Damn AI. I type “duobell kaufen” into Duckduckgo and the first hit is an on-llne sex-toy shop - WTF.
1 Like
Hahaha - brilliant! 
Here it is on Galaxus.
EDIT - just realised that it doesn’t actually sell it. It’s just an article about it. OK, back to the sex shop, then…
1 Like
When looking for mosquito killing powder, I typed “Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis” into aliexpress and got some… “interesting” results.
It probably uses your history… 
That is really worrying. Is the AI hallucinating or reading my mind? Anyway, I must be really dumb. Eventually realised that the Duobell was an April 1st joke. It did look alarmingly like my old bike bell.
Not quite - it exists but is not commercially available yet, however the tech behind it is.
Interesting. A bike bell is presumably just a trial product. Technically, the noise cancelling people should be able to counter it?
Why would they want to?
Good question, but I would immediately buy headphones that would cancel techno and heavy metal.
There ought to be an international agreement for a pulse modulated signal (or set of signals) which would get recognised by noise cancelling signals and converted into a meaningful message or noise.
For example, the bell could transmit this signal over the sound and the headphones would pick up the signal and make a bike bell sound.
Or, where applicable, your headphones could announce:
- Fasten seat belts
- Return to your seat
- The next station is approaching
- Beware, SUV
2 Likes
It’s a moot point here anyway, nobody uses a bell, preferring to rely on dangerously weaving their way through pedestrians on the pavements, headphones or not.
Didn’t they actually remove the requirement for a bell a couple of years ago?
No bell required but front and rear reflectors are.
I have a bell but no reflectors but I use a rear lamp, even in the day time.
may be slightly off topic, and if so, apologies if I am hijacking this thread.
thanks vm for the post on requirements.
I recently got a bike. She is 30+ years old but high end for those days and still has original manitou answer shocks that work like a champ). She still drives like a champ(ette:)
While I do not ride at nights or when it is ‘dark’, i need to get side reflectors on the spokes. Seeing this thread, i will get front and rear reflectors too.
Any other legal requirements, please?
Working brakes!
She rides perfect. Has all the functional stuff. Been riding her all last week to nearby hallenbad.
She needs new tyres next year. But the brakes, while older tech, are all in good shape and will for a while, given my limited riding. Previous owner said he did 70+ downhill, when he was younger. She is a 26" mountain bike that weighs <10kg total.
Dont have a better photo yet, but you get the idea …
1 Like
It’s not a difficult job to replace those “U brakes” with the much better “V brakes” (A Shimano trademark) that followed,kinda replaced them, more than 30 years ago, They mount in the same lugs, work well with the same levers and can even repurpose the existing cable if it’s long enough, a half-hour job to replace.
The much simpler cantilever brakes that became the norm after that are better by far, but not quite so straightforward to replace. Ive done so on several bikes from tha period, I misremember the exact details but ISTR that the levers needed changing too, so a bit more of a faff, especially if the gearchange is integral to the same mechanism, a very common feature at that time.
I think I upgraded them on one bike that I still have, a mid-1990s Cadex, at the same time as I replaced the rear freewheel mech, originally 8-soeed, I think, with a 9 or 10 speed one. The old one was worn so needed replacing anyway, and I really enjoyed doing stuff like redishing the wheels, so I had done similar upgrades on a few bikes around that time, including going from a 6-speed Suntour system to an r 8 speed on my trusty old Mercian road bike. One that I did around that time needed the complete wheel hub replacing first wheel I (re-)built from scratch.
Happy days.
I use fluorescent tape instead or in addition to reflectors. You can attach it all over the place including on clothing.
1 Like
Common sense dictates a helmet. No idea if it is legally required.
1 Like
For a bicycle, a helmet is not a requirement.
1 Like