You can tell by listening whether a car etc is too close. My commute takes me along a lot of dual carriageway and I've made a point of combining regular 'lifesavers' with listening. I now feel confident that a stern look behind with the helmet Fenix is warranted when I hear the sound of a close pass. Using earphones stops this sense. To my mind it's stupid, but hey, do what you want.
Listening to music whilst riding.
- Thread starter BlackPanther
- Start date
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Glow worm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Near Newmarket
It's a doddle - I've done it for years. Trick is just don't have the music too loud- piece of piss. Never have any problems hearing traffic. Maybe some folks hearing/ balance is affected more than others, or more nervous riders or something as I just can't see the problem. Anyway, haven't we done this topic to death- what about them helmets- I reckon they should be compulsory
Hacienda71
Mancunian in self imposed exile in leafy Cheshire
- Location
- Wilmslow, Cheshire
I have done both. I used to use headphones more when out on the quite country lanes around Cheshire. I don't bother that often now. Tbh I don't think it makes a vast difference to your safety. As others have said if a car comes flying up and hits you from behind it is going to have sweet fa to do with if you are listening to music or not, more likely to be due to a driver not concentrating. In some instances earphones actually seem to reduce wind noise which I find can seem like a vehicle approaching. I would caveat that though by saying if I was cycling on a busy city commute at lower speeds then I would want all my senses without distractions.
DrSquirrel
Guest
Do you use both or just one? I would just use one if I insisted on listening.
Though to add to this, for a while I used to wear a single ear plug - its not meant to cut out all noise but harsh sounds etc. This cut out a lot of the wind rush and as I had it in just one ear I could move my head slightly side to side to compare sound etc
Heck that is expensive, there are much cheaper about.
aberal
Guru
- Location
- Midlothian
Anyway, haven't we done this topic to death- what about them helmets- I reckon they should be compulsory
It's in the nature of these kind of forums that the same questions get asked and the same topics crop up time after time. You may have done this topic to death, but others haven't.
Glow worm
Legendary Member
- Location
- Near Newmarket
Fair enough!!
Hawkeye
Active Member
- Location
- near Richmond, North Yorkshire
It's only an old chestnut if you've been here since God were a lad. Let us newbies play it out.
ComedyPilot
Secret Lemonade Drinker
- Location
- The Kingdom of Yorkshire
Go for it, but it is a simple search to find this oft-discussed topic, and resurrect that thread....?
(Off-topic - Richmond, beautiful place - I was brought up near Bedale)
Mark_Robson
Senior Member
- Location
- West Boldon Tyne & Wear
Have fun
Oh gawd not this again. A pair of open backed headphones does not cut out external noise. If you don't feel comfortable listening to music whilst on the road, then don't. Buying some overpriced speaker so you can listen to music in dreadful tinny mono seems like some odd thinking.
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
- Location
- Armonmy Way
I had the same problem, and as I'm a Mr Bodgit.........
I glued a 4 inch piece of plastic triangular window beading on to my helmet straps, then added a bit of reflective tape. This pushes the air around my ears and eliminates almost all wind rush. It doesn't look pretty, but it does mean I can listen to stuff without having to have it on loud, and I can still hear traffic.....and it keeps my ears warmer so I don't have to resort to the neck tube quite so often.
Ingenious! I'm one of those cyclists who use hearing as an 'early warning system' and even find that wearing a skull cap affects my perception of sound, yet wind noise reduces my ability to sense what's behind me as well as it being very wearing. Your 'ear cups' look like they could be a great solution..
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
surely its a bit distracting
Listening to music? Potentially. So is thinking about what you will be having for dinner when you get home or how pretty the sky looks.
OP
OP
BlackPanther
Hyper-Fast Recumbent Riding Member.
- Location
- Doncaster.
They work really well. I don't mind that I look like a cyber-man as it means I can listen to music/podcasts with the volume on quite low. In fact, the reduced wind rush makes it easier to hear traffic coming. I wonder why no-one's marketed a helmet with this feature.....if it was designed into the helmet, it would look even better (!) than my effort.
I did use to use a headband (well, a cut down neck tube) to cover my ears which also works really well, but they make it a bit sweaty on hot days. Maybe people who say it's silly to have headphones on have never actually never ridden with them. Just like on a motorbike, earplugs, far from 'blocking' hearing, actually get rid of the whooshing noise and make hearing clearer. Try it doubters.
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