Why are Bell products such [censored]?

"Pete Rose Was Cool" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I want to warn you folks not to buy Bell bicycle accessories.

Today I got a flat tire *twice*. Both times the inner tube was a brand-new Bell, the kind with goo
inside. Contrary to what is claimed on the packaging, all the slime does is squirt out the hole in
your inner tube and all over your face when you try to look at it, and it doesn't seal.

<<snip..>>

giggle..always my favourite.."Look at this mark on the tube and see if it's leaking, while I pump it
up..."..heehee..It's the little things in life... ;-)

Cheers,

Scott..

I second your opinion of Bell. After one pump that could not inflate a basketball, and a computer
that lasted three days, I do not normally buy their products. Of course the are some exceptions,
notably brakes and Helmets. These items carry heavy liabilities. My opinion here is that Bell does a
good job on these due to the potential lawsuits.

For the most part, Schwinn accessories, sold at Target and WalMart, are much better that Bell (sold
at K-Mart).

Ernie

Pete Rose Was Cool said:

I want to warn you folks not to buy Bell bicycle accessories.

Today I got a flat tire *twice*. Both times the inner tube was a brand-new Bell, the kind with goo
inside. Contrary to what is claimed on the packaging, all the slime does is squirt out the hole in
your inner tube and all over your face when you try to look at it, and it doesn't seal.

I have purchased other Bell products over the years. Anything battery-operated, such as a light
or a speedometer that I buyed, can't be counted on to last more than a week before it breaks,
even with fresh batteries. I once purchaed a Bell rack whose straps broke the first time I tried
to use it.

The only Bell stuff I have that's held up adequately are brakes and a pouch, which are two
things that usually won't be defective unless you try very hard. I suspect that the only reason
the brakes and the pouch have lasted are that the Bell geniuses are utterly incapable of trying
very hard.

Luckily there's a real bike store in my county that sells other brands, as opposed to that Bell
[censored] K-Mart carries.

--

*** My posts get canceled, and I repost 'em! *** *** It's called free speech - live with it ***

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative! ------ todayslastword.orgtodayslastword.orgOpen ↗ -------

They don't call Saddam's army the "Republican Guard" for nothing!

E & V Willson said:

I second your opinion of Bell. After one pump that could not inflate a basketball, and a computer
that lasted three days, I do not normally buy their products.

My pump might be a Bell. Today, however, I discovered that it did not fit the valve on the new inner
tubes I purchased, so I had to obtain a special part for it. I know I had another pump like this
that lasted only a month because it got so bent up inflating a tube.

The Bell speedometer that I once purchased didn't last a week before the display started to fade
(even with fresh batteries).

--

*** My posts get canceled, and I repost 'em! *** *** It's called free speech - live with it ***

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative! ------ todayslastword.orgtodayslastword.orgOpen ↗ -------

They don't call Saddam's army the "Republican Guard" for nothing!

Quoted message said:

Today I got a flat tire *twice*. Both times the inner tube was a brand-new Bell, the kind with goo
inside. Contrary to what is claimed on the packaging, all the slime does is squirt out the hole in
your inner tube and all over your face when you try to look at it, and it doesn't seal.

Goo may work but it is not something that one should depend on. Did you discover the cause of the
first flat before installing the new tube?

Historically Bell Products made helmets for a variety of purposes, most notably motorcycling. They
are making some decent helmets, the only decent helmets actually, in the 60's. And they still make
decent helmets.

However in this age of marketing and mergers, the name Bell Products has been used to market a line
of low end bicycle components to department stores and chains of various types.

My experience with Bell components has been limited but uniformly bad. I bought a Bell cyclometer
for my wife, a complete piece of junk, lasted about a week before it went crazy.

Best bet is some decent stuff from your LBS.

jon isaacs

The price should be a clue. Not all brands can be better then every other brand in a product line. h

Take the plastic off the Bell seat-mounted luggage rack (5mm allen bolt) and screw a widish piece of
lumber on top, and put a milk crate on that, and support with a couple slim but sturdy pieces of
scrap to the bolt holes above the dropouts, and you can carry a ton of stuff.

The Bell portion stabilizes the load side to side, and the scrap supports the real weight.

Kmart closing stores were selling them for $7. I just installed one replacing a very old
luggage rack.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

E & V Willson said:

Of course the are some exceptions, notably brakes and Helmets.

Isn't Vistalite owned by Bell?

RFM

Jon Isaacs said:

Quoted message said:

The same scenario applies to recumbents. We have a few 20 lb. carbon lowracers with really stiff
frames and race specific componentry which are superb climbing machines.

A "superb climbing machine" is something that works well on hills, not something that is fast on
hills. How do they do with an average rider on a 15% grade? On a typical MTB a Typical rider does
OK on a 15% grade, slow but sure.

Jon, going from a 34 lb. to 20 lb. bike would make a difference most anywhere, especially hill
climbing. And if you weigh only 100 lbs., the savings is more significant on any grade. This is
what Barbie's experiencing. Just incase you are remotely curious to see Barbie and her 20.5 lb.
carbon bike:

wisil.recumbents.comvelokraftBarb1.jpgOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Regarding your hills vs. ours, we don't have very many long ascents greater than a mile or so,
therefore the ability to run down and up these bumps at high speeds is relevant.

As I have said, they work nicely on smooth roads in areas that are basically flat.

Many years ago, I conducted a comparison in the Malibu Hills between a 30 plus
lb.recumbent with "touring fat" tires, versus a 16 lb. Vitus shod with Campy goodies and sew up
tires. If you care to read the entire article, here it can be found:

home.earthlink.netarticles3.htmlOpen ↗

In a nutshell, I have and do ride in the S. California hills/valleys three times per year for
training the last decade.

Quoted message said:

But this is not rec.bicycles.racing so speed is not the issue. However you said:

Interestingly, just yesterday, we had a friendly encounter with a well known time trialist
pedaling his bike with a watt meter. He wasn't able to hold

onto our draft even though he "claimed" to be putting out 1275 watts for a 2 minute duration.

www.analyiccycling.com

Speed for a given power. 1275 watts for a standard rider in a standard drag conditions, not a TT
bike. 44.3mph

Lance does about 33mph on 440 watts.

Something wrong with that watt meter.

Perhaps it was optimistic, however the chase speeds were at the 40 mph range on the flat pavement,
error within 10 per cent I'd guess. The discussion was, "Is a TT bike as fast as a recumbent" with
the resultant answer from the DF'er, "No way!"

Ed - the standard response, "Oh, the best unfaired lowracers are about the same as a full on TT
bike" - Gin

Quoted message said:

Jon Isaacs

(Jon Isaacs) said:

Goo may work but it is not something that one should depend on. Did you discover the cause of the
first flat before installing the new tube?

I couldn't find the cause of either flat.

Quoted message said:

My experience with Bell components has been limited but uniformly bad. I bought a Bell cyclometer
for my wife, a complete piece of junk, lasted about a week before it went crazy.

Some of the little lines that comprise the numbers on the display tend to completely fade.

--

*** My posts get canceled, and I repost 'em! *** *** It's called free speech - live with it ***

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative! ------ todayslastword.orgtodayslastword.orgOpen ↗ -------

They don't call Saddam's army the "Republican Guard" for nothing!

Ron Hardin said:

Take the plastic off the Bell seat-mounted luggage rack (5mm allen bolt) and screw a widish piece
of lumber on top, and put a milk crate on that, and support with a couple slim but sturdy pieces of
scrap to the bolt holes above the dropouts, and you can carry a ton of stuff.

I buyed a plastic storage bin that has worked surprisingly well. It's not even intended for bicycle
use, yet it's worked better than a Bell product.

--

*** My posts get canceled, and I repost 'em! *** *** It's called free speech - live with it ***

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative! ------ todayslastword.orgtodayslastword.orgOpen ↗ -------

They don't call Saddam's army the "Republican Guard" for nothing!

Ron Hardin said:

Take the plastic off the Bell seat-mounted luggage rack (5mm allen bolt) and screw a widish piece
of lumber on top, and put a milk crate on that, and support with a couple slim but sturdy pieces
of scrap to the bolt holes above the dropouts, and you can carry a ton of stuff.

The Bell portion stabilizes the load side to side, and the scrap supports the real weight.

I carried 45 lbs. home with it yesterday, according to the Kroger U-Scan scale, with no problems; I
couldn't tell the load was there, really. It was much more stable than the old standard and now
deceased luggage rack was. Luggage rack wobble is responsible for the idea that a high center of
gravity causes stability problems, rather than the reverse which is actually true.

Whether one day one of my pieces of scrap will shatter and dump it all off is another matter.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

You get what you pay for. Bell makes good stuff and cheap stuff.

I have a lot of Bell stuff including helmets that work just fine.

"Pete Rose Was Cool" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I want to warn you folks not to buy Bell bicycle accessories.

Today I got a flat tire *twice*. Both times the inner tube was a brand-new Bell, the kind with goo
inside. Contrary to what is claimed on the packaging, all the slime does is squirt out the hole in
your inner tube and all over your face when you try to look at it, and it doesn't seal.

I have purchased other Bell products over the years. Anything battery-operated, such as a light
or a speedometer that I buyed, can't be counted on to last more than a week before it breaks,
even with fresh batteries. I once purchaed a Bell rack whose straps broke the first time I tried
to use it.

The only Bell stuff I have that's held up adequately are brakes and a pouch, which are two
things that usually won't be defective unless you try very hard. I suspect that the only reason
the brakes and the pouch have lasted are that the Bell geniuses are utterly incapable of trying
very hard.

Luckily there's a real bike store in my county that sells other brands, as opposed to that Bell
[censored] K-Mart carries.

--

*** My posts get canceled, and I repost 'em! *** *** It's called free speech - live with it ***

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative! ------ todayslastword.orgtodayslastword.orgOpen ↗ -------

They don't call Saddam's army the "Republican Guard" for nothing!

Ron Hardin said:

I carried 45 lbs. home with it yesterday, according to the Kroger U-Scan scale, with no problems; I
couldn't tell the load was there, really. It was much more stable than the old standard and now
deceased luggage rack was. Luggage rack wobble is responsible for the idea that a high center of
gravity causes stability problems, rather than the reverse which is actually true.

The storage bin I have is primarily used for carrying tools, including a pump, extra tubes, duct
tape, and occasionally a map. What I do on Kroger days is hang the bags full of groceries on the
handlebars on the way home.

--

*** My posts get canceled, and I repost 'em! *** *** It's called free speech - live with it ***

I think. Therefore, I am not a conservative! ------ todayslastword.orgtodayslastword.orgOpen ↗ -------

They don't call Saddam's army the "Republican Guard" for nothing!

Pete Rose Was Cool said:

The storage bin I have is primarily used for carrying tools, including a pump, extra tubes, duct
tape, and occasionally a map. What I do on Kroger days is hang the bags full of groceries on the
handlebars on the way home.

That can produce really spectacular instablilities, producing increasing bag swing and
steering wobble.

Every day is a Kroger day for me, a regular stop even on weekends; two double paper bags fit exactly
in a milk crate. I usually have two gallons of water in one, and stuff in the other.

Doubling bags lets you build upwards. In case of the occasional overflow, plastic bags can be tied
to the milk crate, or hung over it using the 6' cable lock looped thru the handles twice. This need
is caused by sales, usually.

On rainy days, put an inverted plastic bag over the top of each paper bag so the paper doesn't go
mushy and collapse your tower of food. Use a Kroger happy face sticker to secure the plastic bag to
the paper bag or the wind will lift it off.

This is called bricolage, building castles with the materials at hand, and it is at the origin of
language if I understand Derrida right. (Of Grammatology p.139)
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Yep. They make a red blinkie light that falls off and breaks just as easily as the more expensive
bike shop ones.

Eric

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

You get what you pay for. Bell makes good stuff and cheap stuff.

I have a lot of Bell stuff including helmets that work just fine.