Earphones whilst riding - yes or no - ?

[bozmandb9]

Often the wind noise blocks out the sound of what's behind me, which is a bit unnerving.

Brave folk who do it intentionally.

I find wind noise makes it impossible to hear anything when I'm riding, especially when other riders try to communicate with me, except on rare occasions when the wind is blowing in just the right direction. Reading this thread, I'm beginning to think I might try earphones whilst cycling. I don't think I'd lose anything in terms of hearing cars behind me, since I can't hear them anyway.

 

[DCBassman]

I rarely go fast enough for wind noise to be a factor! And never have noticed noise from my lid, even at high speed.
Nothing I've read since my post has made the slightest difference to my view. Some of the posts have indeed strengthened it...

 

[double0jedi]

I use earphone when I ride, mostly the radio, sometimes music and very occasionally a podcast. I do my best to make sure that I am as aware as I can be of my surroundings, which I think is pretty good thing for any cyclist to do regardless of earphones or not.

I did use bone conducting earphones, which are excellent, you can still hear the environment and the music is like a background kind of thing. But when the Bluetooth started to play up, I went for some earphones but cut one off, so I just have the one in my left ear at a low to medium volume. It works well for me. That's the vital bit.. that it works well...FOR ME. I am aware that others seem to think it is not safe and I respect that but I feel that with either bone conduction or one ear free I still can be aware of my surroundings and enjoy some sounds at the same time.
I'm not looking to appreciate the subtle nuances of a concerto or expertly evaluate the tone of a symphony just a bit of a tune in the background, that sometimes can help with setting a rhythm. I see a lot of people, cyclists, runners, pedestrians and drivers who aren't that aware of what is going on around them, and most of them aren't using earphones. I think having your hearing impaired in some way doesn't automatically make you a more careless rider and having perfect auditory senses doesn't automatically mean you are completely in tune with your surroundings, personally I think it has more to do with the individual and what they can or can't cope with.

To be fair, go at any kind of speed and the wind noise tends to be louder than the radio anyway!

 

[Dan B]

I sometimes wear earphones when riding and have never noticed any difference in what i can hear as a result. On a cold day, though, it can be the devil's own job getting them out of my nostrils at the end of the ride

 

[Tin Pot]

I use earphone when I ride, mostly the radio, sometimes music and very occasionally a podcast. I do my best to make sure that I am as aware as I can be of my surroundings, which I think is pretty good thing for any cyclist to do regardless of earphones or not.

I did use bone conducting earphones, which are excellent, you can still hear the environment and the music is like a background kind of thing. But when the Bluetooth started to play up, I went for some earphones but cut one off, so I just have the one in my left ear at a low to medium volume. It works well for me. That's the vital bit.. that it works well...FOR ME. I am aware that others seem to think it is not safe and I respect that but I feel that with either bone conduction or one ear free I still can be aware of my surroundings and enjoy some sounds at the same time.
I'm not looking to appreciate the subtle nuances of a concerto or expertly evaluate the tone of a symphony just a bit of a tune in the background, that sometimes can help with setting a rhythm. I see a lot of people, cyclists, runners, pedestrians and drivers who aren't that aware of what is going on around them, and most of them aren't using earphones. I think having your hearing impaired in some way doesn't automatically make you a more careless rider and having perfect auditory senses doesn't automatically mean you are completely in tune with your surroundings, personally I think it has more to do with the individual and what they can or can't cope with.

To be fair, go at any kind of speed and the wind noise tends to be louder than the radio anyway!

+1

I used to. Two hours on A roads can be boring.

Usually podcasts, talking.

You can still hear everything. Cars and wind are the deafening factors:

Pop one earbud out if you feel the need to hear better.

 

[Gary E]

Has anyone tried those Cat Ear (?) things to reduce wind noise? It'd be great to be able to communicate without constantly having to look sideways to hear any reply