Škoda DuoBell: A bicycle bell that penetrates noise-cancelling headphones

Do horns and bells really prevent accidents?

In order for e.g. a horn to work you need enough time that the driver processes the situation and decides the horn will communicate something AND enough time for the pedestrian or whatever to process that and react to it. Generally it's a lot easier just to press the brake, and more importantly be travelling at a speed and in a manner where the brake is sufficient.

Structurally, we'd be much better off reducing conflicts between the different tiers of users. I.e. properly segregated infrastructure for each class of vehicle.

I think it's time for some sort of a safety standard for a sound frequency to be reserved exclusively for alarm/alert use and that ANC systems have to let through.

It goes without saying, use of said frequency should be prohibited for other purposes, especially marketing.

Over engineering in real life, solving lack of common sense by introducing a solution where the cyclist is paying.

I think the solution is nice for sure, but solving the wrong problem.

Draw a line, say this is for bicycles, pedestrians and cars have no business here, and bikes have no business being on any other lane as long as these exist.

When bikes have to go through areas where people walk freely, they need to limit their speed to a walking pace.

People should not wear headphones (noise-cancelling or not) when going through traffic as pedestrians. Take them off when crossing!

People should not hear loud music when driving - max is normal speaking voice level. Bike drivers should never hear any music, let alone wearing headphones. Behind-ear speakers on low could be a compromise.

Hey, we just solved 90% of the accidents.

Seems to be some misunderstanding of what bike bells are for here...

A bell is helpful in a situation where a pedestrian is not aware of an approaching bike. The bell informs the pedestrian of two things:

1. That there is an approaching bike.

2. Roughly were the bike is approaching from.

The hope is that the pedestrian will then behave in a predictable way to allow a safe pass by the bike. In almost all cases the pedestrian will be able to simply continue doing what they were doing before they heard the bell.

If a pedestrian can not hear bike bells, for whatever reason, that is not a problem. They can just stay consistent with the centreline of the path/road/way. They then have a responsibility to shoulder check when shifting from side to side.

Next challange: Place a camera in front of the bike that scans approaching pedestrians. Calculate their head position and trajectory. Use directional speakers and focused sound beams to focus the ~780Hz sound towards the head(s) of the pedestrian(s). Now that you are not bothering the environment as much, you can increase the volume as well.

This bell would be illegal in Denmark, where our laws clearly state that you are only allowed one signal giving device and that any signal giving devices attached to vehicles (including bikes) can only produce one constant sound.

How this would be enforced is a different topic.

Video version which has more detail than the text: https://youtu.be/zDaVPfpQvPI?is=sSyjXf07r9cg9r4Y

Bit cringe marketing though.

Begun, the noise-cancelling wars have.

Cool idea. But bizarre that they worked with Deliveroo. Bike bells were designed for a time when cyclists travelled at speeds where you could safely get out of the way.

Most "independent" cyclists do cycle safely.

But delivery riders for delivery platforms commonly use illegally modified e-bikes. Platforms have the GPS data. They must know.

They could make huge improvements in safety by actively preventing the use of illegally modified e-bikes that travel too fast.

It is amazing they openly shared their findings [0], but one thing I am missing is what this design would cost if put into mass production. To the biggest layman possible, it reads like while the design is clever and would be more expensive by virtue of more materials/size alone, it's not impractical, but maybe someone more informed on this type of manufacturing can correct my ignorance. If that's the case, hopefully we'll see these designs on the market soon as even with music+ANC, I have found certain sounds to be able to easily penetrate through when listening, though that is purely subjective and I don't have my music earbleedingly loud...

[0] https://cdn.skoda-storyboard.com/2026/04/Skoda-DuoBell-Resea...

For a moment I thought this was an April fools joke product.

Pretty cool though!

Fun fact: Škoda means "pity" or "damage" in Czech, can also be used as "what a shame".

Happened to be the company founder's surname.

I have noticed I can make a less sharp sound with my bike bell by ringing it a certain way. I use this to let pedestrians know I am coming but that they don't have to jump out of the way.

This is amazing. Would be great if emergency vehicle sirens could also adopt these findings. I feel like they're beyond painfully loud these days.

That can’t be aero.

On a serious note there’s a marketing problem in my view: who out there who chooses to buy a bell even considers that their might be a loudness problem? It’s not immediately obvious that I need this and I’m sure there’s a premium price attached.

I believe devices intended to block necessary external environmental sounds should be prohibited while driving, including cycling.

Remember that a horn is a safety feature.

Reminds me of old Reich bells http://reich-cycle-bells.de and their „Trillerwerk“ (trill sound)

> Its a simple analog solution to a digital problem

That's such a beautiful statement

750 Hz. Baby crying sound is around 300-400 Hz and let me tell you my airpods pro definitely let me hear the baby cry. I think Apple built that as an obvious safety feature.

Interestingly, all the shrillness noises (chalkboard, balloon or polystyrene screech) are in similar frequency too.

i’m on airpods pro 3, and it’s far from producing noise-cancellation so powerful as to require such measures. perhaps if I’m listening to heavy music at ear-damaging levels. maybe my hearing is too sensitive.

So it's tuned to a specific frequency at 780Hz? And that defeats all/most ANC?

Intentionally deaf people hate this one trick.

Is it available for sale?

So where can I buy this thing?

Where can I buy this??

The problem with headphones is not noise cancellation. It’s the fact they play music.

My regular Widek bell penetrates ANC, but when there’s music, ANC or not, it’s hard to hear. I’m struggling to believe the claims this bell is going to be significantly better.

Oh great, cyclist gonna annoy me even in headphones

Pretty cool if true!

nice but it wont help with isolating earbuds

I've noticed some trains are playing extremely loud announcements (Elizabeth line for example) which makes me think they're trying to penetrate headphones and earphones

Guess why I wear noise cancelling headphones on trains? Because of the excessive announcements!

(I mean seriously excessive. Because in the UK the answer to everything is to create another announcement or poster)

We need to stop the arms race

How about cyclists stop cycling on sidewalks?

I always hate having my headphones on ANC on the street. It makes me feel really exposed and disconnected. I tend to use transparency when out and about.

> In real-world trials conducted on the streets of London in February, in cooperation with Deliveroo couriers, the bell proved so effective that couriers expressed a desire to keep it.

Of course they would, because a lot of them either don’t have any bell, or have a shitty ping-ping bell that doesn’t produce good sound.

Living in a city you cannot stand so much that you wear noise cancelling headphones at all times. Commuting to work that you hate and manoeuvring between zombies looking at their phones, wearing noise cancelling headphones, and occasional cars recklessly opening doors or joining the traffic without looking in the mirrors. You even forgot the original goal of saving money because the rent eats 50% of the net salary and work eats every will to live. Here it is - the fruit of your glorious education and mean by which your mortgage is paid is bicycle bell. Thanks for reminding me to stay away from this miserable mess.

A reminder that a gun [0] would also work as a bicycle bell that works despite noise-cancelling headphones.

[0] https://xkcd.com/1217/

Just when you thought interacting with cyclists couldn't get any more annoying... introducing the Škoda DuoBell! New from Mattel!

People don't tend to wear anc headsets when walking the Forrest.

Maybe the issue is the noise in the cities?

I’m more afraid of cyclists than of cars. I know exactly where the road starts and end, I know there are traffic lights drivers and pedestrians usually respect, so it’s very unlikely that I can get hit by a car. And Im talking about myself, not about the average person (I know stats may say otherwise)

But cyclists can ride in the pedestrian lane, bike lanes and pedestrians lanes are not easily distinguishable (if you are visiting a new city/country for example, and/or the painting of the lanes disappear over time) compared to roads, you typically can hear cars/motorbikes coming (though with electric cars that’s less common) while bikes are very silent, and last but not least, typically there is certain hierarchy when it comes to cars and pedestrians (at least in Europe): pedestrians come first. That’s not the case with bikes (which based on my experience, they share the same level of importance with pedestrians in the streets)