Thunder Horn

gzoladz

Hi guys,

Has anyone tried this?

http://www.redferret.net/?p=9346

I will give it a go and it will be the last thing I will do to help walking smsers and ipoders notice that I am coming.

It is less than €10 with P&P in ebay.

Hope to receive mine shortly.

niceonetom

hmm... this appeals to me. i recently had a slight rant here about cycling through the phoenix park after dark. part of me keeps want to hold my course and speed regardless and plough straight through the ipodestians, let's see who comes off worse. an example must be made, you can't make an omlette etc etc.

i had considered putting a bell on my bike too, but the reaction that would get is giggles of derision, right? this "thunder horn" might be a better option. the name amuses me too.

do let us know how you get on with it.

edit~
is a version available that plays "la cucaracha"?

SerialComplaint

Any idea how it is powered? Compressed air? Battery?

gzoladz

9v battery. Not sure about the battery life though but if it works ok I may get a rechargable one.

When I was investigating this, I came accross another product called Air Horn that does work with compressed air, but you have to carry the bottle with the air. They say a full charge lasts about 40 uses.

Carrying the little bottle and the need of a constant refilling put me off.

daymobrew

gzoladz wrote:

When I was investigating this, I came accross another product called Air Horn that does work with compressed air, but you have to carry the bottle with the air. They say a full charge lasts about 40 uses.

Carrying the little bottle and the need of a constant refilling put me off.

IIRC the bottle sits in a bottle cage and it can be pumped at a garage or with a hand pump. I think I read that the 40 uses is an exaggeration.

pete4130

I used to have the air horn years ago, used to do laps around cllege green waiting for the pedestrians to step out in front of me and blast them with the horn. They generally didn't even bother to check where the noise was coming from. They'd assume it was a freight train or an articulated truck only metres from them and runas fast as they could to the pavement, then look around, see a smug cyclists breezing past and have a disgusted look on their faces....it was great fun!
Having to refill the bottle with air was a bit of a pain, you'd be hard pushed to get 140-150psi form a hand pump. It's a trip to the garage or having a track pump to fill it up. I might get the thunder horn and relive the old days around college green.
Just be conscious of old folks who might have a heart attack or trip up when they think they are about to be hit by a truck!!!

oobydooby

I used to have a sweet little bell/horn that was meant for scooters. It wasn't so loud that it would scare someone but it definitely had the right effect, even for drivers who'd cut across me. Kids used to love hitting it when the bike was parked:)

On the scaring issue I had an incident earlier today where I was turning right, nice hand-signals etc on a busy road. Two cars undertook me, fair enough. But then one undertook and for a laugh beeped like crazy and swerved, and went past, with one idiot waving through the sunroof and another shouting through the window. Fair enough funny men but I was fairly startled and there was oncoming traffic that I could have driven into in a panic!

I wouldn't like to think that we'd do the same to pedestrians!
(By the way, I aborted my right turn and sprinted after the idiot, caught him about 1 km ahead and rapped on the driver's window with my lock! He had the sunroof closed down again and was bricking it - wouldn't open the window and his stupid friends were pale faced. Girls in the back seemed angry with him. Drove on, I caught him again in traffic, a little rap and asked him to roll down the window so I could give him a bollocking but instead he turned right onto a slip road and I couldn't chase him.)

pete4130

Next time, let him find out the hard way how much it costs to replace a wing mirror thats built into the bodywork. It's a couple of hundred Euro's but even at that they don't learn the first time. Di(khead drivers are willing to speed off after acting the b0ll0x to cyclists....good for the goose is good for the gander.

kenmc

I have the air horn and it's fantastic. the bottle sits in the cage, i pump it around once every 2weeks, and it's great for letting cars know you're there, and pedestrians to. Wouldn't be without it for commuting to be honest.

rubadub

http://chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=20105
thats the air horn most recommend. Dont like the fact it takes up a bottle space.

The one on ebay http://search.ebay.ie/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&catref=C6&saaff=afdefault&sacur=0&fcl=3&frpp=50&from=R10&saslop=1&saobfmts=insif&fss=0&satitle=thunder+horn&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&a15961=-24&a25710=-24&a10244=-24&a14=-24&alist=a15961%2Ca15962%2Ca25710%2Ca10244%2Ca14%2Ca3801&pfmode=1&reqtype=1&gcs=1443&pfid=3131&pf_query=thunder+horn&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sappl=1&sabfmts=1&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&salic=-15&fhlc=1&fsop=3%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=
is only €8.50, but it doesnt appear to be removable, so you can expect it to be vandalised or nicked right away.

Let us know how loud it is when you get it. It claims 115, the air horn is 120. Most of those chinese lights are hugely overestimated so I wonder if this is too.

kenmc

rubadub wrote:

Dont like the fact it takes up a bottle space.

Doesn't have to, it comes with a sort of sleeve which sticks to a velcro tab which is also provided, and can be ziptied to the frame.
I just use mine in the cage cos on the commute I don't take water. I take the horn off for longer spins, as there's less traffic around on those ones.

niceonetom

i might stick with the super-light-weight and vandal proof option: SHOUTING.

would you not feel like a bit of a spa beep-beeping your way across town? just me?

blorg

I actually have one of these Condor horns, which is plenty effective- but I don't have it on the bike. If you look at the rules for when you should actually use a horn (e.g. when not doing so would cause an accident, not because you are pissed off with someone) I would question how often such a thing is actually necessary.

niceonetom

blorg wrote:

I actually have one of these Condor horns, which is plenty effective- but I don't have it on the bike.

for pedestrian use only then?

blorg

niceonetom wrote:

for pedestrian use only then?

It was a gift, but I haven't put it on the bike as yet mainly because I question in what circumstances it would actually be useful, rather than just obnoxious. Like you, shouting is a workable alternative.

Membrane

niceonetom wrote:

i might stick with the super-light-weight and vandal proof option: SHOUTING.

Exactly, I've managed to scare myself with the volume I'm able to produce when needed, I reckon it can give these horns a run for their money on the decibel front. And unlike the horns, you can control the volume and convey useful information like "cyclist on your right" for when you are overtaking etc.

But I only use it when there is a real and imminent danger. I'm afraid that use of such horns is mostly to rebuke. Yesterday I went out to Howth using the cycle path by the sea, loads of the usual peds and other assorted annoyances on the cycle path, but not once did I open my mouth, I just dealt with it by slowing down.

gzoladz

Ok guys, got it today. Here are my findings:

-Volume: it is very very loud. I tested it today but I have just installed this evening, so it will only tomorrow go to the street but,

-the sound is extremely acute, almost painfull. And that is more annoying that the volume itself.

-Under no circumstance I intend to use it to scare people. As said above, only to avoid accidents and to let others know about my presence. I still have my bell but in some cases it is just not enough.

The Thunder is only for escalations.

rubadub

gzoladz wrote: »

Ok guys, got it today. Here are my findings:

-Volume: it is very very loud. I tested it today but I have just installed this evening, so it will only tomorrow go to the street but,

-the sound is extremely acute, almost painfull. And that is more annoying that the volume itself.

-Under no circumstance I intend to use it to scare people. As said above, only to avoid accidents and to let others know about my presence. I still have my bell but in some cases it is just not enough.

The Thunder is only for escalations.

Who are you getting on with it since? battery life etc?

Is it removable?

gzoladz

Hi there,
As said, it is very loud, more than enough to be clearly heard in town any busy day.

Although it is acute, it is not as acute as I found it before. I mean, it will not bother anyone its "acuteness".

I did use it a couple of times with pedestrians, but with enough time to avoid scarring them out. They did hear it and their reaction was "uups sorry!".

Battery life: I bought a new battery when I installed and it is still alive.

And yes, it is removable. The mechanism is the same as with removable lights. There is a base that is screwed to the handle and the horn can be easily removed. The same for the button as it clips in the handle too.

Cheers,
Gustavo

Gavin

I find the little handbells pretty decent. There are the rrring-rrrring ones, and the ding-ding ones. Ding ding is better. Black with a little hammer you pull back with your thumb and let go.

They are handy when cycling beside the footpath and it looks like a pedestrian is about to walk onto the road without looking. When coming up to pedestrian crossings where the lights are green for cars, but pedestrians keep crossing. (O'Connell St is the big one for this). And of course, when cars start to move into the bicycle lane when you are either in their blind spot, or they just didn't look.

Also when cycling through traffic and pedestrians are around, it's handy to give a few dings to warn people that you are there.

kenmc

iPodestrians (and sometimes just normal pedestrians) don't even hear my airhorn, never mind a wimpy little bell! [Sometimes I think it might be useful to get one of those tazers that shoots out the electrodes - put them to ground, then at least they won't move left or right at the last second ]

rubadub

gzoladz wrote: »

Hi there,
As said, it is very loud, more than enough to be clearly heard in town any busy day.

Although it is acute, it is not as acute as I found it before. I mean, it will not bother anyone its "acuteness".

I did use it a couple of times with pedestrians, but with enough time to avoid scarring them out. They did hear it and their reaction was "uups sorry!".

Battery life: I bought a new battery when I installed and it is still alive.

And yes, it is removable. The mechanism is the same as with removable lights. There is a base that is screwed to the handle and the horn can be easily removed. The same for the button as it clips in the handle too.

Cheers,
Gustavo

Sounds good, I ordered on on ebay, about €8.50 delivered. The airzound just seemed too bulky and having to pump it is a pain. I also need my bottle cage for rehydrating myself, I find there are a lot of car windows I have to spit on these mornings and I like to give them a good dose

gzoladz

Hi, have you got this yet? How do you find it?

Hungrycol

niceonetom wrote: »

i might stick with the super-light-weight and vandal proof option: SHOUTING.

would you not feel like a bit of a spa beep-beeping your way across town? just me?

LOL. I tend to use the "OYE" and "HAY" a lot. I would never have time to formulate a complete sentence like "bike on your right". By the time I got to "on" it'd be too late. I do mutter after the near miss or car indiscretion "f**kin’ idiot" or "w**ker" but never aloud, because that, my friend, is what they call road rage :mad:.

I think the use of an air horn is overkill and really not necessary on a bike. Put it this way, if I heard another cyclist on the road using an air horn for the laugh I'd call them a "w**ker" too.

Ghost Rider

That's because if they were doing it just for a laugh, a wa*ker they most certainly would be! But desperate circumstances call for desperate measures and I could imagine something incredibly noisy becoming necessary in the near future to burst the iPodesrian's somnambulistic bubble.

Hungrycol wrote: »

I think the use of an air horn is overkill and really not necessary on a bike. Put it this way, if I heard another cyclist on the road using an air horn for the laugh I'd call them a "w**ker" too.