Make your bike more Horses friendly......fit a bell.
Discussion
I've added a "Ding-Ding" bell.
It's flipping brilliant for letting Horses and their riders know I'm approaching ...stops the "silent surprise" appearance that makes some horses jump when cycles pass.
I know this because we have Horses...and silent cycles coming past can really make some horses spook.
It's flipping brilliant for letting Horses and their riders know I'm approaching ...stops the "silent surprise" appearance that makes some horses jump when cycles pass.
I know this because we have Horses...and silent cycles coming past can really make some horses spook.
A bell for towpaths and daydreaming pedestrians, a 'cyclist passing on the right' for horses followed by a 'good morning/evening' for horses works for me.
PS: I lost my bell in a minor crash; never replaced it so pedestrians on towpaths get a 'cyclist passing right/left' now too (if the Hope hub on coast doesn't alert them).
PS: I lost my bell in a minor crash; never replaced it so pedestrians on towpaths get a 'cyclist passing right/left' now too (if the Hope hub on coast doesn't alert them).
y2blade said:
I've added a "Ding-Ding" bell.
It's flipping brilliant for letting Horses and their riders know I'm approaching ...stops the "silent surprise" appearance that makes some horses jump when cycles pass.
I know this because we have Horses...and silent cycles coming past can really make some horses spook.
You could always just say something? It's flipping brilliant for letting Horses and their riders know I'm approaching ...stops the "silent surprise" appearance that makes some horses jump when cycles pass.
I know this because we have Horses...and silent cycles coming past can really make some horses spook.
Eddh said:
Maybe horse owners should get bags fitted to the back of them to ensure that the s
t from their beasts doesn't end up all over the road.
This.t from their beasts doesn't end up all over the road.Had some stereotypical hysterical horsey woman go mental at me telling me to slow down a few weeks back, when I was riding with the trailer on the back with my 3yr old daughter in. I had already slowed to less than walking pace at about 50m away, so my daughter could see the horse. She was freaking out and telling me to stop until she passed, because "the horse won't know what's approaching it".
Well here's an idea then: F**king ride your horse on a bridleway or track, (which N. Cambs has miles of) instead of using the dedicated cyclepath alongside the guided bus route between Cambridge and St. Ives!
So sick of the entire width of the path being covered in piles of horse s
te. Grr!el stovey said:
y2blade said:
I've added a "Ding-Ding" bell.
It's flipping brilliant for letting Horses and their riders know I'm approaching ...stops the "silent surprise" appearance that makes some horses jump when cycles pass.
I know this because we have Horses...and silent cycles coming past can really make some horses spook.
You could always just say something? It's flipping brilliant for letting Horses and their riders know I'm approaching ...stops the "silent surprise" appearance that makes some horses jump when cycles pass.
I know this because we have Horses...and silent cycles coming past can really make some horses spook.
Fit a bell? Why not just leave the one it came with fitted in the first place??? They all ship with a bell, it's required (by the EU, I think - happy to be corrected) at point of sale. Same for wheel reflectors. It's only when you take possession of the bike from the shop that you are (legally) permitted to strip some of the safety kit off. RVLRs require a red rear reflector, a white front reflector, and amber pedal reflectors visible from front and rear to be fitted to a bicycle at all times, along with front and rear lights to a national/European standard from the hour before sunset, until the hour after sunrise.
If you don't have a bell, or the wheel reflectors, when you buy a new bike, it will be because the shop is either too lazy to fit them, or they have presumed that you'll only take them off again anyway. Any LBS that sells complete bikes will almost certainly have a drawer full of bells/reflectors out back - just ask, and they'll usually lob one at you for free.
As for the pedal reflectors, that is the reason why the bulk of bikes are sold 'without pedals'. If you are sold a bike with pedals from the manufacturer, they will always have the little reflectors in them (any be absolutely the cheapest piece of crap it's possible to make). Almost every bike fitted with a pair of SPD/SPD-SL pedals, therefore, will be illegal, in terms of UK lighting law. Because the Police have bigger fish to fry, and most of them won't be aware of that part of the law, it is seldom enforced, but it IS the law.
If you don't have a bell, or the wheel reflectors, when you buy a new bike, it will be because the shop is either too lazy to fit them, or they have presumed that you'll only take them off again anyway. Any LBS that sells complete bikes will almost certainly have a drawer full of bells/reflectors out back - just ask, and they'll usually lob one at you for free.
As for the pedal reflectors, that is the reason why the bulk of bikes are sold 'without pedals'. If you are sold a bike with pedals from the manufacturer, they will always have the little reflectors in them (any be absolutely the cheapest piece of crap it's possible to make). Almost every bike fitted with a pair of SPD/SPD-SL pedals, therefore, will be illegal, in terms of UK lighting law. Because the Police have bigger fish to fry, and most of them won't be aware of that part of the law, it is seldom enforced, but it IS the law.
yellowjack said:
....RVLRs require a red rear reflector, a white front reflector, and amber pedal reflectors visible from front and rear to be fitted to a bicycle at all times, along with front and rear lights to a national/European standard from the hour before sunset, until the hour after sunrise.
RVLRs require them only during the hours of darkness.
yellowjack said:
As for the pedal reflectors, that is the reason why the bulk of bikes are sold 'without pedals'. If you are sold a bike with pedals from the manufacturer, they will always have the little reflectors in them (any be absolutely the cheapest piece of crap it's possible to make).
I disagree. If they aren't fitted it's likely the bike is marketed at people who will have their own preference for pedal type. If they are fitted but total crap, it's because they know you will replace them with your own preference but they fit them anyway for trying out around the shop and to get you on your way.yellowjack said:
Almost every bike fitted with a pair of SPD/SPD-SL pedals, therefore, will be illegal, in terms of UK lighting law. Because the Police have bigger fish to fry, and most of them won't be aware of that part of the law, it is seldom enforced, but it IS the law.
Again, only illegal during hours of darkness.Beyond Rational said:
yellowjack said:
....RVLRs require a red rear reflector, a white front reflector, and amber pedal reflectors visible from front and rear to be fitted to a bicycle at all times, along with front and rear lights to a national/European standard from the hour before sunset, until the hour after sunrise.
RVLRs require them only during the hours of darkness.
yellowjack said:
As for the pedal reflectors, that is the reason why the bulk of bikes are sold 'without pedals'. If you are sold a bike with pedals from the manufacturer, they will always have the little reflectors in them (any be absolutely the cheapest piece of crap it's possible to make).
I disagree. If they aren't fitted it's likely the bike is marketed at people who will have their own preference for pedal type. If they are fitted but total crap, it's because they know you will replace them with your own preference but they fit them anyway for trying out around the shop and to get you on your way.yellowjack said:
Almost every bike fitted with a pair of SPD/SPD-SL pedals, therefore, will be illegal, in terms of UK lighting law. Because the Police have bigger fish to fry, and most of them won't be aware of that part of the law, it is seldom enforced, but it IS the law.
Again, only illegal during hours of darkness.
Especially dads, when they lie to your face, about important stuff like reflectors, and make you look like an ass on an internet forum 35 years later. Cheers, Dad 
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations...Broadly speaking, I was right about the bell/wheel reflector thing, though.
http://www.ctc.org.uk/cyclists-library/regulations...
And the main point still stands. If you don't have a bell, and you want one, don't immediately go out and pay for one, try to get one of those that have been removed/left behind in the LBS. Some of the cheeky beggars will even price them up, and charge for them, instead of lobbing them in the bin. Chancers!
Not a fan of most bells they lack a certain aesthetic to my eyes all except this one
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/139160027/a-be...
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/139160027/a-be...
Edited by SkinnyBoy on Wednesday 14th August 09:18
Round me (South Beds) there seems or be a pecking order on the bridle paths and paths. Dog walkers and runners top for cyclists, cyclists stop for horses, and motorbikes stop for all.
I've never had a problem with the horses and 1 was particularly skittish. I have had a problem with a dog who tried to bite my rear tyre however, but a fat git pushing the big ring can move and accelerate faster that a jack russell cross!
I've never had a problem with the horses and 1 was particularly skittish. I have had a problem with a dog who tried to bite my rear tyre however, but a fat git pushing the big ring can move and accelerate faster that a jack russell cross!
A shout of good morning is better than a bell when it comes to horses (even if you have one fitted).
Horses are big dumb beasts with poor eyesight and often perceive bikes as predators (fast, low and quiet) hence the freaking out. As soon as you speak you stop being an unidentified predator and they'll correctly work out you are human.
Horses are big dumb beasts with poor eyesight and often perceive bikes as predators (fast, low and quiet) hence the freaking out. As soon as you speak you stop being an unidentified predator and they'll correctly work out you are human.
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