So, how can you maintain your right to use mountain pathways on your bike? It’s as simple as purchasing a $20 bike bell. The Timber mountain bike bell alerts those ahead of you of your presence on the trail, and your intentions to pass them.

A simple slide button turns the bell on and off. As the constant noise can be a bit annoying on a long ride when you just want to enjoy a bit of nature, I turn it on for bike paths, blind corners, and sections of trail I know are crowded. It makes a nice gentle ring over gravel terrain but can get pretty loud as soon as you hit rocks or other rough terrain. So loud that I had to dampen it with my thumb a couple of times. Note: Be sure to orient it towards the ground to get a mellower sound. If I lived in bear country, however, I would want the bell on all the time and as loud as possible.

Will the Timber mountain bike bell change the world? I am all for any step towards making nice between trail users. I would also love to see more time and money spent on some sort of educational outreach for ALL trail users on how to get along with each other instead of figuring out ways to ban access to one group or another.

At $20, the Timber mountain bike bell is a no brainer. Who cares if other riders give you funny looks. You know they will be out buying their own bell the next day.

This seems like an easy solution! Not to mention the fact that having a loud bell might become extremely useful if you are out riding further than you normally do… you never know when you might require your presence to be known in a survival situation. For more information on mountain biking with the Timber bell, take a look at The Gear Caster!

Featured Image via Zach Dischner/Flickr