The Power of the Bell

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Funny clip I saw while surfing.  Although I don’t understand the language, the Power of the Bell is both interesting and funny.  I have a bell on my bike and I get similar results on my commute.

Power of the Bell

Then end of this clip holds a couple of really good scenes.  Hold on to your sides!

9 replies
  1. fred_dot_u
    fred_dot_u says:

    The link didn’t work on my click, so I just typed the title into YouTube and apparently found the right one, because I was laughing much harder at the end. That’s pretty funny!

    We don’t have the same culture here, clearly, but it’s not a total wash. I have a remotely actuated bell on my velomobile and I will ring it when passing pedestrians, even though they are on the sidewalk and I’m not. Sometimes it spooks the little poofy-dogs being walked, and rarely the pedestrian will step to the side. Occasionally, the big not-poofy dogs being walked will jump from the noise of the bell too.

    A bike bell is a friendly sound and every bike should have one for only that reason.

  3. Eric
    Eric says:

    Reminds me of a blog post I read.
    Here it is.

    I get to Germany, and decide to go buy me a mountain bike, since I love to ride bikes. I visit my local bike shop, where the gruff but lovable Herr Wagner sells me a Specialized HardRock. He begins to screw a bicycle bell onto the handlebar.

    “Oh, I won’t be needing that,” I told him.

    “Yes, you will.”

    “A bicycle bell? I haven’t had a bicycle bell on my bicycle since I was ten years old. It’ll probably fall off, anyway.”

    “You must have this,” Herr Wagner said. “It is…necessary” he said, searching for the English word.

    “But it’s a mountain bike. I don’t need a bell when I’m riding trails.”

    “You will not always be on trails. And it is the law. All bikes must have a bell. This is a crowded country. I give it to you free.”

    “Well, alright then.”

    So I figured that since I’ve got a bell on my bicycle, I might as well use it. When I came up behing people on the sidewalk or on a trail, I gave them a friendly little ding! In the United States, it’s considered courteous to give pedestrians a brief verbal warning when you cycle past them. I figured that in Germany, the bell was what you used to give a friendly warning.

    I soon noticed that whenever I rang the bicycle bell to tell people I was approaching, people’s heads would whip around to me. Or they’d jump immediately to one side — and I mean immediately. One guy, walking alone on a fairly narrow trail near a hedge, actually jumped into the hedge and worked himself a little way in, before eyeing me in fright and resentment as I bicycled by. People walking dogs would pull little Fido’s chain so hard and so quickly that I was afraid Fido’s neck would break.

    “Man, these Germans sure are high-strung,” I thought to myself

    More here:
    http://andrewhammel.typepad.com/german_joys/2006/01/the_awesome_pow.html

  4. Keri
    Keri says:

    Aaron,

    I used to ride with an Airzounds. It is seriously loud! It would probably scare the crap out of a pedestrian. It will break through a blasting iPod, though 🙂

  7. 2whls3spds
    2whls3spds says:

    Keri…I ride with fenders so the “crap” won’t be a problem ;>D What is ironic is the one MUP I use most is a Rails to Trails and bicycles “supposedly” have priority, but it seldom works that way. I have also been chastised for “spooking” a horse and rider that were on the trail by using my bell…funny thing is horses ARE NOT ALLOWED on that trail, when I pointed this out to the irate rider they just became more irate….some people.

    Aaron

  8. Keri
    Keri says:

    Yeah, bikes and pedestrains don’t mix well. Even where bike only tracks are next to pedestrian areas, the peds seem to wander willy-nilly wherever.

    When John Allen finishes editing his video of the NYC cycletracks, I’ll post a link to it. It will make you reach for the airzounds while watching it.

  9. P.M. Summer
    P.M. Summer says:

    I have bells on all my bikes, and they are there not just to warn peds, but also to say a friendly “Hi!”. Kids especially love them.

    My most interesting use came as I peddled up to what looked like a drug-deal at a parked car. I started ringing early, and looked the other way.

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