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I agree to a point, but I think most people seem to know what a bicycle bell is, and react accordingly. I don’t use mine aggressively either, just as a polite warning. Since I buggered my left elbow up a couple of years back I’ve not been able to ride on drops, so all three of my daily bikes have flat or riser bars, which also means my brakes are much quicker to reach if it goes tits up. Really wouldn’t go back to drops now, even if I could.
jj72-
i have a spurcycle style bell on my drop bar bike, and a traditional 'ring, ring' bell on my flat bar.
i find the traditional bell a lot better for alerting people to my presence than the 'ting' of the spurcycle one, which people tend to regularly ignore.maybe people are more used to the traditional bell sound?
bigshape
I think in this country we use bells in the same way we use car horns, incorrectly.
If you spend any time driving around Italy, you'll hear beeps 10x as often but it's never malicious, it's a "by the way I'm here". Definitely makes you look before pulling out of a junction. (in less urban areas at least)
I've never used a bike bell personally. I opt for the @hippy mindset and wear SafetyBlack™. If you assume everyone hasn't seen you and you ride accordingly, expecting to be pulled out on or for someone switch lane into you then you generally become more prepared for those things and tend to avoid them. In the same way helmets have a subconscious effect on how many risks we take when riding, I think bells and hi-viz probably have a similar effect in that we expect to be seen and heard and therefore continue to ride as if we have been even when at times we haven't been.
IAMNAPSYCHOLOGIST