It works as a bicycle bell, allows you to customize your bell sound/volume based on location or urgency, helps narrate GPS directions, and even doubles as a wireless speaker for music and podcasts when you’re not pedaling around.
Our cars and motorbikes have had electronic horns for decades at this point, so the fact that bicycles still resort to a metal ringer feels a little archaic, doesn’t it? That’s precisely the point folks at Trek Bikes are making – that bicycle bells haven’t adapted to modern times and scenarios. Sure, sometimes a melodious metal ‘trrring’ works well, but it may get drowned out in the bustling traffic of a city. Go on a mountain trail and that same metal ‘tring’ may sound too harsh and jarring. The solution, an electronic bicycle bell that lets you choose your sound based on your surroundings and situations… and when you’re not riding around, the bell doubles as an everyday Bluetooth speaker, for listening to tunes or episodes of your favorite podcast.
Designer: Trek Bikes
The $99 BellBeats isn’t just a Bluetooth speaker attached to your handlebars. It has audio drivers optimized by Harman and comes with an audio bank of bell/alert noises professionally sound-designed to encompass a wider frequency range so they’re much more audible, even in noisy environments. The tiny device is exactly the size and shape of a bicycle bell, and attaches to your handlebars exactly where a bell would sit. A thumb button lets you trigger the bell sounds, and depending on where you’re driving or how urgent the need is, you can choose between the quintessential trill of a metal bell or even a train horn. The BellBeats comes with a set of 8 bell sounds ranging from ambient to blaring, and you can set two sounds as your default, triggered either by short or long-pressing the thumb button.
Aside from the obvious bell function, the BellBeats has a few other tricks up its sleeve. For trail bikers, the BellBeats can be programmed to play ambient audio loops that alert hikers and pedestrians (or even animals) of your presence without being too jarring. The bell can also be synced with your phone to narrate directions while navigating using a map app on your phone. Although I don’t endorse it, you can even listen to music, podcasts, and audiobooks while riding. Easy-access buttons on the speaker (not the thumb-button) let you play/pause tracks or increase/decrease the volume of your device.
When you’re off your bicycle, the speaker unit of the BellBeats can detach off its handlebar mount, turning into a puck-shaped Bluetooth speaker. Its punchy audio drivers deliver loud, crisp sound… although don’t expect it to have a good bass response. It’s loud for its size, but the low-end may disappoint when compared to larger wireless speakers with their own dedicated sub-woofers.
With all those upgrades, however, comes a caveat. Traditional metal bells don’t need to have their batteries recharged periodically… the BellBeats, however, does. It has a 6-hour battery life, which might be a deal-breaker for some. Essentially, that means it won’t last you more than a day if you’re an avid cyclist, and you’ll need to keep a power bank handy to juice your bicycle bell. The prospect of a bike bell dying on you mid-ride is even more worrying, as it can clearly lead to accidents. To remedy that, an LED battery bar above the volume controls keeps you updated on the BellBeats’ battery life, so you’re always aware of exactly how much juice you’ve got on hand. Still, it’s a trade-off worth considering if you’re ready to spring $99 for the device. Being able to customize your bike bell to sound like an old-timey honker or a train horn does have its own appeal!
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