Timber Mountain Bike Bell - A solution for shared trails?

Review Score

Our Score: 8/10

We've given the Timber Mountain Bike Bell the Thumbs Up award.

Easy to usePracticalityValue for Money

The good

• Easy to install.
• Easy to operate.
• Works well at alerting other trail users.

The not so good

• Can be pricey as from the US, though keep an eye out as I found the price goes up and down quite a bit.

This was a hands-on product review.

Price Guide

Timber Mountain Bike Bell has a recommended retail price of £14.00.

The best price we've found so far is £27.99.View at Leisure Lakes Bikes

Leisure Lakes Bikes

£27.9908/12/2023

Timber Mountain Bike Bell Videos

Timber Mountain Bike Bell Photos

Our Review

I love mountain biking.

Ok, not the extreme downhill biking (I don't heal as quickly these days!), but give me a trail through the forest or over the hills, and I'm all smiles.

Shared Trails: Biker vs Hiker

But a lot of trails are shared with other users. When I'm out hiking, the last thing I want is a bike coming towards my kids or my dog at 20 mph or more. As a rider, I try to be as courteous as possible, always waiting for walkers and thanking them when they let me past.

Despite everyone's best attempts to share the same path, the fact is many trails twist and turn, so it's hard to see a bike coming, and as a rider, it's hard to see a walker.

The Bike Bell

The humble bike bell has long been used to warn walkers by approaching cyclists.

Moving your hand on the handlebar to ring the bell on the trails with your mountain bike is not ideal and could easily lead to a crash. There's also the problem that you don't have time to warn people until you are near them, which is far too late.

The Timber Mountain Bike Bell

While looking for a solution, I came across the Timber Mountain Bike Bell, which is getting many great reviews. So I decided to buy myself one and see if it's good.

Like many great things, simple is sometimes better, and the Timber Mountain Bike Bell concept is straightforward.

It's a bell that you hang from your handlebars. Unlike normal bike bells, you don't ring it; instead, your bike's movement makes the bell ring.

So, as you are riding along the trail, this thing is ringing out like an old fire engine frantically ringing its bell.

Yes, this can annoy anyone you are riding with. Fortunately, you can turn it off and enjoy the silence.

So, does it work?

Well, yes, if you install it correctly. The first time I fitted it, I didn't have it vertically downward, so it didn't ring that well.  A quick adjustment with an Allen key, and it was ringing out.

And yes, people did hear me coming. Although its ring isn't as loud as some bike bells, it is louder than the standard cheap bells fitted to bikes. And, of course, it's hands-free.

So far, yes, it's working well and get's a thumbs up.

It comes in either a bolt-on or quick-release model. The bolt-on clamp fits 31.8 or 22.2 handlebar sizes.

Details