedestrians seem to like it. And they do hear it, usually even with earbuds in.The mod consists of removing the existing clamping hardware, then silver brazing a stainless M5 screw there. Here's what it looks like, underneath:
I may be the only nutcase who thinks this is worthwhile to do, but I offer the idea to any other crazies out there who want to make one. (Gugie?) It's not really something your average home-handyman should take on. But then again, if an amateur does a poor job of brazing, what's the worst that could happen? The bell falling off is very unlikely to hurt anyone.
Mark Bulgier
Irony Cycles
Seattle
11-17-19, 06:24 PM
#52
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Can't remember where I saw it but saw a brass bell with a cutout of a heart. Would this alter the sound?
11-17-19, 07:11 PM
#53
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https://cyclesgrandbois.com/SHOP/Bell_unvsl_gb.html They say "The tone of the bell is also good." (translated by Google, so take the usual grain of salt.)
At $92 plus shipping from Japan, and a 1-month lead time to get one, I don't expect they sell many. But just think of all the milligrams you can shave from your bike weight!
11-17-19, 07:33 PM
#54
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As supplied with the 1978 Peugeot PR10. I was told that they are required in France.
Not fancy, but it works. $1 at the local bike swap meet.
Not fancy, but it works. $1 at the local bike swap meet.
Last edited by Slightspeed; 11-17-19 at 07:53 PM.
11-17-19, 07:42 PM
#55
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That TOEI stem is gorgeous! I'd do some myself if I knew a good chromer - you got one in your area?
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11-17-19, 07:53 PM
#56
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Oh great. Bells. Something else to start looking for....
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11-17-19, 08:13 PM
#57
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11-17-19, 08:32 PM
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@bulgie, Thank you for posting about the Riten, and what a nice mod you've done to yours! I like the "bring, bring" bells more than the Suzu type, but I did have a brass striker bell years back that was very nice.
Leaning toward vintage for the Peugeot, though.
Leaning toward vintage for the Peugeot, though.
11-19-19, 10:37 AM
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Surprised this classic hasn't been posted yet.
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11-19-19, 04:13 PM
#61
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Sir Walter!
Oooh I want I want I want...off to eBay looking for one!
Oooh I want I want I want...off to eBay looking for one!
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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11-19-19, 04:15 PM
#62
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I have one with that pattern, but not painted - really adds to the look! Might be easy enough to just flood the gaps with paint and wipe off the high spots?
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11-19-19, 04:24 PM
#63
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I've got red, blue and green ones. I can't recall ever seeing one chrome without paint. Yours is the unique one. Are you sure you want to spoil that uniqueness?
11-19-19, 06:26 PM
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12-07-19, 03:04 PM
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Two bells that I love. Daily rider bell:
The New Belgium decal has completely faded away and it's rusty, but still has that great brrrrring. (I don't care if it is all marketing, I was bummed when New Belgium changed the type of bell they sold. The ones like above were/are great but the new style was total garbage.)
Also, this one:
I guess there's text stamped into the bell there, but I haven't checked to see what brand or whatever it is. Regardless, it has the best sound of any bell I've ever heard. Much lower tone than most other bells, probably because it's simply much larger than most others. The sound is hard to describe, like a high baritone...? I should record it and find a way to share it with you all.
The New Belgium decal has completely faded away and it's rusty, but still has that great brrrrring. (I don't care if it is all marketing, I was bummed when New Belgium changed the type of bell they sold. The ones like above were/are great but the new style was total garbage.)
Also, this one:
I guess there's text stamped into the bell there, but I haven't checked to see what brand or whatever it is. Regardless, it has the best sound of any bell I've ever heard. Much lower tone than most other bells, probably because it's simply much larger than most others. The sound is hard to describe, like a high baritone...? I should record it and find a way to share it with you all.
12-08-19, 11:26 PM
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Here's the bell on my 1935 Golden Sunbeam:
It makes a lovely sound. I've never opened it up but it feels like the striker(s?) revolve centrifugally inside. I believe it was original equipment. BTW, the shifter is not original, although it is contemporary. I actually do have an original but I haven't gotten around to mounting it yet. It's the one in my avatar. You can see the braze-on where it mounts on the top tube.
It makes a lovely sound. I've never opened it up but it feels like the striker(s?) revolve centrifugally inside. I believe it was original equipment. BTW, the shifter is not original, although it is contemporary. I actually do have an original but I haven't gotten around to mounting it yet. It's the one in my avatar. You can see the braze-on where it mounts on the top tube.
12-09-19, 11:47 AM
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These seemed to be in every California bike shop in the late seventies.
Brent
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01-18-20, 07:05 PM
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01-18-20, 10:04 PM
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I think this one is a low budget model but as a plus it is still functional at 120yrs old.
01-21-20, 05:14 AM
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"On two wheels one stays young."
01-21-20, 05:14 AM
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01-21-20, 08:52 AM
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Patron Saint of Travellers
Saint Christopher was on this 1948 Sunbeam barn find
The myth is that Christopher carried a boy Jesus across the Jordan River
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