[flagged]
A lot of footpaths in Europe are designated paths that are shared with cyclists
Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
21–30 of 618 posts
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#22[flagged]
Well, sure, as soon as infrastructure exists so the alternative isn't "get run over by a homicidal driver". And actual infrastructure, not painted lines that typically get filled up with double-parking cars.
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#23> In real-world trials conducted on the streets of London in February, in cooperation with Deliveroo couriers, the bell proved so effective that couriers expressed a desire to keep it. Of course they would, because a lot of them either don’t have any bell, or have a shitty ping-ping bell that doesn’t produce good sound.
Or could sell it on eBay for an amount of money that's nontrivial from POV of a gig economy worker.
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#24Next challange: Place a camera in front of the bike that scans approaching pedestrians. Calculate their head position and trajectory. Use directional speakers and focused sound beams to focus the ~780Hz sound towards the head(s) of the pedestrian(s). Now that you are not bothering the environment as much, you can increase the volume as well.
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#25Over engineering in real life, solving lack of common sense by introducing a solution where the cyclist is paying. I think the solution is nice for sure, but solving the wrong problem.
Eh, it's pragmatic.
It's replacing a problem you can't solve (human stupidity), with one you can (a better bell).
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#26It is amazing they openly shared their findings [0], but one thing I am missing is what this design would cost if put into mass production. To the biggest layman possible, it reads like while the design is clever and would be more expensive by virtue of more materials/size alone, it's not impractical, but maybe someone more informed on this type of manufacturing can correct my ignorance. If that's the case, hopefully we'll see these designs on the market soon as even with music+ANC, I have found certain sounds to be able to easily penetrate through when listening, though that is purely subjective and I don't have my music earbleedingly loud...
[0] https://cdn.skoda-storyboard.com/2026/04/Skoda-DuoBell-Resea...
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#27[flagged]
I don't know where you're from, but in Germany for example, there are countless situations where cyclists and pedestrians share the same space, or pedestrians can (or just do…) cross bicycle lanes. I'm a very law-abiding cyclist since witnessing a few horrible accidents, and yet I encounter situations with headphone-wearing pedestrians regularly. Often I'll ring my bell to no avail, until driving right up to them, and they still won't hear me. This is really frustrating; I'm definitely in the market for this.
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#28That can’t be aero.
On a serious note there’s a marketing problem in my view: who out there who chooses to buy a bell even considers that their might be a loudness problem? It’s not immediately obvious that I need this and I’m sure there’s a premium price attached.
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#29[flagged]
e.g.: In Amsterdam you cross biking lanes to cross the roads sometimes, or bike lanes and sidewalks are so integrated, you can wander into them without noticing.
Being tired in a crowded street in rainy weather doesn't help either.
Re: Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones
#30[flagged]
I think I’d prefer AI slop comments to comments like this.