A view from the cycle path: bells

Showing posts with label bells. Show all posts

Thursday, 18 November 2010

Testing and recording bicycle bells

In most countries of the world it's a legal requirement to have a method of warning people that you are approaching on a bike. In some countries, such as the UK, the human voice is considered to be adequate. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, a bell is a legal requirement on a bicycle.

I've got a bunch of bicycle bells here at the moment as we've wanted for some time to have these available in the webshop, and as with other things in the shop, I've specifically bought in those that we like. However, rather than just listing the bells, I decided we should do this well. Let's test them to find out how loud they are, and also have sound samples so that people can hear what the bells sound like. And here are the results, ranked in order of how loud they are from one metre away, and with recordings of each bell. Click on their pictures if you'd like to buy them:

	Widek 80 mm Ding Dong bell (€9.88)	106 dBA
	"Ping" bell (€2.50)	100 dBA
	Gazelle handlebar grip bell (€25 for pair of grips with bell)	98 dBA
	Spanninga "Turning" bell (€3.09)	96 dBA
	Classic Brass bell (€5.83)	96 dBA

If you have space for it on your handlebars, the Ding Dong bell gives the most sound. Note that there are many copies available of this bell, often painted in different colours, and all that I've heard sound dull in comparison. It's rather subjective, but to me it also gives by far the best sound of the bells. Just listen to that sustain. The Ping bell, which is smallest and weighs just 20 g, is best for those with limited handlebar space or who are concerned about weight, but while the sound is loud, it has little sustain so is not really as effective as a traditional bell. The Classic Brass bell has a remarkably pleasant tone due to the brass, and 96 dBa is still very loud.

And for the geeks amongst us, this is how it was done.

I used my old Radioshack sound-level meter to find out how loud the bells were. Each bell was held one metre from the SPL meter. These tests were all done in the same way, so they are directly comparable with one another. However, because this was done indoors and with reflective surfaces (the wall and table) nearby, you would get different figures if you measured out in the open. Each bell was rung a few times in succession, as you might if you thought you were about to collide with someone. I think it's reasonably representative of what you might do if you were really trying to get someone's attention. With a single ring, the slow rise-time of the analogue meter missed the peaks. As a result, this helped the ping bell result more than the others. A single "ping" doesn't really sound louder than some of the quieter bells. The loudest bell subjectively with a single ring was definitely the ding dong bell.

In any case, the peaks were quite a lot louder than the figures here. By the end of the test, it was not only the bells, but also my ears that were ringing.

These and other practical components for
bicycles are available from our web shop

A Sony WMD6C "pro" walkman was used to make the recordings. I'm not a big fan of Sony, but this was always a splendid product. I found the quietest room in the house, and used a long microphone lead so that I could be at the opposite end of the room from the recorder. I did in in this way for two reasons. First because I wanted to get away from the fan noise of the computer - the walkman is much quieter and easily portable - and secondly because I liked the idea of playing with the walkman again. It's a great piece of equipment which I now rarely use. Yes, an analogue recording on a cassette, but not any old cassette deck. The recordings give a pretty good idea of the sound of each bell, though reproducing the sound at a level anything like so loud as in real life is actually quite difficult to do.

I'm not going to pretend I don't care about technical issues, around cycling or anything else. I don't think it's cool not to know stuff. I'm proud to be a geek...

This blog post can also be read on the DutchBikeBits,com blog.

Friday, 20 February 2009

Bicycle bells

We've had a couple of serious posts this week, so here's something different. Two very different videos including bicycle bells, courtesy of Jchico1021 and sixd0ts. "The Power of the Bicycle Bell" and "Bicycle Bell Mayhem from Amsterdam".

A range of bells, complete with sound samples, can be heard, viewed and bought in our online shop.

Posts sorted by subject

The positive stuff
Three types of safety - As well as preventing injuries and death, high quality cycling infrastructure addresses both subjective safety and social safety which are of vital importance in encouraging people to cycle.
A second revolution took place on Dutch streets in the late 20th century, transforming streets which were just as clogged by cars as those of other nations.
Pedestrians are well catered for in the Netherlands and pedestrianized shopping streets are common. Usually they allow cycling for access.
Dutch Safety Figures - Cyclists in the Netherlands are the safest in the world, but it has little if anything to do with "safety in numbers".
Sustainable safety - the principles which have lead to Dutch roads, streets and cycle-paths being safe.
A million per hour - The scale of cycling in the Netherlands is enormous. Dutch people make more cycle journeys each day than the entire English speaking world put together.
Campaigning - a collection of posts about how to campaign for more cycling. Primarily campaigning should be for children to be able to cycle. These links include reference to "Stop the child murder", a successful campaign from the 1970s.
What Works - examples of policy, infrastructure and campaigning which have made a different in the Netherlands.
Superhighways - "Cycling superhighways" are not a new idea in the Netherlands
Cycle Paths - Well designed cycle paths benefit all cyclists, regardless of experience or speed
Segregation without cycle paths - you don't always need a cycle path to keep cyclists safe from motorists
Unravelling of routes is vitally important
History - how the Netherlands got to where it is now. See especially "Stop the child murder"
Before and After - views of places before and after they have been transformed for cycling
Directness - examples of prioritising cycling
Traffic Lights - examples of how cyclists can be prioritised and kept safe at traffic light junctions. Note that it's almost always possible to turn right on a red light when cycling in the Netherlands.
Roundabouts - roundabouts in the Netherlands have one very important feature to learn from: They keep cyclists away from motor vehicles. This is far more important than the differences in geometry vs. roundabouts in other countries.
Exceptional infrastructure is always nice to see, but remember that a dense network of mundane routes is far more important to boost cycling modal share
Gritting of cycle paths - dealing with snow and ice.
Children - It may seem hackneyed, but children really are the future. If they can't cycle safely then where will future adult cyclists come from ? This is why children should be the primary focus of campaigners. Note also that according to UNICEF, Dutch children are the happiest in the world.
School travel - Everyone knows that Dutch children cycle to school, but it's a surprise to many people that school trips are also usually by bike.
Cycle Parking - including our favourite design of stand.
Cycle Parking at railway stations, see in particular Groningen and Assen as each have multiple posts showing how the cycle parking has grown over time.
Health effects of cycling
Road Works - It's important that cyclists are thought of when there are road works. If the environment becomes hostile for cyclists then they may stop cycling and never start again.
Commuting - Commuting cyclists are interesting, but they're not the only people who should ride bikes.
Anatomy of a reliable everyday bicycle - the common features of bikes used by nearly every person every day in the Netherlands.
Speed - Some people have the idea that Dutch cyclists are slow. This isn't true. It is just that in the Netherlands, everyone cycles, including the slow people. Fast cyclists are as fast as anywhere. These posts show people who ride faster than average, using the same infrastructure as those who ride slower.

The less positive stuff
What not to do if you want a cycling "revolution" - Long list of interventions and policies which are not helpful.
Copy the best examples from the Netherlands - a short list summarising the above. Important to copy the best examples, not just anything "Dutch". Bear in mind that the Netherlands is not perfect.
Shared Space - this much hyped idea simply does not work well. It disenfranchises the vulnerable and claims of safety are exaggerated. Don't confuse the concept with far more successful nearly car free streets.
Shared Use Paths designed to be used by pedestrians and cyclists together. These rarely work well because the two user groups are too different and it leads to conflicts. They are not built in the Netherlands (but cycle access to pedestrianized zones is good).
Strict (or presumed) liability - If you think this is an important part of why people cycle in the Netherlands then it is probably not what you think it is.
Helmets - one of several ways of scaremongering about the supposed dangers of what is actually a very safe means of transport

Myths about cycling

Long list of myths and Excuses - Various reasons that many people, even existing cyclists, give for why the cycling rate is low in their country, including:
  "our streets are too narrow"
  "it's too expensive"
  "our population is too spread out"
  "we have hills
  "our distances are too great"
  "it took decades in the Netherlands"
  "it's because of the price of gas"
  "it's the weather"
  "Cycle-paths cause indirect journeys"
  "Cycle-paths make people slow"
Cycling is "booming" in Britain - a claim we hear remarkably frequently, but it'll take a lot more than the action taken now before it will be true.
The Truth about Copenhagen - Pretty pictures and nice branding are all very well, but facts are important too. Denmark has no explanation of why the cycling modal share is falling in Copenhagen. The Netherlands has avoided this problem and sets a much better example of how to achieve a high cycling rate.
The Truth about Cambridge - Cambridge in the UK has made claims of being a true cycling city. The city does have the highest cycling rate in the English speaking world, but there are special reasons for its high cycling rate which cannot be copied elsewhere. Most people don't talk about this. I do.
London Superhighways - Unfortunately, London seems to be having trouble coming to grips with the idea of prioritizing cyclists.
Boris Bikes - London's bike share scheme, just like others worldwide, lacks the capacity to make any real change, and makes up for it with hype.