Timber Mountain Bike Bell – A solution for shared trails?

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 le 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.

The problem is, when you are on the trails with your mountain bike, moving your hand on the handlebar to ring the bell 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 right near them, which is far too late.

The Timber Mountain Bike Bell

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

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

It’s a bell that you hang from your handlebars. Unlike normal bike bells, you don’t ring it; but instead, the vibration of your bike moving 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.

Installation of Timber Mountain Bike Bell. Make sure you fit it hanging down, like this.

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.

The Timber Mountain Bike Bell fitted onto my bike. You switch the lever to turn it on or off.

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 these days. And, of course, it’s hands-free.

So 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.