New, improved bicycle bell pings through Kickstarter target

IT Consultant Stefan Buxton now has guaranteed funding for his Trigger Bell, a brass bicycle bell that can be operated while braking. He placed his product on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com, seeking funding of £5200. He exceeded that target in the first week and now has another three weeks to raise the "pre-sales" total from today’s £7011. 502 "backers" have pledged to buy the bell and are now locked in. (Kickstarter pledgers only pay once a project ends and when the original funding goal has been met or exceeded).

Kickstarter backers get the bell for the reduced price of £8. 

“It’s my objective with Trigger Bell to make cycling safer for cyclists and other road users,” said Buxton, of London.

The first modern bicycle bell, with loud ringer, was produced in America in 1888 – the company who made it went on to manufacture the first yellow New York City taxi cabs and also made the coaster brake hubs later used on mountain biking’s foundation race, the 1970s "Repack."

Buxton’s bell is an improvement on the New Departure bell because it fits beneath MTB handlebars and beside brakes on a road bike. This means a cyclist can ping the Trigger Bell and brake at the same time.

In the polished Kickstarter video, Buxton took his bell to one of the Cycle Surgery stores in London. Sales assistant James Gilbert gave the bell his thumbs-up.

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