Horn development for EUCs

[Bob Yan]

PIDZOOM is developing horns that easy to use for hand-free PEVs like EUCs. What's is the best form and feature to have, we need your opinions.  Since we released our first horn last month, we've received riders feedbacks asking us to add a bell ringtone to our PIDZOOM Finger Horn, and now we've selected 4 bicycle bell sounds, but we may only be able to put 1-2 into the final version, can you help choose which one is the best? Thank you very much.

 

 

[techyiam]

My preference would be Bell 2.

Edited February 17 by techyiam

[The Brahan Seer]

My preference is Bell 1, This is the sound most pedestrians recognise as a pushbike and most likely to react to in my neck of the woods.

[Clem604]

My preference is bell 1

[Punxatawneyjoe]

IMO bell 2 sounds more audible and closer to an "old style" bike bell. More recognizable.

[Unventor]

I would prefer the bell3.

High pitch sounds travel better in open areas.

But even more preferably would be the ability to upload any sound to your liking. 

Ohh one more thing, make so it can be use on a finger also when you wear thick winter gloves. That is the part I miss with my old bike bells. 

 

Edited February 17 by Unventor

[Cerbera]

First of all - well done for implementing trad bell sounds as well as the modern ones (I presume those are still there ?) 

It's Bell 1 for me as favourite, but nice to have all 3, and possibly more to choose from ? And I'd like to see at least one that went continuous while you held the button down for those 'more urgent' situations where you need people to move a bit faster !

But I'm with @Unventor - the ability upload your own wav files as well would be way better, and more fully justify the cost... 

Edited February 17 by Cerbera

[Bob Yan]

8 hours ago, Unventor said:

I would prefer the bell3.

High pitch sounds travel better in open areas.

But even more preferably would be the ability to upload any sound to your liking. 

Ohh one more thing, make so it can be use on a finger also when you wear thick winter gloves. That is the part I miss with my old bike bells. 

 

The current remote can be used when you wear thick gloves, as we're using a adjustable velcro band to wear the remote onto fingers. 

Good point about the ability to upload sound by riders, but we may not be able to realize on this model. For future models, we would definitely consider this. 

[varamontelo]

The number two is nice. It's like old materials the pedestriuns know today, the reactions will be correct in the streets. The option to transfert others songs are not important because the 'klaxon' is not on a dance floor. If publics listen a noise for a cycle they'll think there is probably a cycle (or euc) near him. Imagine a song or an airplane (or copter) song, old men could running in a subway downstairs. 

Edited February 18 by varamontelo

[Bob Yan]

It's very clear, thank you all. I have work to do now. 

[Cerbera]

4 hours ago, varamontelo said:

The option to transfert others songs are not important because the 'klaxon' is not on a dance floor.

I don't think anyone wants to play songs through it ! Would just be nice to have even 1 custom 'slot' to upload a short wav - then we could sample any bell we liked ! For example, No 1 above is close to the sound of my finger bell, but not quite as nice or pure sounding. 

[Dan Cobar]

Bell one.

It sounds like the hand bell that I use, and I've never had a bad reaction.  Buzzers and other sounds often confuse or make people curious and they stop and turn around.

The bell is what everyone know as the "sound of a bike approaching" and they know what to expect.

Only if they don't have earbuds in of course.

[Cerbera]

53 minutes ago, Dan Cobar said:

Only if they don't have earbuds in of course.

Oh there's load of those aren't there ? Sometimes I wish I also had a 160db airhorn with me to show them the pitfalls of being unaware of their surroundings when the bell hasn't worked !

Edited February 18 by Cerbera

[varamontelo]

I've a look in shops for accessories cycles in my city. Some horn with USB charge, price around 25 euros, and old 'ding dong', without hard rock music option on a simple plastic box on your finger. I see bad quality it's the first price i saw.

[Unventor]

4 hours ago, varamontelo said:

I've a look in shops for accessories cycles in my city. Some horn with USB charge, price around 25 euros, and old 'ding dong', without hard rock music option on a simple plastic box on your finger. I see bad quality it's the first price i saw.

It is not that you can't find cheaper bell function.

To me this pidzoom horn makes sense due to the motion alarm function. 

But I might get to explain this more in near feature.

[Cerbera]

2 hours ago, Unventor said:

To me this pidzoom horn makes sense due to the motion alarm function. 

When I bought a generic version of this from AliXpress a year or so back, mine also came with the motion detection system, which I tried out for a month or 2... I wasn't so impressed with that to be honest, for the following reasons...

Once you set the alarm, it will detect movement of the machine, and initially squawk a short warning beep, and on further movement activate the full alarm, which is quite loud and attention grabbing if you are in the immediate vicinity, but I seriously doubt a rider (and even less chance if helmeted! ) would hear it coming from a wheel parked outside a busy shop while they were inside shopping.

Secondly, I noticed that as soon as the unit makes sound it becomes immediately obvious where on the machine that sound is coming from (particularly if speaker is mounted anywhere external (which it normally would be for clear horn use), and because that speaker is likely to be merely velcroed to the wheel, also fairly obvious what a potential thief has to do to incapacitate it - merely rip it off the machine, stamp it underfoot or throw it in the bushes ! So its prime utility for us is only really if a potential thief is startled and gives up instantly and runs away when the alarm first goes off ! And watching all those videos of people brazenly angle grinding locks off expensive e-bikes in broad daylight, whilst being filmed (but never prevented) by onlookers it seems unlikely an alarming unit would dissuade them.

Lastly, I had to ask myself how many times I actually leave my EUC anywhere I am not, which is almost never ! Mine goes into ALL the shops with me, so while I am out on trips the only circumstances where I used the alarm was when it was parked at skate or country parks and my attention wasn't always fully on it even though I was usually sat close by. During those times the only things that set the alarm off was 1) the wind when it blew my Master off its stand, and b) me, when I came to leave and forgot I had set it !

So, whilst it is an admirable aim to have for such a device, there are a few reasons why we shouldn't place too much value on that aspect. For me - the main selling point of pidzoom is the comfortable, low profile button (the one that came with my generic version is horrendously big and clunky) and the bell functions.

Just a side note, the cover on that speaker (or at least mine) was very easy to break, and indeed I snapped mine off its 3 flimsy posts merely as I was pressing it onto the wheel ! I don't know if there is anything Pidzoom can improve about this, but if they can I would suggest they do !

If anyone is interested in what became of my device, it is still attached to my wheel, as is the remote, but only there in case I ever forget or lose my main finger bell. And why did I go back to that in the first place - because pedestrians ignored all the various bleepings coming out of mine, and it didn't have a proper bell tone. If it had have done, like Bob's does now, then I would still be using it as the main bell, because having that small remote strapped to your finger is considerably more convenient than my big physical one, which makes it very difficult to reach into pockets whilst wearing !

So I'd say the horn is still the best feature here, and the USPs that justify the price are the bell tones they are trying to get into it, the battery life, loudness, clarity and projection of the horn unit, and unobtrusiveness and comfort of the finger band.

Edited February 19 by Cerbera

[MetricUSA]

 I use this...

Handheld Air Horn https://a.co/d/6G5ITFO

You keep the body in one hand and use your waist to push the pump....works for me and they hear the 100 db air horn... 

Edited April 22 by MetricUSA

[varamontelo]

This horn Pidzoom is interesting, i think in a correct quality. My message in the top use probably a bad traduction with google.

[Bigkidneys]

Bell one for me.  I love the PIDZOOM finger horn and that would be my only feedback, the #1 ring sounds most like a bicycle bell that most are aware of.  Like Bob mentioned, the finger loop is stretchy Velcro so fits easily with gloves on.  Without gloves its a little loose but makes you wear your safety gear 

[Cerbera]

56 minutes ago, Bigkidneys said:

Without gloves its a little loose but makes you wear your safety gear 

That's a good point actually ! Far too aften I find velcro straps that don't have enough range to them to accommodate various body sizes.

I am very thin everywhere, so I often have trouble synching stuff tight enough onto my bony frame. Important for Pidzoom to get that right so it can work with everything from the skeletally thin, ungloved hand, to the most Brit-King-style 'sausage fingers' in thick winter gloves ! I suspect the perfect version would probably feature velcro AND elastic to achieve this.

Edited February 19 by Cerbera

[bpong]

Mr. Yan;

good day to you sir !!!

if i may suggest this following item, even though it may initially seem to be cumbersome, it actually isnt and it does serve double duty.

its a holder i made which holds a choice of 2 high quality flashlights, plus one very very loud japanese bicycle bell.  i chose the "ding ding" sound over a loud air horn cause i dont want to give anyone a heart attack to warn them of my approach.  in use, it works very very well in warning others of my approach in the bike lanes.  and on the city streets riding,  the sound manages to make it thru the closed car windows.  the bell used is the following:

https://www.ucycle.com/crane-big-bell-with-side-striker.html

its loud, and its big and not like those little shitty subtle bicycle bells.  easy to deploy and ring with gloves on.  as for flashlights,  i prefer using this device because i made an xtra holder so i can use a smaller backup flashlight if my large flashlight runs out of power.  instead of depending on the eucs headlight,  i have control over my illumination direction and choice of illumination.  no blinding of car drivers and pedestrians.  and since the bell is a manual device, no worries about running out of power in an electronic horn.  a bicycle bell has less intimidation than a loud and surprising air horn and its a sound everyone is familiar with AND expects on the streets.

flashlights used are either Fenix 35 UE (main light, just as good as car lights) or the backup imalent 21C tactical.  a universal flashlight holder can be designed to accept most body shapes large and small.  and a mounting bracket for a bell or electronic horn can also be fashioned easily.

i have already experienced 2 euc falls (bumped off pedals at speed) and this thing has survived both falls and the bell is still working easily, as do the flashlights too.

cheers !!!

[Toad]

Bell No.1 is the most polite and suitable for pathways shared with people walking or pedaling those antique 2-wheeled things.  Bell 1 is also a more pleasant imitation than the variants that attempt to rrrrrrrrrrring rrrrrrrrrrring.

But is it better than a hand-held rubber duck (or "dog toy"), which sounds immediately (no delay) and has an expressive range of rapidity and volume controlled by a brain-stem-simple user interface?  However, I think a space-age device could replicate those good rubber-ducky traits, and even improve on them.  Please convey this as a constructive response to the clever inventors.

[DavidB]

They are all good. I'm sure I have had bells on different bikes over the years that make all those different rings. Currently I use a $2 bell that sounds exactly like #1 but maybe louder. No electronics, ok comfort.

[Bigkidneys]

On 2/19/2024 at 10:50 AM, bpong said:

Mr. Yan;

good day to you sir !!!

if i may suggest this following item, even though it may initially seem to be cumbersome, it actually isnt and it does serve double duty.

its a holder i made which holds a choice of 2 high quality flashlights, plus one very very loud japanese bicycle bell.  i chose the "ding ding" sound over a loud air horn cause i dont want to give anyone a heart attack to warn them of my approach.  in use, it works very very well in warning others of my approach in the bike lanes.  and on the city streets riding,  the sound manages to make it thru the closed car windows.  the bell used is the following:

https://www.ucycle.com/crane-big-bell-with-side-striker.html

its loud, and its big and not like those little shitty subtle bicycle bells.  easy to deploy and ring with gloves on.  as for flashlights,  i prefer using this device because i made an xtra holder so i can use a smaller backup flashlight if my large flashlight runs out of power.  instead of depending on the eucs headlight,  i have control over my illumination direction and choice of illumination.  no blinding of car drivers and pedestrians.  and since the bell is a manual device, no worries about running out of power in an electronic horn.  a bicycle bell has less intimidation than a loud and surprising air horn and its a sound everyone is familiar with AND expects on the streets.

flashlights used are either Fenix 35 UE (main light, just as good as car lights) or the backup imalent 21C tactical.  a universal flashlight holder can be designed to accept most body shapes large and small.  and a mounting bracket for a bell or electronic horn can also be fashioned easily.

i have already experienced 2 euc falls (bumped off pedals at speed) and this thing has survived both falls and the bell is still working easily, as do the flashlights too.

cheers !!!

Did you just go Inspector Gadget on all of us? Lol.  Very creative for sure.  I used those Fenix lights as a backup on my last job and they are great!

[Cerbera]

Quick public message / idea that might be up @Bob Yan's alley...

Helmet-mounted HUD / rear camera kit.

Don't know how doable, or ambitious this request might be, but it would sure solve a lot of EUC problems at once if it could be done without being truly silly money...

Ideally included features might include:

• Helmet mounted HUD unit (various mounting options), color display
• Shows live rear camera feed, eliminating need for mirrors
• EUC World info overlays meaning we don't need to take eyes of road to check phones / watches.
• Might as well record cam video w/overlays to SD card while we're at it...
• (Optional) mic module for adding commentary to recordings
• USB rechargable.

We are just starting to see these sort of systems built into high end MC helmets, but wondered if there was a possibility for a more modular approach, fittable to any helmet ideally... 

Please, anyone else feel free to critique / refine / request other options for such a system as well as letting us know how much you might be prepared to pay for such a system.

Personally I'd be down for up to around $700 for that sort of thing, if it worked really well.

Anyway, just an idea - thread derailment over !