A team in San Francisco has designed what could be the most elegant and effective bike bell yet: the Ringer.
Anyone living in the Netherlands can vouch for the necessity of bike bells. If you don't have one then you'll spend much of your ride either colliding into pedestrians or yelling "Oi!" with worrying levels of aggression.
But, until now, the aesthetics and effectiveness of bicycle bells didn't seem to be of any real importance.
Standard bells make a bulky addition to your handlebars. Many are also heinously coloured; awkward blemishes on otherwise elegant steeds.
And, at the other end of the market, we have micro-bells: devices so impractically tiny that they can't emit much more than a feeble "ping."
But the streamlined and effective new Ringer offers a solution. With its simple black or metallic design, the Ringer presents a classy alternative to ordinary bells.
Its tiny size means that it's barely noticeable, so there's no danger of it cramping your biking style. This makes it a charming addition to rugged mountain bikes, nifty racing bikes and cute oma fiets alike.
But don't be deceived: the Ringer is a powerful little beast. The team behind it established early on that they wanted their product to be elegant, but above all effective.
Accordingly, they decided to team up with Bevin Brothers, a bell-making company that's been operating since the Industrial Revolution!
The result is a tiny, precision-form instrument that is melded out of highest-quality alloys. Using a combination of stainless steel, aluminium and brass, the Ringer is guaranteed never to rust. Furthermore, these materials make for a powerful and "inherently better" ring.
In case you were worried about technicalities, the Ringer's adjustable diameter means that it can be fitted to any bike. Furthermore, its designers promise that it won't rattle annoyingly when you're hurrying from A to B, or cruising over potholes.
The team hopes to have the Ringer commercially available by November 2013. Check out their Kickstarter campaign.