Nahuel Villar's Intent Bicycle Bell Replaces Single Volume with Three Tiers

Product designer Nahuel Villar, born in Argentina and based in the United States, has redesigned the bicycle bell with a three-tier volume system called Intent. The bell addresses a failure rate where standard bells communicate only one intensity, regardless of urgency. Field research revealed pedestrians cannot read a standard bell's signal, and cyclists lack feedback on whether their warning was received. Villar's mechanism uses a ratchet, cam, and retention springs to convert a single press into three escalating volumes: soft, moderate, and maximum. The translucent upper casing exposes the internal mechanism, allowing the object to explain its own logic. Anodized brass was chosen for density and resonance, enhancing acoustic performance. The bicycle bell's basic design has remained unchanged since 1877; Villar argues that solving the sound was not the same as solving the message. Similar rethinking of safety objects includes Škoda's DuoBell, which targets a frequency gap in active noise-cancelling headphones, and Ventete's aH-1 inflatable helmet, which replaces rigid foam with pressurized air chambers to address portability. The key test for Intent is whether cyclists will use the extra presses under real traffic conditions.