Airzound pumpable bike horn .. long term review?

[LI-ghtcycle]

Heya all, I have heard of these things:

But before I spend some of my very limited budget on one, I want to know how well they work in the long-term, in the cold, in the weather in general, I'm mostly concerned that not only might the seals eventually develop leeks, but that it might lack the pressure to over come cold weather in that compressed air looses it's power in colder weather compared to some other pressurized gases, I believe my current marine air horn isn't anything other than air, but it's extremely high pressure to make up for loss of press in the cold.

Thanks!!

 

[ebent]

I've had one for 5 years. I am glad I own it. It is too loud for pedestrians. But the neighbor kid gets a toot and I scare the hell out of him and he likes it. Kids. Most chasing dogs stop in their tracks. Cars can hear it with their widows up and the radio on. When I ride past cars that are parked head in I'm concerned. So I watch for the back up lights then give them a blast. They stop. I believe that I could get by most of the time without the horn. But most of the time is not good enough when it comes to life and limb. It has saved my ass a few times. I have no answer on the topic of cold weather as I live in Florida.

I'm looking for a 12v electric horn. I have extra battery capcity along with a 12v converter already. The air zound requires pumping based on my use about every 2 weeks. If I could find an electric horn that was small and had a cool sound I'd buy it. But I wouldn't be interested if it could be used with batteries only. I like to avoid aa and aaa batteries and use the main pack.

 

[John in CR]

I'm looking for a 12v electric horn. I have extra battery capcity along with a 12v converter already. The air zound requires pumping based on my use about every 2 weeks. If I could find an electric horn that was small and had a cool sound I'd buy it. But I wouldn't be interested if it could be used with batteries only. I like to avoid aa and aaa batteries and use the main pack.

I don't know about a cool sound, but those little car or motorcycle horns are plenty loud and work off of 12v.

 

[katou]

Had one for 2 years now in Toronto Ontario, so -10 is no problem. I can't report on lower temps because there is no way I'm riding my bike to work in minus 20 (that's Celsius for all you Mare-Cans). It has performed as advertised. I just leave it full open, the point is loud, so I leave it loud. And come on, for like $30? For me, it was a no brainer.

Katou

 

[Grinhill]

I used mine for a while, but I kept forgetting to refill it. My drink bottle carriers are stuffed with LiPo, so I just used the velcro attachments for the bottle, which kept on falling off over bumps. Eventually took it off the bike.

If it runs out of air when you REALLY need it, then you're in trouble.

The noise is great, though.

 

[BlackburnPete]

I have an Air-Zound on all of my bikes and I usually remember to pump them up before riding. One thing to remember is that this airhorn seems to operate the brake pedal on the offending vehicle. Sometimes if a car is pulling a left directly in front of you, a blast of the airhorn makes the car slam on the brakes and now the car is stopped right in front of you. The airhorn is also great for communication with the drivers if you feel the need to re-educate them. It also works great for the earbud gangs that hog the bike paths. One ring of my bell first, followed by two frantic bells, then a blast of the airhorn if they still aren't clearing at least one side of the bike path. Once I saw a pedestrian's hair go immediately grey when I used the airhorn

 

[Eclu Lardbut]

I'm looking for a 12v electric horn. I have extra battery capcity along with a 12v converter already. The air zound requires pumping based on my use about every 2 weeks. If I could find an electric horn that was small and had a cool sound I'd buy it. But I wouldn't be interested if it could be used with batteries only. I like to avoid aa and aaa batteries and use the main pack.

I had one of these on my motorcycle - sounds like a truck

http://www.amazon.com/AFI-10010-Compact-Trumpet-Electric/dp/B000NI5ACC

 

[JimB]

I've put Airzounds (or Deltas) on every recumbent I've had over the past 12 years, and definitely on the latest, an e-recumbent. One good blast and you have the guy backing out of his driveway stopped dead and looking for the truck!
I've never had one fail and the winters here in NH are chilly. I did notice a loss of decibel level one winter with the open part of the horn aimed in the up position. After that I made sure I mounted them with the opening down to make it harder to get moisture in them.
Just a thought for the safety minded, right up there in importance are good mirrors. On our above-seat-steering recumbents I modify Mt Myrricle mirrors so they are right up in my line of vision on the bars so I don't have to move my eyes from what is in front of me to see what is behind me.

 

[docnjoj]

I use a mast off of my front deraileur post made out of PVC to mount my mirrors and my light on my recumbent. Trying to look down at USS bars simply is poor when attempting to see cars!
otherDoc!

 

[Zoot Katz]

When it's pumped up it's stopped a Lexus and a Jeep for me.
When the air pressure gets low you're better off with a squeeze bulb horn for a kid's bike.
I no longer used mine so donated it to the community bike shop.

 

[Toshi]

I discovered and bought an AirZound horn last week, independent of this thread. It's already proved its worth on my non-electrified bicycle commute several times over. I wish my air horn on my motorcycle were as loud and piercing as the Airzound...

 

[HypnoToad]

I'm looking for a 12v electric horn. I have extra battery capcity along with a 12v converter already. The air zound requires pumping based on my use about every 2 weeks. If I could find an electric horn that was small and had a cool sound I'd buy it. But I wouldn't be interested if it could be used with batteries only. I like to avoid aa and aaa batteries and use the main pack.

I had one of these on my motorcycle - sounds like a truck

http://www.amazon.com/AFI-10010-Compact-Trumpet-Electric/dp/B000NI5ACC

How easy is it to run one of these from 12v?

 

[Xanda2260]

I'm looking for a 12v electric horn. I have extra battery capcity along with a 12v converter already. The air zound requires pumping based on my use about every 2 weeks. If I could find an electric horn that was small and had a cool sound I'd buy it. But I wouldn't be interested if it could be used with batteries only. I like to avoid aa and aaa batteries and use the main pack.

I had one of these on my motorcycle - sounds like a truck

http://www.amazon.com/AFI-10010-Compact-Trumpet-Electric/dp/B000NI5ACC

How easy is it to run one of these from 12v?

My father-in-law has one on his boat. Direct feed of 12v, via horn button. Couldn't be easier...

 

[The fingers]

I want one! 8)

 

[cal3thousand]

I'm thinking about mounting one of these bad boys to my 12V circuit.

http://www.amazon.com/AFI-10098-MiniBlast-Compact-Electric/dp/B000NI1CYM/ref=sr_1_6?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1340307734&sr=1-6&keywords=compact+marine+horn

 

[Rassy]

I've had my AirZound horn for over a year. Seldom use it, but nice to have when a car starts to back up towards you. I just check it when I check my tires. Doesn't seem to lose any air pressure except when being used.

In my tests there are many blasts available on a charge. IMHO, if you need more honking capacity than this horn delivers you are probably pushing the danger limits too far.