Originally Posted by
chas58
I find the ding-dong bells are frequently ignored.
The spurcycle works surprisingly well. Both its tone and its duration are effective. The long duration let the pedestrian know my rate of speed and if I'm pulling over to pass. Subtle, but very effective.
Of course, nothing works like squeaky brakes...
It depends a lot on the location. In Europe bicycle bells are recognized by most people and as such people only use them to warn them they're passing when they are close by.
It means "
I cannot pass you, get the **** out of the way!"
I have found my Spurcycle for example to be wonderfully loud but often aggressively so, causing people to get scared or look over their shoulder annoyed.
The Crane E-ne for comparison is a much gentler bell and gets the point across just as well.
Some fun background info: