Trek’s electronic bike bell lets you customize how urgent it sounds

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The $99.99 BellBeats is a tiny bike-mounted Bluetooth speaker that could be more effective at alerting others to a cyclist’s presence.

By Andrew Liszewski, a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2011, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid.

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A cyclist pressing the bell button on the Trek BellBeats attached to a bike’s handlebars.

Cyclists have quick access to two of eight selectable alert tones.
Image: Trek

The quiet ding of many bike bells isn’t always enough to alert pedestrians or vehicles of a cyclist’s presence. Trek’s new BellBeats is a compact Bluetooth speaker that can be mounted to a bike’s handlebars giving cyclists a selection of eight quick access alert tones that are either friendly or urgent.

Like a traditional bike bell, the alert tones on the BellBeats can be triggered while riding using a thumb button. Cyclists can select two of eight tones — including a ringing metal bell, a subdued train horn, or an old-timey ahooga horn — that are activated with either a long or short press of the button.

Trek claims the BellBeats’ alert tones are more noticeable than the sounds made by traditional bike bells because they encompass a wider frequency range and have been “professionally sound-designed” to make it easier for pedestrians to determine what direction the sounds are coming from to help avoid collisions. The speaker also includes perpetually looping ambient tones for trail riders wanting to make hikers or wildlife aware of their presence at all times.

The Trek BellBeats electronic bike bell attached to a bike’s handlebars while a cyclists presses one of its volume control buttons.

The Trek BellBeats electronic bike bell attached to a bike’s handlebars while a cyclists presses one of its volume control buttons.
Basic playback and volume controls allows a cyclist to adjust volume or skip music tracks without stopping to take out their smartphone.
Image: Trek

With six hours of battery life and audio “optimized by Harman,” the BellBeats doubles as a portable Bluetooth speaker allowing cyclists to listen to music, audiobooks, podcasts, or even turn-by-turn GPS directions without the need for headphones that can diminish their ability to hear what’s going on around them. Built-in volume controls let cyclists quickly turn down what they’re listening to when riding through crowded areas.

A quick attach system allows the BellBeats to be easily removed from a bike’s handlebars and attached to a backpack strap or a belt, but it can also be left on a bike at all times thanks to an IP67 rating allowing it to survive a heavy downpour or even a complete dunking to depths of 40 inches.

Although the BellBeats is available now for $99.99 and is listed on Trek’s website, it can only be purchased from “local retailers” for the time being. Purchasing it directly from Trek will only be an option “in the coming months.”

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