The bicycle bell is a much under-valued accessory. It’s a legal requirement that bicycles start their lives with a bicycle bell fitted, but these are invariably cheap and nasty so the fashion is for them to be quickly removed. However, if you cycle on busy urban streets or tracks and paths shared with others, they are a polite way of announcing your approach, especially if followed with a verbal greeting.
The Suzu bell is made by the Crane Bell Company in Osaka, Japan. It produces a crisp note that lingers so pleasingly it could double as a meditation bell.
We have three gold-coloured Suzo bells to give away. To be in with a chance of winning one, simple leave a comment at the bottom of this page and we’ll pick a winner next week.
When it comes to sound, it’s all in the choice of metal. While the alloy used in the most basic models might be cheap to produce, it’s sound is tinny and inferior. By comparison, traditional bell metal comprises mainly copper and has been used to produce the best bells (and on occasion cannon) for over 3,000 years.
The ethical choice
The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance, travel insurance, breakdown cover and home insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.
johnny faro
Ah I cant Bell – eve how smart that looks. Yes please
Margaret Turner
My son gave me one of these for my 80th birthday, it’s an absolute joy and it would be lovely to give him one too 🙂
Ann Marie Wrigley
I need a bucketful to give out as I walk the Leeds-Liverpool canal towpath!
Jonathan Hulme
By chance I bought earlier today a book and a candle. Knew there was something missing…..
John Holiday
Most of my bikes have a Dutch style ‘ding/dong’ ,but am sure that I could find room for one of these beauties.
Sue
Ding-a-ling!
Richard Scrase
My ding-a-ling …
Graham Hutchinson
The sound of a good cycle bell makes the heart sing. A dull bell is dull.
Alex Ford
Wow..what a great ringing sound…if lucky to win Thank you
Hilary Foster
Oooh my bell was nicked so yes pleeeeeeaaaaaase
Paul Miller
Yes please!
Robert Lewis
One of these bells would look fantastic on my red Roy Thame bike.
Carol W
ting-ting 🙂
Hedley
I’ll have it – if it’s going !
Rodney Lephard
You can ring my bell,but it’s not as good the Suzu bell.
Liz MacG
Have just bought a basket to go on my bike & a bell would finish off the refurb, ready to reduce my carbon emissions this year. Yes please.
Stuart Young
That strikes the right note with me
FT
I’d be chimed to win one of those!
Phil
A gold-coloured Suzo bell would be just the job on my daily commute and would help to warn the dog walkers with their hoods up and the runners with their headphones.
Steve K
Clear as a bell, yes please!
Margaret Sparrow
Would be great to have one on my mobility scooter to advise folk about me of my presence . At the moment have a children’s bell , which makes people laugh, but they usually say thank you for using it
ColinP
Looks good. Would love one!
Georgie
Ding-Dong! The bells are gonna chime.
Carole
A bell is an absolute must, and this is drop-dead gorgeous. My bike would be proud, and happy to give one a home.
Vic Kearley
Ring-a-ding, yes please!
James
Ding – dong as Terry would’ve said!
Christine
Who else is as old as me and remembers this one? Knock knock. Who’s there? Isabel. Isabel who? Is a bell essential on a bike?
Clive Stott
Christine we used to say, Is a bell necessary on a bike?
John Thys
Ding dong riding along out of my way or you won’t get were you’re going not today anyway
Ann
This bell would hopefully make bell ringing cool and warn pedestrians and slower cyclists that they were being passed. A big boost for road safety!
Steve Green
Just the job.
Jim Woodlingfield
That is a pleasing bell and the good vibrations will speed me on my way!
Bryn Jones
I deplore cyclists without bells, and have always had one on my bike.
But I can’t find one I like until I saw yours.
Philip Thompson
Love these bells. Does it fit 31.8mm bars?
Jen
I never win any of these competitions.
Mark Beecham
“Ding dong!”, as Leslie Phillips once said.
Charles Nisbet
A bell’s ideal in the countryside and villages. In London I found it a life saver that I had been taught to shout by a Guards sergeant major. Your lovely bell looks perfect for cycle city Cambridge where I now cycle every day.
Doug Milsom
As the old song goes….. “So ring your bell and peddle like **** on a bicycle made for two”. My last bell broke, so I’d love one of these, even though I only have a solo bike!
Sue B
My last bell lost its ding dong and have been unable to find a decent substitute so one of these beauties would be ideal. Fingers crossed!
David
Brrringggg! it on
Keith Petersen
What a great sounding bell which such long reverberation afterwards. Lovely.
Brian
I would love one of these ding-a-lings.
Gary
Good, good, good, good vibrations 👍😉
Richard Hargreaves
I believe in bells on bikes. My wife has a very simple one which always works, mine was more expensive but is temperamental and only works when it feels not too hot or too cold. I’d love a Suzu Crane bell with its Buddhist lingering sound. It will be more soothing for walkers on the valley roads where I live. When I ping them it often makes them jump, so the gently lingering sound of the Crane bell will nicely calm them down. Altogether it will be more walker friendly!
Gavin
Terry Thomas:
“What’s you name nurse?”
“Nurse Bell, Doctor”
“Well… Ding Dong!”
Matt blackmore
Ring my bell! This’ll suit my son Age 7 for his newfound passion for riding… I’d just promised him a new bell too x
Bob Longhurst
OOOOH! I’d be so pleased……..I’d crush a grape between my fingers!!
Lucy
rings my bell…!
Steve
I love the concept of a “polite” bell 🔔!
Thanks to ETA for this offer.
Gareth Greenslade
Paying to travel on the roads
Not on a bicycle
Unless the bell tolls
Jeff Dean
Most Durham cycle paths are shared with pedestrians . A gentle meditational bell sound to warn them of my approach will lead to joy, sweetness and harmony for all concerned
Gillian
This looks really lovely from Bell, quality kit. I’m a huge fan of top notch Japanese goods. 🇯🇵
Rory Harkins
Yes, please!
Alan Fletcher
Call my bike Michelle all she needs is my bell Michelle.
alastair sawday
Tinkle tinkle ‘ere I fall,
Who’s the safest of them all?
Mary Lloyd
‘Ring my beeeeelll oh,oh’ yes please!
Mike G
Looks like the traditional bell that you could once get everywhere, much better than most modern offerings. Yes please!
John
Ask not for whom the bell tolls – it tolls for me!
Malcolm Liddle
Well, as they used to say in some long (almost) forgotten tv programme “You can ring my bell”
Or in this case I can ring my (beautiful) bell
Thanks
Chris Bromwich
Would look good on almost any bike but especially mine…..
Mark Bobbitt
This would be perfect for my bike.
KathyC
I have 2 bikes and one bell is not working. I bought a terrible sounding loud honking bell but had to return it – so bad. So would love this tingly one.
Peter Clark
DING!
Peter Chisnall
Ringing
james
Sounds a fantastic addition to my cycle with no ding
Raf
Well, that rings my bell!
Anna Green
I love the look and sound of this bell! I’m a percussionist as well as a cyclist and this brings my two passions together.
Phil
I want it
su
This would really ring my bell!
Anthony Powell
This would beat my last bell, which I borrowed from a church tower!
Julian Fargher
Bling A Ling
Mark
My daughter rides daily as she’s studying in Cambridge, she’s named her bike “Darren” and would love a bell called “Suzu“ PLEASE.
Catherine Goss
I would love to have a new strong and classy bicycle bell. My current one is too weedy for words!
John Matthews
Meditation as well that rings my bell
Stephen D
I was once fortunate enough to spend a week in Osaka, Japan, and absolutely loved it. A cycle bell from that wonderful city, made by those kind people, would be just perfect for my trusty steed.
Vincent
The bell(s) the bell(s). Ring my bell, ring my bell.
Jon Vamplew
“Riding along on my push bike honey, just my Suzo and me, you look so pretty and you chime so well, as we are riding along long long, Shush ooh ooh shush ahh”
Perfect song for the Japanese bell, best chime of them all!
Mike Croker
Clear as 😉
Bikemike
This is so ap-pealing that you wouldn’t drop a clanger in acquiring one!
Brian Leveson
Ooh yes please. It does look lovely
Darren C
I remember having a bell like that in the ‘good old days’ before manufacturers only supplied those next-to-useless little pimples on their bikes.
They do sound so much louder and resonate better, I would love to be able to hear that ring again,will take me right back to my childhood.
Hazel W
The horn on my husband’s walker drives me crazy and makes me jump everytime he uses it. Your bell sounds a much more pleasing prospect.
Wendy Adams
I’d love a Suzu bell.
Ian Drury
It’s a beautiful thing !
Herr Pierre
Working on a Dawes Windrush which is nearly as old as me but unlike me sound as a bell!
David Mayers
What a lovely bell, a real bell-ter
Lesley Walton
I cycle the Leeds-Liverpool canal and really really need a good loud bike bell!
Darryl Sunnick
It truly is a thing of beauty! On my turbo this time of year but would smarten up my bike once im outside again! xxx
Kamal Hashmi
Wow! What a beautiful ring – walkers on the Fallowfield Loop would enjoy me going past!
CRAIG
My normal method to alert pedestrians is a polite “EXCUSE ME PLEASE!”, but I’d love to give one of these a go, as they should be louder than my croaky yell!? Thanks.
Craig
Amanda Loud
For whom the bell toils!
Amanda Loud
For Whom The Bell tolls!
James Russell
Please! My son has gone through 2 bells in the last year, all of which make an annoying sound as he rides along the cycle paths.
Steven Salmon
That would be delightful. I got so fed up with pedestrians stepping out in front of me I tried fitting a bull roarer foghorn.
SHEILA
Cool looking bell , just as important as lights !
Mark Minion
Functional yet stylish … yes please!
Philip Benson
Great looking & lovely sound
richard
I have tried the “excuse me”, but it often seems to annoy pedestrians so they feel the need to tell me that I should get a bell. Pavlov beats politeness it seems.
Wayne Fox
Wow! You could hear this over the din of any crowd, including a boxing match! “Seconds out! Round one!”
David Hamilton
I’d love a bicycle bell like this. It would definitely turn heads when it’s rung.
Richard Newman
Bellissimo!
Tim Earl
Nice one.
Chris Rand
Nice bell, it might even alert those people walking towards me, head down, texting, earphones on, oblivious of their surroundings!
Greg B
This would be great! The bells that come with new bikes are useless – tinny little ‘ting’ that gives up when there’s a spot of rain.
Jamie
As a resident of Birmingham, this would be very handy for the canal rides.
Ding ding!
Susan
I have a BEAR bell. Wonder how the bear will get on with the CRANE?!
cee
mindfully ring, and pedal smoothly into the now …
Paul Codd
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells.
robert p Griffiths-garrod
these are great bells – lovely tone and sustain
Brian
I’d like a bell (-:
Gary Robinson
I say! Ding dong!
PeteG
Quality and made to last.
Jennyve Salvato
so bello this bell! 🙂 is that one for me? xx