Bag a beautiful bicycle bell

bicycle bell

The bicycle bell is a much under-valued accessory. It’s a legal requirement that bicycles start their lives with a bicycle bell fitted, but these are invariably cheap and nasty so the fashion is for them to be quickly removed. However, if you cycle on busy urban streets or tracks and paths shared with others, they are a polite way of announcing your approach, especially if followed with a verbal greeting.

The Suzu bell is made by the Crane Bell Company in Osaka, Japan. It produces a crisp note that lingers so pleasingly it could double as a meditation bell.

We have three gold-coloured Suzo bells to give away. To be in with a chance of winning one, simple leave a comment at the bottom of this page and we’ll pick a winner next week.

When it comes to sound,  it’s all in the choice of metal. While the alloy used in the most basic models might be cheap to produce, it’s sound is tinny and inferior. By comparison, traditional bell metal comprises mainly copper and has been used to produce the best bells (and on occasion cannon) for over 3,000 years.

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, travel insurancebreakdown cover  and home insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

ETA cycle insurance

Comments

  1. johnny faro

    Reply

    Ah I cant Bell – eve how smart that looks. Yes please

    • Margaret Turner

      Reply

      My son gave me one of these for my 80th birthday, it’s an absolute joy and it would be lovely to give him one too 🙂

    • Ann Marie Wrigley

      Reply

      I need a bucketful to give out as I walk the Leeds-Liverpool canal towpath!

  2. Jonathan Hulme

    Reply

    By chance I bought earlier today a book and a candle. Knew there was something missing…..

  3. John Holiday

    Reply

    Most of my bikes have a Dutch style ‘ding/dong’ ,but am sure that I could find room for one of these beauties.

  4. Sue

    Reply

    Ding-a-ling!

  5. Richard Scrase

    Reply

    My ding-a-ling …

  6. Graham Hutchinson

    Reply

    The sound of a good cycle bell makes the heart sing. A dull bell is dull.

  7. Alex Ford

    Reply

    Wow..what a great ringing sound…if lucky to win Thank you

  8. Hilary Foster

    Reply

    Oooh my bell was nicked so yes pleeeeeeaaaaaase

  9. Paul Miller

    Reply

    Yes please!

  10. Robert Lewis

    Reply

    One of these bells would look fantastic on my red Roy Thame bike.

  11. Carol W

    Reply

    ting-ting 🙂

  12. Hedley

    Reply

    I’ll have it – if it’s going !

  13. Rodney Lephard

    Reply

    You can ring my bell,but it’s not as good the Suzu bell.

  14. Liz MacG

    Reply

    Have just bought a basket to go on my bike & a bell would finish off the refurb, ready to reduce my carbon emissions this year. Yes please.

  15. Stuart Young

    Reply

    That strikes the right note with me

  16. FT

    Reply

    I’d be chimed to win one of those!

  17. Phil

    Reply

    A gold-coloured Suzo bell would be just the job on my daily commute and would help to warn the dog walkers with their hoods up and the runners with their headphones.

  18. Steve K

    Reply

    Clear as a bell, yes please!

  19. Margaret Sparrow

    Reply

    Would be great to have one on my mobility scooter to advise folk about me of my presence . At the moment have a children’s bell , which makes people laugh, but they usually say thank you for using it

  20. ColinP

    Reply

    Looks good. Would love one!

  21. Georgie

    Reply

    Ding-Dong! The bells are gonna chime.

  22. Carole

    Reply

    A bell is an absolute must, and this is drop-dead gorgeous. My bike would be proud, and happy to give one a home.

  23. Vic Kearley

    Reply

    Ring-a-ding, yes please!

  24. James

    Reply

    Ding – dong as Terry would’ve said!

  25. Christine

    Reply

    Who else is as old as me and remembers this one? Knock knock. Who’s there? Isabel. Isabel who? Is a bell essential on a bike?

    • Clive Stott

      Reply

      Christine we used to say, Is a bell necessary on a bike?

  26. John Thys

    Reply

    Ding dong riding along out of my way or you won’t get were you’re going not today anyway

  27. Ann

    Reply

    This bell would hopefully make bell ringing cool and warn pedestrians and slower cyclists that they were being passed. A big boost for road safety!

  28. Steve Green

    Reply

    Just the job.

  29. Jim Woodlingfield

    Reply

    That is a pleasing bell and the good vibrations will speed me on my way!

  30. Bryn Jones

    Reply

    I deplore cyclists without bells, and have always had one on my bike.
    But I can’t find one I like until I saw yours.

  31. Philip Thompson

    Reply

    Love these bells. Does it fit 31.8mm bars?

  32. Jen

    Reply

    I never win any of these competitions.

  33. Mark Beecham

    Reply

    “Ding dong!”, as Leslie Phillips once said.

  34. Charles Nisbet

    Reply

    A bell’s ideal in the countryside and villages. In London I found it a life saver that I had been taught to shout by a Guards sergeant major. Your lovely bell looks perfect for cycle city Cambridge where I now cycle every day.

  35. Doug Milsom

    Reply

    As the old song goes….. “So ring your bell and peddle like **** on a bicycle made for two”. My last bell broke, so I’d love one of these, even though I only have a solo bike!

  36. Sue B

    Reply

    My last bell lost its ding dong and have been unable to find a decent substitute so one of these beauties would be ideal. Fingers crossed!

  37. David

    Reply

    Brrringggg! it on

  38. Keith Petersen

    Reply

    What a great sounding bell which such long reverberation afterwards. Lovely.

  39. Brian

    Reply

    I would love one of these ding-a-lings.

  40. Gary

    Reply

    Good, good, good, good vibrations 👍😉

  41. Richard Hargreaves

    Reply

    I believe in bells on bikes. My wife has a very simple one which always works, mine was more expensive but is temperamental and only works when it feels not too hot or too cold. I’d love a Suzu Crane bell with its Buddhist lingering sound. It will be more soothing for walkers on the valley roads where I live. When I ping them it often makes them jump, so the gently lingering sound of the Crane bell will nicely calm them down. Altogether it will be more walker friendly!

  42. Gavin

    Reply

    Terry Thomas:
    “What’s you name nurse?”
    “Nurse Bell, Doctor”
    “Well… Ding Dong!”

  43. Matt blackmore

    Reply

    Ring my bell! This’ll suit my son Age 7 for his newfound passion for riding… I’d just promised him a new bell too x

  44. Bob Longhurst

    Reply

    OOOOH! I’d be so pleased……..I’d crush a grape between my fingers!!

  45. Lucy

    Reply

    rings my bell…!

  46. Steve

    Reply

    I love the concept of a “polite” bell 🔔!

    Thanks to ETA for this offer.

  47. Gareth Greenslade

    Reply

    Paying to travel on the roads
    Not on a bicycle
    Unless the bell tolls

  48. Jeff Dean

    Reply

    Most Durham cycle paths are shared with pedestrians . A gentle meditational bell sound to warn them of my approach will lead to joy, sweetness and harmony for all concerned

  49. Gillian

    Reply

    This looks really lovely from Bell, quality kit. I’m a huge fan of top notch Japanese goods. 🇯🇵

  50. Rory Harkins

    Reply

    Yes, please!

  51. Alan Fletcher

    Reply

    Call my bike Michelle all she needs is my bell Michelle.

  52. alastair sawday

    Reply

    Tinkle tinkle ‘ere I fall,
    Who’s the safest of them all?

  53. Mary Lloyd

    Reply

    ‘Ring my beeeeelll oh,oh’ yes please!

  54. Mike G

    Reply

    Looks like the traditional bell that you could once get everywhere, much better than most modern offerings. Yes please!

  55. John

    Reply

    Ask not for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for me!

  56. Malcolm Liddle

    Reply

    Well, as they used to say in some long (almost) forgotten tv programme “You can ring my bell”
    Or in this case I can ring my (beautiful) bell
    Thanks

  57. Chris Bromwich

    Reply

    Would look good on almost any bike but especially mine…..

  58. Mark Bobbitt

    Reply

    This would be perfect for my bike.

  59. KathyC

    Reply

    I have 2 bikes and one bell is not working. I bought a terrible sounding loud honking bell but had to return it – so bad. So would love this tingly one.

  60. Peter Clark

    Reply

    DING!

  61. Peter Chisnall

    Reply

    Ringing

  62. james

    Reply

    Sounds a fantastic addition to my cycle with no ding

  63. Raf

    Reply

    Well, that rings my bell!

  64. Anna Green

    Reply

    I love the look and sound of this bell! I’m a percussionist as well as a cyclist and this brings my two passions together.

  65. Phil

    Reply

    I want it

  66. su

    Reply

    This would really ring my bell!

  67. Anthony Powell

    Reply

    This would beat my last bell, which I borrowed from a church tower!

  68. Julian Fargher

    Reply

    Bling A Ling

  69. Mark

    Reply

    My daughter rides daily as she’s studying in Cambridge, she’s named her bike “Darren” and would love a bell called “Suzu“ PLEASE.

  70. Catherine Goss

    Reply

    I would love to have a new strong and classy bicycle bell. My current one is too weedy for words!

  71. John Matthews

    Reply

    Meditation as well that rings my bell

  72. Stephen D

    Reply

    I was once fortunate enough to spend a week in Osaka, Japan, and absolutely loved it. A cycle bell from that wonderful city, made by those kind people, would be just perfect for my trusty steed.

  73. Vincent

    Reply

    The bell(s) the bell(s). Ring my bell, ring my bell.

  74. Jon Vamplew

    Reply

    “Riding along on my push bike honey, just my Suzo and me, you look so pretty and you chime so well, as we are riding along long long, Shush ooh ooh shush ahh”
    Perfect song for the Japanese bell, best chime of them all!

  75. Mike Croker

    Reply

    Clear as 😉

  76. Bikemike

    Reply

    This is so ap-pealing that you wouldn’t drop a clanger in acquiring one!

  77. Brian Leveson

    Reply

    Ooh yes please. It does look lovely

  78. Darren C

    Reply

    I remember having a bell like that in the ‘good old days’ before manufacturers only supplied those next-to-useless little pimples on their bikes.
    They do sound so much louder and resonate better, I would love to be able to hear that ring again,will take me right back to my childhood.

  79. Hazel W

    Reply

    The horn on my husband’s walker drives me crazy and makes me jump everytime he uses it. Your bell sounds a much more pleasing prospect.

  80. Wendy Adams

    Reply

    I’d love a Suzu bell.

  81. Ian Drury

    Reply

    It’s a beautiful thing !

  82. Herr Pierre

    Reply

    Working on a Dawes Windrush which is nearly as old as me but unlike me sound as a bell!

  83. David Mayers

    Reply

    What a lovely bell, a real bell-ter

  84. Lesley Walton

    Reply

    I cycle the Leeds-Liverpool canal and really really need a good loud bike bell!

  85. Darryl Sunnick

    Reply

    It truly is a thing of beauty! On my turbo this time of year but would smarten up my bike once im outside again! xxx

  86. Kamal Hashmi

    Reply

    Wow! What a beautiful ring – walkers on the Fallowfield Loop would enjoy me going past!

  87. CRAIG

    Reply

    My normal method to alert pedestrians is a polite “EXCUSE ME PLEASE!”, but I’d love to give one of these a go, as they should be louder than my croaky yell!? Thanks.

    Craig

  88. Amanda Loud

    Reply

    For whom the bell toils!

  89. Amanda Loud

    Reply

    For Whom The Bell tolls!

  90. James Russell

    Reply

    Please! My son has gone through 2 bells in the last year, all of which make an annoying sound as he rides along the cycle paths.

  91. Steven Salmon

    Reply

    That would be delightful. I got so fed up with pedestrians stepping out in front of me I tried fitting a bull roarer foghorn.

  92. SHEILA

    Reply

    Cool looking bell , just as important as lights !

  93. Mark Minion

    Reply

    Functional yet stylish … yes please!

  94. Philip Benson

    Reply

    Great looking & lovely sound

  95. richard

    Reply

    I have tried the “excuse me”, but it often seems to annoy pedestrians so they feel the need to tell me that I should get a bell. Pavlov beats politeness it seems.

  96. Wayne Fox

    Reply

    Wow! You could hear this over the din of any crowd, including a boxing match! “Seconds out! Round one!”

  97. David Hamilton

    Reply

    I’d love a bicycle bell like this. It would definitely turn heads when it’s rung.

  98. Richard Newman

    Reply

    Bellissimo!

  99. Tim Earl

    Reply

    Nice one.

  100. Chris Rand

    Reply

    Nice bell, it might even alert those people walking towards me, head down, texting, earphones on, oblivious of their surroundings!

  101. Greg B

    Reply

    This would be great! The bells that come with new bikes are useless – tinny little ‘ting’ that gives up when there’s a spot of rain.

  102. Jamie

    Reply

    As a resident of Birmingham, this would be very handy for the canal rides.

    Ding ding!

  103. Susan

    Reply

    I have a BEAR bell. Wonder how the bear will get on with the CRANE?!

  104. cee

    Reply

    mindfully ring, and pedal smoothly into the now …

  105. Paul Codd

    Reply

    Far away across the field
    The tolling of the iron bell
    Calls the faithful to their knees
    To hear the softly spoken magic spells.

  106. robert p Griffiths-garrod

    Reply

    these are great bells – lovely tone and sustain

  107. Brian

    Reply

    I’d like a bell (-:

  108. Gary Robinson

    Reply

    I say! Ding dong!

  109. PeteG

    Reply

    Quality and made to last.

  110. Jennyve Salvato

    Reply

    so bello this bell! 🙂 is that one for me? xx

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