It seems as though far too few mountain bikers run bells on their trail bikes. Sure, they may seem silly, but watching walkers step aside with a smile rather than a scowl or encouraging fellow racers pull aside without exposing one’s breathlessness is addictive. It’s easy to find a perfectly serviceable Taiwanese-made bell at your local bike shop, too, usually for a tenner or so. So why a $35 bell?
In short, it’s lovely- and made in the USA. Before the hipster jokes begin, think about the slight associated with UK-made frames and components. Maybe take a look at that Chris King headset or bottom bracket. Part of their widespread acceptance comes from their suitability to British trails and conditions- but part comes from the feeling one gets for supporting companies making things in the first world. Of course the fact that it’s lovely as well doesn’t hurt.
So back to Spurcycle’s bell. It’s called the Ringer and comes in two finishes: raw stainless steel and a handsome matte black. Spurcycle has chosen metals that cannot rust: stainless steel, aluminum, and brass. “No plastic. No junk ‘pot metal’. No shortcuts.” Developed in collaboration with a bellmaker around “since the industrial revolution,” the Ringer is said to be capable of everything “from a light courtesy ‘ding’ while passing another rider to an alarming ‘DING-DING-DING’ to grab a driver’s attention.” Spurcycle promise no ringing or rattling while riding down the trail, which is nice.
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Subjectively, one of the two Ringer colors shouldn’t look out out of place on most cockpits. The 30mm dome shouldn’t take up too much cockpit space and its 42g won’t add more than a couple of mud spatters’ worth of weight to your bike. Unfortunately, the $10 upcharge for the black version and a $15 international shipping fee will put this out of reach of most UK riders. That’s nearly £40 before import duties. Here’s hoping that mass production brings prices down somewhat and more local distribution can be arranged.
Visit the project’s Kickstarter page for a nice video of workers building ringers or to purchase one of your own. Spurcycle live here.
Thin metal clamp – bar scratchio? Looks lovely tho
It’s as metal a clamp as a shifter/brake lever/lock on grip? isn’t it?
Is that a 26/29/27.5mm screw?
“Developed in collaboration with a bellmaker around “since the industrial revolution,””
LOL. Hasn’t the US only really been around since the industrial revolution?
;o)
but I have 10 bikes, so that’s, like, a million quid or something on bells. probably
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The Kickstarter principle may be a way around import duties? It is financing a project rather buying a product. Got Ms TPT a dress via a KS project which didn’t get duty imposed.
Then again, bought a Ground Effect top and it slipped through without Post Office intervention.
“Sure, they may seem silly, but watching walkers step aside with a smile rather than a scowl…”
Your joking aren’t you. The amount of times I’ve been out with my son and he has rang his bell only to get scowled at or comments like “oh look he got a bell for Christmas” is unbelievable. (He did actually get the bell for christmas he is six year old and it came with his bike) It is a nice bell though, I fancy the brass one…. Or an air horn… Now there’s an idea!
try Shouting “out the way” and swear at them when they hold you up, they think we’re yobs, why disappoint them 🙂
Chrisie,
I can’t say how many times I’ve been *thanked* for using my bell- maybe it’s that I live on the edge of a major city and people would prefer that than being snuck up on. I’m not sure what I’d do if they got snarky…
Just use Hope Hubs, far sexier
what are the grips?
Jangor,
Those are Spurcycle’s GripRings. Individual ‘rings’ come in a wide range of colours and can be mixed & matched to look however you’d like- and stay put better than I would ever have expected (they’re on my singlespeed now). They have a ‘grip builder’ at spurcycle.com if you’d like to go wild with combinations.
that does look very swish. just need a UK importer?
I think these might rattle on the trails, despite what they say.
And I’d much prefer a proper ‘bring-bring’ to the flat ‘ding’.