Best/loudest bike horn
October 3, 2016 2:57 PM Subscribe
Several days a week I commute by bicycle around East Oakland, a neighborhood with limited bike infrastructure and a lot of unsafe driving, speeding, and using bike lanes as car lanes. I've had a number of near misses lately. I would like to purchase a loud horn. What bike horn have you used and liked?
I've seen the ads for the Loud horn and the Hornit and I am aware of the option of air horns. I'm wondering, in dangerous, loud urban environments, what have you used and found helpful?
Scary scenarios I've been in lately:
- Person merging into right shoulder to turn right doesn't notice me, somehow his truck catches my left elbow and he actually dragged me while I yelled at him!
- Car driver decides to get around slowing traffic by passing on the right, in the bike lane, almost clips me - terrifying!
- People starting to cruise through stop sign, don't notice me.
Not sure if I should get a bell for low-key situations where I can just say, "hey, I'm here" and also a horn for, "LOOK THE FUCK OUT YOU'RE ABOUT TO KILL ME", or if just a horn is OK.
Thanks!
I've seen the ads for the Loud horn and the Hornit and I am aware of the option of air horns. I'm wondering, in dangerous, loud urban environments, what have you used and found helpful?
Scary scenarios I've been in lately:
- Person merging into right shoulder to turn right doesn't notice me, somehow his truck catches my left elbow and he actually dragged me while I yelled at him!
- Car driver decides to get around slowing traffic by passing on the right, in the bike lane, almost clips me - terrifying!
- People starting to cruise through stop sign, don't notice me.
Not sure if I should get a bell for low-key situations where I can just say, "hey, I'm here" and also a horn for, "LOOK THE FUCK OUT YOU'RE ABOUT TO KILL ME", or if just a horn is OK.
Thanks!
I would suggest an air horn, and also one of those tall pennant-type flags on the back of your bike, that stick up several feet over your head.
posted by MexicanYenta at 3:34 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by MexicanYenta at 3:34 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
No advice on the horn, other than that you're going to damage your hearing if you use it frequently. Keep it a last resort by pairing with some other visability measures like:
pool noodle on back rack
LED safety vest
LED wheel lights
A bell is useless for traffic. It's only useful for pedestrians and other cyclists (though I do recommend having one -- I've been hit by cyclists before!)
posted by veery at 3:44 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
pool noodle on back rack
LED safety vest
LED wheel lights
A bell is useless for traffic. It's only useful for pedestrians and other cyclists (though I do recommend having one -- I've been hit by cyclists before!)
posted by veery at 3:44 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've used an Orp and would not recommend it for this application. Not loud enough to penetrate a steel box.
A while back, somebody donated an AirZound to the bike co-op where I volunteer and I made the mistake of setting it off indoors. That seems more like the volume you're looking for, and it can be refilled with a bike pump. As veery says, hearing damage could be a concern.
I went and checked the bentrideronline forums and it sounds like the folks there are currently favoring AirZound and Loud horns. They claim the Hornit sounds like a bird or smoke alarm, and doesn't get attention.
I also know people who have rigged car horns and school bells to their bikes - loud and attention-getting, but they require a large battery.
Re: bells: they're good for communicating with people walking and riding, but I generally assume that even my loud-for-a-bike-bell Crane isn't sufficient (and it sometimes makes walkers jump).
posted by sibilatorix at 4:16 PM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
A while back, somebody donated an AirZound to the bike co-op where I volunteer and I made the mistake of setting it off indoors. That seems more like the volume you're looking for, and it can be refilled with a bike pump. As veery says, hearing damage could be a concern.
I went and checked the bentrideronline forums and it sounds like the folks there are currently favoring AirZound and Loud horns. They claim the Hornit sounds like a bird or smoke alarm, and doesn't get attention.
I also know people who have rigged car horns and school bells to their bikes - loud and attention-getting, but they require a large battery.
Re: bells: they're good for communicating with people walking and riding, but I generally assume that even my loud-for-a-bike-bell Crane isn't sufficient (and it sometimes makes walkers jump).
posted by sibilatorix at 4:16 PM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
Bells are low-key, and good for communicating with pedestrians. But if you want to live, you must assume that
1) Drivers can't see you, and
2) If drivers can see you, they see you as a target, not something to avoid
If you always assume that all drivers are blind, malicious assholes who hate cyclists, then you will probably survive. If you are counting on them to notice you, you're on the road to pancakeville. Horns strike me as a "Hey, notice me!" strategy. Probably useful sometimes, and probably just going to exacerbate the driver-hatred other times. If you want a horn, make sure you have one with a thumb trigger so you don't have to move your hand in order to use it.
Source: a middle-aged dude whose only transportation was a bicycle between ages 4 and 41, and who has only recently purchased his first car. Said dude rode in SoCal in the 80s, and in NYC in the late 90s.
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 4:55 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
1) Drivers can't see you, and
2) If drivers can see you, they see you as a target, not something to avoid
If you always assume that all drivers are blind, malicious assholes who hate cyclists, then you will probably survive. If you are counting on them to notice you, you're on the road to pancakeville. Horns strike me as a "Hey, notice me!" strategy. Probably useful sometimes, and probably just going to exacerbate the driver-hatred other times. If you want a horn, make sure you have one with a thumb trigger so you don't have to move your hand in order to use it.
Source: a middle-aged dude whose only transportation was a bicycle between ages 4 and 41, and who has only recently purchased his first car. Said dude rode in SoCal in the 80s, and in NYC in the late 90s.
posted by BrunoLatourFanclub at 4:55 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
You must make yourself more visible and not rely solely on loud noise to draw attention to yourself. Get a reflective and/or LED vest. Get the brightest bike light you can find and use it all the time. Blinking red lights are most visible in the daytime. A horn by itself will not work.
Also, some of the best ways to keep yourself safe as a cyclist in traffic are counterintuitive.
posted by a strong female character at 6:30 PM on October 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
Also, some of the best ways to keep yourself safe as a cyclist in traffic are counterintuitive.
posted by a strong female character at 6:30 PM on October 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
Best answer: I personally used the AirZound when commuting in Los Angeles. It is LOOOUD and unambiguous in intent - cars know that I'm honking and it never failed to get attention.
The plusses:
- SO LOUD
- cheap
- the canister is pressurized by your bike pump
The minuses:
- mounting and the button are slightly awkward
- the air canister has to go somewhere and is not as streamlined as I'd like
- if you accidentally bump the horn button indoors it will scare the cats
It's definitely worth investigating.
posted by slagheap at 6:32 PM on October 3, 2016
The plusses:
- SO LOUD
- cheap
- the canister is pressurized by your bike pump
The minuses:
- mounting and the button are slightly awkward
- the air canister has to go somewhere and is not as streamlined as I'd like
- if you accidentally bump the horn button indoors it will scare the cats
It's definitely worth investigating.
posted by slagheap at 6:32 PM on October 3, 2016
If you take the regulator cam out of an AirZound you get fewer blasts, but the ones you get are even pretty painful for you as the operator. Recommended.
posted by scruss at 7:11 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by scruss at 7:11 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]
I can recommend AirZound as being very loud & horn-like. You must air it up every week or two--about on the same schedule as your tires, and you can use the same pump.
FYI I trained myself to bellow "STOP!" in those situations and highly recommend it (even if you have a horn you can simultaneously honk & bellow). Drivers are surprisingly responsive to that command and usually it is exactly what they need to do.
FYI after a while I just left the AirZound at home and relied on the bellow. The bellow is always available, doesn't need to be filled up with a pump in advance, the cannister never runs out of compressed air, etc. and it really is pretty much as effective.
If you're doing it right, you will actually need the horn/bellow quite infrequently, and the trouble with an infrequently used horn is that it is going to be out of whatever makes it work almost always, unless you are using/testing it frequently. So in my experience, the infrequently use horn malfunctions almost always. Thus, the superiority of the bellow, which is far more foolproof . . .
As mentioned in comments above, I would recommend really studying how confident cyclists ride in these situations. I ride very similar situations to what you describe and rarely to never have situations like you describe. Like once every several years maybe but definitely not multiple times a year. And a lot of the places I ride are definitely not "bike friendly" at all, plus I ride in a lot of different places around the country, so I hate to say "I've seen it all" but actually I've worked pretty hard to see as much of it as I can from the seat of a bike . . . the variations I see have a lot less to do with what other people are doing and a lot more to do with with *I* am doing.
For example, when I was more of a novice, I had situations like the ones you describe happen all the time. It's hard to explain in one paragraph what the difference is between novice me and more experienced me, but it has to to with where you position yourself on the road, how you make yourself visible, what you look for at intersections, etc.
Generally you need to position yourself more towards the center and more visible, especially at intersections. You can't just sort of follow the lines by rote.
All this can be learned and taught. Classes are highly recommended.
posted by flug at 9:54 PM on October 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
FYI I trained myself to bellow "STOP!" in those situations and highly recommend it (even if you have a horn you can simultaneously honk & bellow). Drivers are surprisingly responsive to that command and usually it is exactly what they need to do.
FYI after a while I just left the AirZound at home and relied on the bellow. The bellow is always available, doesn't need to be filled up with a pump in advance, the cannister never runs out of compressed air, etc. and it really is pretty much as effective.
If you're doing it right, you will actually need the horn/bellow quite infrequently, and the trouble with an infrequently used horn is that it is going to be out of whatever makes it work almost always, unless you are using/testing it frequently. So in my experience, the infrequently use horn malfunctions almost always. Thus, the superiority of the bellow, which is far more foolproof . . .
As mentioned in comments above, I would recommend really studying how confident cyclists ride in these situations. I ride very similar situations to what you describe and rarely to never have situations like you describe. Like once every several years maybe but definitely not multiple times a year. And a lot of the places I ride are definitely not "bike friendly" at all, plus I ride in a lot of different places around the country, so I hate to say "I've seen it all" but actually I've worked pretty hard to see as much of it as I can from the seat of a bike . . . the variations I see have a lot less to do with what other people are doing and a lot more to do with with *I* am doing.
For example, when I was more of a novice, I had situations like the ones you describe happen all the time. It's hard to explain in one paragraph what the difference is between novice me and more experienced me, but it has to to with where you position yourself on the road, how you make yourself visible, what you look for at intersections, etc.
Generally you need to position yourself more towards the center and more visible, especially at intersections. You can't just sort of follow the lines by rote.
All this can be learned and taught. Classes are highly recommended.
- LA Bike classes
- Bike League class finder
- Online class
- Bicycling Street Smarts - one of the best written summaries of the topic
posted by flug at 9:54 PM on October 3, 2016 [6 favorites]
final link above should be this. it's good, but i imagine it seems like one hell of a lot of detailed, complicated instructions if you're not used to it. basically - drive more like a car. it's a constant trade-off between being predictable and being annoying.
posted by andrewcooke at 2:53 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by andrewcooke at 2:53 AM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
+1 on the Airzound. I don't have to deal with enough troublesome traffic to warrant having one myself, but I've heard them in action and they definitely get motorists' attention. Being maintainable with a bike pump is a big plus too.
And yeah, don't set them off indoors *winces*
posted by A Robot Ninja at 5:07 AM on October 4, 2016
And yeah, don't set them off indoors *winces*
posted by A Robot Ninja at 5:07 AM on October 4, 2016
I second flug, your voice is very effective. Things you can yell other than "stop" are: "hey!" when someone is acting ambiguous and you need to see acknowledgement that they've seen you. Also, "hey-o!", "on your left," "hi, there!," "YO!" And, "thanks!" So much more effective, quick and easy than a horn.
posted by amanda at 6:46 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by amanda at 6:46 AM on October 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: OK, I finally got an AirZound. My voice is not loud enough in heavy urban traffic, although I do use it too. For some reason I can only ever think to yell, "HEY!" which is not that effective.
The Zound is loud, but really, I don't think it's that loud to someone inside a car with the windows up in traffic. It's loud enough to be heard though. I have been using it on people parked in the bike lane too. I must say I love it.
Thanks!
posted by latkes at 10:02 PM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
The Zound is loud, but really, I don't think it's that loud to someone inside a car with the windows up in traffic. It's loud enough to be heard though. I have been using it on people parked in the bike lane too. I must say I love it.
Thanks!
posted by latkes at 10:02 PM on February 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
It was one of those cans of compressed air with a horn on top, like some people use at sporting events or on boats, only it had a short hose going from the can to the horn, which was made to be mounted on handle bars, and had a button you could press with your thumb. Costs around $20 I think, and will last a long time (depending on how often you have to honk), assuming you can prevent kids from pressing it while your bike is parked and locked up. Maybe you can rig it up with quick release buckles so you can bring it in with you when you park. It's loud enough for noisy city traffic.
The other option is a loud motorcycle horn, but that would require a battery, and be more susceptible to rain damage.
I'm not sure why people suddenly drive with disregard for traffic laws when they reach Oakland, but it is definitely a thing. Between that and the potholes, riding a bike or motorcycle on the road requires vigilance and nerves of steel. Good luck and stay safe. :)
posted by ethical_caligula at 3:29 PM on October 3, 2016