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review
£49.99
VERDICT:
A genuinely top class bell that looks great and rings loudly, but you pay a high price for it
Weight:
45g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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- Appalling
The Spurcycle is a high quality, great looking, loud bell – but you certainly pay a high price for it.
As somebody who rides through urban areas every day, a bell is an essential piece of kit. With the recent move towards 'fashionable' bells, which don't look like they should come with a free basket, Spurcycle's offering is right on the (lots of) money.
> Find your nearest dealer here
It is a great looking bell on the bar, sitting only 2.5cm high and 3cm across. It can sit either facing forward or vertically; I found there was no impact on performance either way, but had it facing ahead for the majority of the review period because I think it looks better. It has a definite vintage design, but fits just as well on the bars of modern carbon machines as a L'Eroica classic.
The ring is really impressive, clearly cutting through external noise and resonating well after the hammer hits. I even managed to get the attention of people listening to headphones, which is something that doesn't happen too often with my regular bell. According to an app on my phone, the ring was consistently between 88-100 decibels, which is certainly enough to get people's attention.
Build quality is strong and the spring action on the hammer seems like it should be long lasting. After a month of use I haven't noticed any change in strength and I would be confident that it would still work well in a year's time and beyond.
Attachment to the bar is through a strip of bendable metal which attaches to a slot on the back of the bell and is then tightened through a bolt at the front. It comes with two straps, one for 31.8mm bars and another for 22.2mm.
This build quality and performance comes at price though, namely an RRP of £49.99. Having done a bit of research, I am yet to find a bell that comes close to this; the most expensive I could find after 20 minutes of searching was still only 60% of this figure. (There are plenty of cheaper 'imitations', but I couldn't vouch for their quality.)
Overall, the Spurcycle is a genuinely brilliant bell. It looks great, rings loudly, and is likely to work for a long time. However, it has an eye-watering price, which takes the shine off an otherwise excellent product.
Verdict
A genuinely top class bell that looks great and rings loudly, but you pay a high price for it
road.cc test report
Make and model: Spurcycle Bell
Size tested: Dome size: 30mm x 20.5mm
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
A high quality, loud, and attractive looking bell.
Spurcycle says: 'Spurcycle bells create powerful, enduring sound. Give notice well in advance with a loud, convincing tone. Precision built in the USA for a lifetime of way clearing.'
It is powerful, loud, and well made.
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Material: premium brass and stainless steel
Finish: Raw or Black DLC
Dome size: 30mm x 20.5mm
Weight: 45g
Origin*: Made in USA, Guaranteed for Life
Install: 2.5mm hex tool required
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Very well made, solid fixing system and durable hammer system.
Rate the product for performance:
8/10
Performs very well – loud, clear, and powerful.
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Seems like it would last for a long time, hammer has good resistance, all materials used are solid and rust resistant too.
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
8/10
45g for a bell is pretty good.
Rate the product for value:
4/10
The one downside of the bell is that it is very expensive, but you pay for quality and this is certainly high quality.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Easy to fit, sits nicely on the bar, and is most importantly loud with impressive resonance.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The volume and pitch meant that it easily cuts through all other noise to get attention.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The price; this is very expensive.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Yes, certainly if on sale.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes, if they were after the highest possible quality.
Use this box to explain your score
A genuinely top quality bell that performs very well and looks fantastic on the handlebar; it would be a 9 but for the price.
About the tester
Age: 29
I usually ride: Mercian King of Mercia or Cinelli Gazzetta My best bike is: Cannondale Supersix Evo
I've been riding for: 5-10 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking
George is the host of the road.cc podcast and has been writing for road.cc since 2014. He has reviewed everything from a saddle with a shark fin through to a set of glasses with a HUD and everything in between.
Although, ironically, spending more time writing and talking about cycling than on the bike nowadays, he still manages to do a couple of decent rides every week on his ever changing number of bikes.
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Add new comment
34 comments
I've bought at least five other bells (excluding the ones that may have com with bikes) - all basically dont work to begin with or stop working in 2 or 3 months.
Bought one of these. Then bought two more for my other bikes.
Yes they are that good.
That is a very good point. What we could do with is an industry standard, with an independent body for testing and monitoring. Perhaps we could form some sort of union with nearby countries ...
Don't tempt the Eurocrats - a Biycle Bell directive sounds like exactly the sort of shit they love to churn out.
Have to confess I've never seen the point of bells. I can speak more politely and shout more loudly than a bell.
Looks an awful lot like the one I bought on Amazon for £9:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bicycle-Cycling-Handlebar-Ultra-loud-CS194-Silv...
^
Some people think it is expensive while others believe that it doesn't matter since it will be paid with their money that they can spend however they want.
My opinion is that it depends if it is expensive or not. And by that I not only mean that that it would be around a month's wage of a guy in Somalia and therefore expensive. It would also be expensive for a wealthy guy in UK that has a coffee shop, a book store, works in a local insurance company or even a national TV star. The problem with all these guys is that they live at a country that has more than a trilion pounds of debt and they work in sectors that aren't actually necessary like farmers and doctors or work at sectors that don't bring any foreign currency so therefore they are based directly or indirectly on government money. So actually their wealth is their children's and grandchildren's money that they are using and one day they will have to pay it with great interest.
So what is expensive or not is not that easy to determine. If in doubt just don't buy it, as you will never know who will have to find whether it is expensive or not.
But if you want it to add it to yout commuter machine so that you can keep your motor vehicle locked without screwing next generations, there are very nice copies on Ebay though.
I bought one.
After I bought so many that I didn't like.
I love this one. I press it all the time just to hear it.
£50 well spent and never regret it once.
There are no other bell other there with the same level of quality and the sound is just amazing.
You should go to a shop to just try it and hear it.
I have one, bought before the price increase a while back. It does put others in the shade with it's design & quality, but it IS expensive.
It's a pity that they haven't developed an 'entry level' variant, instead of bottles, a key clip & a multi-pouch.
^ not heard that before; everyday a school day etc.
Spurcycle appear to have chosen the artisanal end of the market. Is there a term for low volume, high margin?
If you have no scruples there's always the Rockbros version - from about a fiver. I've bought 3 from various suppliers and have no complaints about quality - but I can't compare with the Spurcycles one. I didn't realise at the time I bought the first one that it was a knock-off job, but then I wasn't looking for a £50 bell anyway. Whatever happened to the concept of SPQR?
Senatus Populusque Romanus? Is this going to be another "what have the Romans ever done for us" gag?
Small Profits Quick Returns
Knog Oi. Ping....what was that?
Then....ting....ting.....ting...ting for however long your ride is....constantly vibrating and f'ing getting on my nerves.
Now a drawer filler that I occasionally stumble upon whilst looking for everything except that.
Would I pay £50 for a bell...
I've paid more for things I'll never use...
Here's me thinking my bell that has served me well for 20,000 miles of commuting was alright. Schoolboy error.
I have 3 of these bells. Very expensive but they work very well. I didn't realise just how crap all the other bells I had on my bikes were until I got this bell. Yes, you could buy a load of other bells for the price of just one of these bells, but they'd all be really crap in comparison.
I bought one.
Its on my (£1000 alloy frame) commuter.
Its lovely, sounds fab.
I love using it.
Quality remains looong after the price has faded. Buy cheap, buy twice, etc etc.
If it upsets you - ignore it, get one of those £5 ones and curse every time you try to use it
I don't believe it......
Father Ted:
You know what he'd love? He'd really love it if someone came up to him and said his catchphrase.
Father Dougal:
Oh, yeah, Ted! He'd love that! You should definitely do that.
Father Ted:
Should I?
Father Dougal:
Oh, yeah. I'd say no-one ever does that to him. He'll think you're hilarious. You know, this is one of those times where I'm absolutely, one hundred million percent sure that you'll be doing the right thing. I can safely say that you definitely, definitely won't regret doing that.
Never been convinced by that sentiment in general. Because usually things break, become obsolete, get stolen, etc, before they wear out.
And because in many cases you can buy hundreds of the cheap version of the thing for the cost of one 'quality' one - and collectively the cheap ones will last longer than one expensive one as well as giving you more variety.
But it all depends how much wealth/income you have. It's all relative. Everything seems extravagant from the p.o.v of someone with less money than you.
An interesting read on a cheap alternative to this product - https://cyclingtips.com/2016/08/a-tale-of-two-bells-spurcycle-vs-the-counterfeiters/
But then I bought a Knog Oi and still regret it
Oh?
Edit: Seen your feedback on the road.cc review page.
Knog Oi? Grrr... (Put it on bike, rode bike *once*, took it off bike and put £4.99 Wilko special pinger back on). It now languishes in a carrier bag in my shed with other "miscellaneous bits and pieces ".
Yeah, me too. It was a really nice, discreet bell but wasn't very loud and the spring was so weak that it failed after a couple of months. Got a crappy Specialized one that came with the bike on now. Looks rubbish and is barely audible in the rain.
I bought one.
Its on my (£1000 alloy frame) commuter.
Its lovely, sounds fab.
I love using it.
Quality remains looong after the price has faded. Buy cheap, buy twice, etc etc.
If it upsets you - ignore it, get one of those £5 ones and curse every time you try to use it
I bought one.
Its on my (£1000 alloy frame) commuter.
Its lovely, sounds fab.
I love using it.
Quality remains looong after the price has faded. Buy cheap, buy twice, etc etc.
If it upsets you - ignore it, get one of those £5 ones and curse every time you try to use it
It's a bell. It goes ding. I have a bell on my bike, it also goes ding. In that respect, it's really hard to look past the £50 price tag.
Haters are going to hate... Jeeze! This site is unfounded for those who feel the need to rant and complain about the cost of every item reviewed.
My assumptions are few of you have actually seen the product, in the flesh, and realized why it may cost more than most. Or have any of you researched the company and found that they are a small, independent company and make every effort to put quality and performance above how cheap they can make it?
Each one of these bells is made, by hand, one at a time, here in the United States. That's going to cost more than some cheap bell that is mass produced overseas.
Honestly lighten up! The bell is a work of art, works unbelievably well and is in no way "easily removable" as some might think. And no I don't work for the company but do own three of their bells. Worth every dollar spent. Ding ding ding!
I genuinely don't care one jot how good it is or what it's made of or where it's made or how small the company is or how much effort the human person put into the thing. No bicycle bell has any place costing £50, it's just ridiculous.
[/quote
Sounds like you care to me.
I'm honestly disappointed. I had imagined at that price they were made by force feeding leprechauns molten gold that they then shit out into a crystal goblet of the tears of men's rights activists that had lost their virginity with a consensual partner. (Note: The resulting hydroformed bell needs to be positioned pointing forward to enhance the super-cavitation in the vortices formed by your time-trial helmet, otherwise it's just pointless ostentation that makes you look foolish).
You are overseas.
Sell them. Don't buy two more and you could get another bicycle.
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