Imagine if your car's horn was controlled by a button on the dash, that you had to reach for every time you wanted to honk it. It would be OK for some situations, but not those in which every second counts. Well, that's kind of how things are with bicycle bells. That's why London cyclist Stefan Buxton invented the Trigger Bell.
Buxton was inspired to create the device after getting in an accident that might have been prevented, if only he could have rang his bell just a fraction of a second earlier.
Unlike a regular bell, which the cyclist has to reach for, the brass-bodied Trigger Bell can be mounted right beside the hand grip, under the brake lever – this means that the rider can keep their hand in the brake- and shifter-ready position, with just a flick of the thumb required to ring the bell.
Unfortunately for mountain bikers (who could really use it, on multi-use trails), the Trigger Bell works best with single-speeds or bikes with single shifters. On dual-shifter setups such as Shimano's Rapid Fire (seen above), the Trigger Bell still makes the bell-ringing a little easier, but the rider's thumb does have to reach above the bar to get at it.
Stefan is currently raising productions funds for his bell on Kickstarter, and has already surpassed his funding goal. A pledge of £8 (US$13) will get you one, when and if they're ready to go.
You can see a demo of the Trigger Bell in the pitch video below.
Sources: Kickstarter, Trigger Bell
