Robbie Williams talks bicycles

Robbie Williams quizzes the ETA’s Yannick Read about the Hornster

When he’s not playing to sell-out crowds around the world he likes to ride a Bianchi road bike, but this week Robbie Williams took time out of his busy schedule to admire the Hornster – a custom bicycle fitted with a horn louder than the speakers at one of his stadium concerts.

In a break from filming for his appearance on tonight’s Alan Carr: Chatty Man, the Take That band member spent time admiring the ETA’s custom bike, which was built to highlight the danger to cyclists from lorries.

How loud?

It’s not uncommon for the speakers at concerts to produce 110db in the first few rows. The Hornster produces a peak sound level of over 135db.

The Hornster bicycle was developed by the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) to highlight the dangers that cyclists face on city roads. Trucks are involved in over half of cyclist fatalities that occur in London.

The triple air horn fitted to the bicycle is an Airchime KH3A from an American locomotive, which has been adapted to run off a scuba diving cylinder. Watch the Hornster on Youtube

The Hornster is so powerful that at a distance of 100ft it is far louder than a standard truck horn and more than noisy enough for a cyclist to make themselves heard above the din of the urban jungle.

The Hornster is the brainchild of Yannick Read, whose previous work includes the flamethrower-equipped BOND bike and the world’s smallest caravan ( QTvan ).

He said: “The same quietness that makes bicycles such a civilised way of getting around makes them vulnerable to inattentive motorists – the Hornster is a wake-up call for drivers who don’t pay attention to bikes.”