"Can I listen to headphones whilst riding / training"...

[TheSoulReaver03]

(a) Adjust your chain so it doesn't rattle and (b) find a quieter road or some friends. Then you can listen to the birds, the frogs and the insects, or have a chat.

a.) My chain always rattles a bit since I have have a slight bend in the drivetrain :\ and b.) no one I know is a cyclist or likes to cycle long distances.

 

[TheSoulReaver03]

[QUOTE 3724791, member: 259"]Why do motorcyclists have to lobby in favour of noisy bikes? Are they more fuel-efficient or safer?[/QUOTE]

No, but the sound of a two/four-cylinder engine running directly below you is very loud and damages hearing. They don't neccessarily play music on them, just plug them in so they block some of the noise out.

 

[Profpointy]

No, but the sound of a two/four-cylinder engine running directly below you is very loud and damages hearing. They don't neccessarily play music on them, just plug them in so they block some of the noise out.

It wind noise at speed. Engine noise, unless you've added a hooligan exhaust doesn't really figure much, at least for hearing damage.

 

[TheSoulReaver03]

It wind noise at speed. Engine noise, unless you've added a hooligan exhaust doesn't really figure much, at least for hearing damage.

Well, if it's cold out and you're cycling, then the wind itself can be quite a pain even when cycling. Imagine the intensity of it on a motorbike.

 

[jefmcg]

[QUOTE 3724791, member: 259"]Why do motorcyclists have to lobby in favour of noisy bikes? Are they more fuel-efficient or safer?[/QUOTE]

 

[anothersam]

They're not neccessarily dangerous, though I wouldn't recommend them in city traffic.

I use them specifically for city traffic, but that's just my crazy self. Also country lanes. Everywhere, really…

It's curious what makes some of us comfortable with them, others not so much. I can appreciate people who have no place for them while cycling, whether it's because of concerns for safety or they prefer listening to the real life soundtrack of their ride. For my own part I've been plugging in since my first end-to-end back in 1997, which if memory serves was accompanied by an awful lot of Tanita Tikaram on cassette tape. These days I'm thankful for mp3 players.

In the city in particular, music relaxes me (I'm sure it would have the opposite effect on others!) It filters out much of what I don't need to hear anyway, while still letting in things like sirens.

In the country, frankly, it gets my mind off how boring the country is, much as I love it here. It also provides the occasional surreal moment such as I experienced yesterday evening as I glided past a well known grazing animal and this came on:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khs_PofcsbQ

Actually it was a cow I went past. I like cows, and not just because Gary Larson did so much to make them interesting. They have big beautiful eyes which follow you as you go past. I often wonder what they're thinking, and if it involves regrets at not being a carnivore.

A lot of people think they're dangerous.

Headphones, I mean. They are quick to give me and others like me Darwin Award points. I just show them my organ donor card and carry on.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

It wind noise at speed. Engine noise, unless you've added a hooligan exhaust doesn't really figure much, at least for hearing damage.

Even hooligan exhausts disappear at speed. Wind noise is the thing. I could ask my mate about wind noise without a helmet, he occasionally heads up on to the Yorkshire moors, loses the helmet and rides around enjoying the scenery.

 

[anothersam]

I had what educators call a teachable moment yesterday whilst interviewing a gardener (which makes me sound posher than I am, but if the Hunters fit…). "I see you around on your bike," he said after we'd discussed how much Monsanto Roundup should be sprayed to stun but not kill bunnies. After we'd established that yes I am the village cyclist, he launched into a mini diatribe against cyclists who wear "those ear things" and weave all over the road. Needless to say I cleared my throat.

Had a bit of fun watching his eyes slightly bulge at the thought he may have just insulted a potential client, but I'm not cruel enough to enjoy the squirming of even tradesmen, so I let him off the hook by agreeing that yes, it looks like a crazy thing to do, before explaining why it isn't any madder than spraying glyphosate around and hoping the local hoppers regard it as nectar.

Anyway, it turns out his anecdotal ire was based on an apparently misbehaving pedestrian, who in the interests of comity I agreed should also be sprayed with Roundup much like unruly weeds.

 

[Full Metal Sprocket]

[QUOTE 3271166, member: 259"]I've been wearing headphones on the bike since I could afford my first Sony Walkman - ahem - many years ago.

I must have been clinically dead many times over. [/QUOTE]

Since 1985 for me.

 

[Dan B]

Since 1985 for me.

Everyone was dead in the mid-80s though. Look at any picture of the period

 

[TheSoulReaver03]

Everyone was dead in the mid-80s though. Look at any picture of the period

If they were dead, how come my parents are still alive?

 

[Dan B]

If they were dead, how come my parents are still alive?

Because it's not the mid-80s any more, of course