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I definitely prefer a bicycle bell to getting yelled at from behind. But you know what would be even nicer? If bikers had the curtesy to slow down a bit when t

by yarcob 5y ago

I definitely prefer a bicycle bell to getting yelled at from behind. But you know what would be even nicer? If bikers had the curtesy to slow down a bit when the trail / path is crowded. I also love riding fast. I understand that crowded paths are annoying. But when I see that the path is full of people, I don't start ringing my bell, or hollering "on your left" or "attention" at the people in front of me, I just slow down. There is no curteous way to pass someone with delta V of 15km/h on a narrow path. If I want to ride fast, I pick a time when the paths aren't crowded. I don't understand why everyone wants to race their bikes on multi use paths on a sunny afternoon at 3PM when everyone else is outside too. Try riding eg. Saturday at 7AM and you'll have the world to yourself and you can go as fast as you like.

dahart 5y ago
Most people seem to be curteous already where I ride. There are always a few people giving us all a bad name, but I'm seeing growing awareness of good behavior, and of better signage, at the same time that crowds are increasing. Good to keep in mind that crowds are growing and MTB popularity is growing, because it means that good behavior may be on the rise faster than it seems unless you pay attention to and notice how many people aren't being pushy. That said, I have an always-on bell that rings as I ride over bumps. I like it for multiple reasons - for one bikers hear me coming for a long time, and know that I'm not going agro right behind them. For two, hikers and dog-walkers appreciate hearing it from far away, and often thank me for it.
midnightclubbed 5y ago
The bell I recommended isn't one you ring - it's like a cowbell that rings constantly (while you are moving) and lets people know you are coming before they can see you. Basic trail etiquette. I have nothing against hikers (would be hypocritical as someone who trail-runs) and blasting past people on a crowded path (or at all) is an idiot move. But on a single track trail people can come up on you really quick, 10km/h is a brisk jog so a 15km/h (4m/s) delta V isn't exactly fast. My local trails are way quieter at 3pm (most people are in work and temperatures are still hot) than at 7am (pre-work dog walkers and exercisers). Saturday 7AM is literally the worse time in SoCal - big groups of riders and local running clubs all hit the trails Saturday morning. Guess it is varies by region but no matter the time I'd want to give other trail users the maximum oppertunity to know I was there so we can all be safe. For the record I don't want to ride my bike fast on multi-use paths at any time of the day, not sure why you thought I did. If I ride fast it is on bike focussed routes (accessed via the multi-use trails).
- tester89 5y ago
  > it's like a cowbell that rings constantly (while you are moving) This is horrific, so much unnecessary noise pollution.
  - GuB-42 5y ago
    Cowbells in a mountain don't seem out of place. As a matter of fact, we need more of them.
  - realbarack 5y ago
    It's really not. These bells aren't that loud, you really only hear them once the cyclist is maybe 50 yards away. It's an incredibly important safety feature on low-visibility singletracks.
    - haspok 5y ago
      I have a loud rear hub instead... mostly works just as fine. But if not, I'm also very patient in passing hikers, once I spent like 10 minutes behind two hikers on a singletrack before they realised I was behind them, because they were discussing something very intensively... but this is fine, in the meantime I can rest a bit, adjust my gear, eat and drink something etc. I always try to smile and thank people for letting me pass by. The only - very few - occasions when this tactic did not work were usually hikers coming in the opposite direction and being actively hostile. There was an angry lady once who refused to move even an inch to the right, so I had to move to her left, which was a large field of nettle... To this day I don't know what her problem was, but this happens sometimes.
      - dahart 5y ago
        Maybe she’d had a run in with a pushy bike, or just got really scared? So what happened, did you step into the nettle, or did you stop and wait, or have a conversation with her and point out the nettle, or turn around and walk back a bit? Or maybe the question is: in retrospect do you have any wishes or regrets about how you handled it? Did you think of anything you should have done differently to defuse the situation? Do you have any strategies for avoiding or resolving the rare but possible next hostile confrontation? Multiple times in the past I have goofed and reacted to someone’s aggression with return fire, and I don’t think it’s ever made anything better, usually it’s worse. I would like to have some prepared strategies in my mind for handling it smoothly. Hikers and animals (dogs and horses) have right of way over bikes at all times on the trails I ride, is that true for you too? I’ve bumped into an angry hiker or two also, but on the whole they’re almost always super friendly and contentious. For me it’s more common than not that hikers are apologizing and getting off the trail before I even have a chance to yield, sometimes so much so that I feel bad about it. Anyway, I think we should take stock of all the nice hikers and lucky interactions, because it’s perfectly okay and reasonable for a hiker on a shared trail to not expect to yield. It’s definitely unkind if they refuse to make any room to pass, you do sound very patient, and the angry hiker experience totally sucks - triply if you got nettle all over. But at the same time, if we as bikers aren’t yielding first as much as we can, it’ll only get less fun for everyone and we can lose trails, right?
kybernetyk 5y ago
> If bikers had the curtesy to slow down a bit when the trail / path is crowded. Where I live we have a wonderful bike/pedestrian path which is heavily frequented whenever there's good weather. The worst offenders are racing bike drivers. Well at least those who like to LARP as such. (50yo, wearing cloth like they would be competing in the Tour de France). They don't have bells on their bikes because "aerodynamics" (my guess) and they drive like absolute madmen down the path (they compete on Strava). I myself got yelled at several times which I usually shrug off or tell them to f** off. But what gets my blood boiling is when those people go out on a Sunday when there's sunny weather and start their BS on a crowded path. The path is frequented by families on weekends and I have seen multiple times how those 40yo/50yo "gentlemen" yell at little children because the kids have the audacity to have fun with their little bikies and thus ruin the racer's Strava times. Our local mountain biking (we're not really mountain terrain yet we still have some single trails) community is completely different. They're nice, they always make room when you meet them in the woods. No problems there. /rant
- akadruid1 5y ago
  There's something about that hobby. I suspect having "all the gear and no idea" is expensive and somehow they feel entitled. We have a steep winding road near us which is full of blind spots. On a sunny weekend you're guaranteed to encounter a line of cars unable to overtake a 50yo man on foot slowly pushing a expensive carbon frame bicycle up the hill. I live in a very car-central part of the world, I suspect if we had actual cycle infrastructure the hobbyists would be diluted by people actually going somewhere on bikes.
  - pharmakom 5y ago
    This 1000x. The types of rider you get are a reflection of the infrastructure you have. Mostly busy roads? Aggressive ,fast male riders. Quiet, physically separated bike lanes? Families, children going to school, cargo bikes...
- brippalcharrid 5y ago
  This is why it's important that Road Cycling takes place on roads; shared-use paths are designed for everything from small children frolicking about in the sunlight to large slow-moving bicycles and big groups of hikers, whereas road bikes are designed for cruising at >20mph and large turn radii. They are vehicles, and are designed for use on roads in the presence of other vehicles.
pa7ch 5y ago
Agreed, all riders should be able to stop before their event horizon. So if you can't whip blind corners on crowded paths if you would hit someone who is a the worst spot on the turn. I ride a lot of bike paths. I don't like hollering or ringing. I just slow down and let people hear my hub if need be. They can take their time.
- comprev 5y ago
  A Hope Tech, Industry Nine or Chris King hub is plenty loud enough!
pjmlp 5y ago
No need for mountain bikes for that, you see that behaviour everywhere here in Germany. It is like some bikers forget they have breaks on their devices, instead just yell and curse the other people on the sidewalk that happen to be on the bycicle lane for whatever reason, after all it is just a different colour on the sidewalk.
datavirtue 5y ago
Well said. I don't use a bell but I have developed a deep, unalarming: "on your left" that travels well ahead of me. I also try to slow to just about pedestrian speed and create maximum distance when passing. A lot of my fellow cyclists (all of them kitted to the nines) thread the needle at 20mph. It's bullshit.

by yarcob 5y ago

dahart 5y ago

Most people seem to be curteous already where I ride. There are always a few people giving us all a bad name, but I'm seeing growing awareness of good behavior, and of better signage, at the same time that crowds are increasing. Good to keep in mind that crowds are growing and MTB popularity is growing, because it means that good behavior may be on the rise faster than it seems unless you pay attention to and notice how many people aren't being pushy. That said, I have an always-on bell that rings as I ride over bumps. I like it for multiple reasons - for one bikers hear me coming for a long time, and know that I'm not going agro right behind them. For two, hikers and dog-walkers appreciate hearing it from far away, and often thank me for it.

midnightclubbed 5y ago

The bell I recommended isn't one you ring - it's like a cowbell that rings constantly (while you are moving) and lets people know you are coming before they can see you. Basic trail etiquette. I have nothing against hikers (would be hypocritical as someone who trail-runs) and blasting past people on a crowded path (or at all) is an idiot move. But on a single track trail people can come up on you really quick, 10km/h is a brisk jog so a 15km/h (4m/s) delta V isn't exactly fast. My local trails are way quieter at 3pm (most people are in work and temperatures are still hot) than at 7am (pre-work dog walkers and exercisers). Saturday 7AM is literally the worse time in SoCal - big groups of riders and local running clubs all hit the trails Saturday morning. Guess it is varies by region but no matter the time I'd want to give other trail users the maximum oppertunity to know I was there so we can all be safe. For the record I don't want to ride my bike fast on multi-use paths at any time of the day, not sure why you thought I did. If I ride fast it is on bike focussed routes (accessed via the multi-use trails).

tester89 5y ago
> it's like a cowbell that rings constantly (while you are moving) This is horrific, so much unnecessary noise pollution.
- GuB-42 5y ago
  Cowbells in a mountain don't seem out of place. As a matter of fact, we need more of them.
- realbarack 5y ago
  It's really not. These bells aren't that loud, you really only hear them once the cyclist is maybe 50 yards away. It's an incredibly important safety feature on low-visibility singletracks.
  - haspok 5y ago
    I have a loud rear hub instead... mostly works just as fine. But if not, I'm also very patient in passing hikers, once I spent like 10 minutes behind two hikers on a singletrack before they realised I was behind them, because they were discussing something very intensively... but this is fine, in the meantime I can rest a bit, adjust my gear, eat and drink something etc. I always try to smile and thank people for letting me pass by. The only - very few - occasions when this tactic did not work were usually hikers coming in the opposite direction and being actively hostile. There was an angry lady once who refused to move even an inch to the right, so I had to move to her left, which was a large field of nettle... To this day I don't know what her problem was, but this happens sometimes.
    - dahart 5y ago
      Maybe she’d had a run in with a pushy bike, or just got really scared? So what happened, did you step into the nettle, or did you stop and wait, or have a conversation with her and point out the nettle, or turn around and walk back a bit? Or maybe the question is: in retrospect do you have any wishes or regrets about how you handled it? Did you think of anything you should have done differently to defuse the situation? Do you have any strategies for avoiding or resolving the rare but possible next hostile confrontation? Multiple times in the past I have goofed and reacted to someone’s aggression with return fire, and I don’t think it’s ever made anything better, usually it’s worse. I would like to have some prepared strategies in my mind for handling it smoothly. Hikers and animals (dogs and horses) have right of way over bikes at all times on the trails I ride, is that true for you too? I’ve bumped into an angry hiker or two also, but on the whole they’re almost always super friendly and contentious. For me it’s more common than not that hikers are apologizing and getting off the trail before I even have a chance to yield, sometimes so much so that I feel bad about it. Anyway, I think we should take stock of all the nice hikers and lucky interactions, because it’s perfectly okay and reasonable for a hiker on a shared trail to not expect to yield. It’s definitely unkind if they refuse to make any room to pass, you do sound very patient, and the angry hiker experience totally sucks - triply if you got nettle all over. But at the same time, if we as bikers aren’t yielding first as much as we can, it’ll only get less fun for everyone and we can lose trails, right?

kybernetyk 5y ago

> If bikers had the curtesy to slow down a bit when the trail / path is crowded. Where I live we have a wonderful bike/pedestrian path which is heavily frequented whenever there's good weather. The worst offenders are racing bike drivers. Well at least those who like to LARP as such. (50yo, wearing cloth like they would be competing in the Tour de France). They don't have bells on their bikes because "aerodynamics" (my guess) and they drive like absolute madmen down the path (they compete on Strava). I myself got yelled at several times which I usually shrug off or tell them to f** off. But what gets my blood boiling is when those people go out on a Sunday when there's sunny weather and start their BS on a crowded path. The path is frequented by families on weekends and I have seen multiple times how those 40yo/50yo "gentlemen" yell at little children because the kids have the audacity to have fun with their little bikies and thus ruin the racer's Strava times. Our local mountain biking (we're not really mountain terrain yet we still have some single trails) community is completely different. They're nice, they always make room when you meet them in the woods. No problems there. /rant

akadruid1 5y ago
There's something about that hobby. I suspect having "all the gear and no idea" is expensive and somehow they feel entitled. We have a steep winding road near us which is full of blind spots. On a sunny weekend you're guaranteed to encounter a line of cars unable to overtake a 50yo man on foot slowly pushing a expensive carbon frame bicycle up the hill. I live in a very car-central part of the world, I suspect if we had actual cycle infrastructure the hobbyists would be diluted by people actually going somewhere on bikes.
- pharmakom 5y ago
  This 1000x. The types of rider you get are a reflection of the infrastructure you have. Mostly busy roads? Aggressive ,fast male riders. Quiet, physically separated bike lanes? Families, children going to school, cargo bikes...
brippalcharrid 5y ago
This is why it's important that Road Cycling takes place on roads; shared-use paths are designed for everything from small children frolicking about in the sunlight to large slow-moving bicycles and big groups of hikers, whereas road bikes are designed for cruising at >20mph and large turn radii. They are vehicles, and are designed for use on roads in the presence of other vehicles.

pa7ch 5y ago

Agreed, all riders should be able to stop before their event horizon. So if you can't whip blind corners on crowded paths if you would hit someone who is a the worst spot on the turn. I ride a lot of bike paths. I don't like hollering or ringing. I just slow down and let people hear my hub if need be. They can take their time.

comprev 5y ago
A Hope Tech, Industry Nine or Chris King hub is plenty loud enough!

pjmlp 5y ago

No need for mountain bikes for that, you see that behaviour everywhere here in Germany. It is like some bikers forget they have breaks on their devices, instead just yell and curse the other people on the sidewalk that happen to be on the bycicle lane for whatever reason, after all it is just a different colour on the sidewalk.

datavirtue 5y ago

Well said. I don't use a bell but I have developed a deep, unalarming: "on your left" that travels well ahead of me. I also try to slow to just about pedestrian speed and create maximum distance when passing. A lot of my fellow cyclists (all of them kitted to the nines) thread the needle at 20mph. It's bullshit.