Do you ride with headphones in ?

[gazza285]

I love music, but not that much. I do not own any headphones or earbuds.

[GravelBen]

Not for me, I'd much rather keep all my senses open for situational awareness.

I mostly ride off road, and plenty of the MTB trails I ride are two-way with visibility restricted by trees etc. Its very useful being able to hear someone coming the other way before you can see them, especially at speed.

I've had the odd close call with earphone-wearers oblivious to other people approaching - fortunately no worse than just a fright for them, but if I'd been wearing earphones too and not heard them first it could have been a different story. Funny to glance back and see them stopped beside the trail removing their earphones straight afterwards though.

[Zigster]

I don’t tend to ride with earphones in because I enjoy the sounds of the world outside. But I have used earphones in the past and they don’t block out as much sound as you might assume - you can still hear what’s going on around you.

This article is a few years old now but I thought it was interesting as it shows this is another way in which we tend to criticise cyclists for something that is a default for motorists.
https://www.bikebiz.com/cyclists-with-ipods-hear-t...

[Your Dad]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Again you show how stupid, inept and wrong you are in what you post on here.

I suggested impairing your mobility and senses without it affecting things you do, but you wouldn’t chop your arm off or impair your vision so why would you make yourself intentionally deaf to the world?

Why don’t you wear headphones on a group ride, if it’s safe to wear them when riding solo?

[Gweeds]

Nope. Ears help stay alive.

[mike9009]

Your Dad said:

Again you show how stupid, inept and wrong you are in what you post on here.

I suggested impairing your mobility and senses without it affecting things you do, but you wouldn’t chop your arm off or impair your vision so why would you make yourself intentionally deaf to the world?

Why don’t you wear headphones on a group ride, if it’s safe to wear them when riding solo?

Don't bite, you've been trolled.

He'll next tell us he rides with a blindfold on......

[dirtbiker]

Aftershox Aeropex here too - both for road and MTB when I'm on my own. I find that over about 50kph you can't hear much but generally they're good and you can hear cars and other road users fine. Battery life is decent too!

[Daveyraveygravey]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This is a wind up, right? What a load of self-righteous guff you spout to try to justify your attitude. "It encourages a more enhanced all round awareness..."

I love music and I love cycling, but for me they are two separate activities. Some people say they have the bone conducting ear buds because they can still hear the outside world. This is also guff, if you are listening to music, are you concentrating on the world around you? Do you need any more distractions?

[Hard-Drive]

Absolutely no way. Ever.

On road, I want to know where traffic is, and be alert for other things that might happen. Dogs, debris falling out of trees etc. On a group ride, not a chance, and to be honest they'd be quite within their rights to say "no" anyway.

Off-road, again, no. I want to hear what my tyres are doing, are they hooking up nicely or am I on the limits of grip or braking? I want to know if other riders are approaching (bikes or horses!), and, to be honest, I want to appreciate the sounds of the countryside.

And, are people that mechanically unsympathetic that they don't want to hear their bike talk to them? I get a bit of satisfaction from every clean snick of a gear change. If I was going uphill and the gears grumbled a bit, I know to ease off a bit on the next one. I want to know about chain slap on a descent so I can drop the clutch in if required. I want to hear my front mech so I can trim it if needed. I want to hear whether the rear mech is happy or if it's getting full of crud or if there is a stick in it. I want to know if there's a tick tick tick because there's something puncture-causing wedged in a tyre, or whether the brakes are starting to sound a bit abused.

To be honest, I'd thought about a very small light radio with a speaker somewhere on the bars for touring/bikepacking, but absolutely no way would I wear headphones.

[boyse7en]

Hard-Drive said:

Absolutely no way. Ever.

On road, I want to know where traffic is, and be alert for other things that might happen. Dogs, debris falling out of trees etc. On a group ride, not a chance, and to be honest they'd be quite within their rights to say "no" anyway.

Off-road, again, no. I want to hear what my tyres are doing, are they hooking up nicely or am I on the limits of grip or braking? I want to know if other riders are approaching (bikes or horses!), and, to be honest, I want to appreciate the sounds of the countryside.

And, are people that mechanically unsympathetic that they don't want to hear their bike talk to them? I get a bit of satisfaction from every clean snick of a gear change. If I was going uphill and the gears grumbled a bit, I know to ease off a bit on the next one. I want to know about chain slap on a descent so I can drop the clutch in if required. I want to hear my front mech so I can trim it if needed. I want to hear whether the rear mech is happy or if it's getting full of crud or if there is a stick in it. I want to know if there's a tick tick tick because there's something puncture-causing wedged in a tyre, or whether the brakes are starting to sound a bit abused.

To be honest, I'd thought about a very small light radio with a speaker somewhere on the bars for touring/bikepacking, but absolutely no way would I wear headphones.

Much he same here (and hear)

On a ride my ears tell me when there is a car following me, when my brakes have got a chunk of crud in that is rubbing the rim, when there is a horse around the corner, etc.
On yesterday's ride i could here the approach of a farmer on a quad a good 10 seconds before i saw him, which meant i had time to make sure we didn't have a head-on on the lane.

[PushedDover]

Who'd have thought - polarised views on PH.....


Not sure how riding over the moors with a Podcast on via some Aftershokz is dicing with death, or missing the utmost of Zen of cycling... It helps break up the boredom / provides company for me

[snobetter]

I don't, but: -

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/sho...

However: -

https://road.cc/content/news/236335-dutch-study-us...

Edited by snobetter on Monday 26th October 17:02

[anonymous-user]

BrundanBianchi said:

pablo said:

He’s kind of right though, I know a few partially or fully deaf cyclists who ride without hearing aids and I’ve ridden with one or two. They were no safer/more dangerous than anyone else I’ve ridden with.

Being deaf, and being distracted aren’t the same thing. Deaf people adapt, people who aren’t deaf and use headphones riding a bike on the road are organ donors in waiting. Absolute bell ends, they play silly games, they win silly prizes.

They don’t adapt because that implies at some point they had no hearing loss, they just ride their bikes. They aren’t possessed with a sixth sense or some other enhanced sense like bionic eyes, they may compete a few more, pronounced shoulder checks than you or I but that’s it. I’ll bet the majority of motorcyclists use headphones and listen to music/podcasts it’s just you can’t see the earphones under the helmet. No doubt You drive with radio on but let me guess, you’re not distracted because you’re a better than average driver....

[benny.c]

Daveyraveygravey said:

Some people say they have the bone conducting ear buds because they can still hear the outside world. This is also guff, if you are listening to music, are you concentrating on the world around you? Do you need any more distractions?

I have music on in the car and when I’m working without any issue whatsoever.. Music needn’t be a distraction.

Hard-Drive said:

Off-road, again, no. I want to hear what my tyres are doing, are they hooking up nicely or am I on the limits of grip or braking? I want to know if other riders are approaching (bikes or horses!), and, to be honest, I want to appreciate the sounds of the countryside.

And, are people that mechanically unsympathetic that they don't want to hear their bike talk to them? I get a bit of satisfaction from every clean snick of a gear change. If I was going uphill and the gears grumbled a bit, I know to ease off a bit on the next one. I want to know about chain slap on a descent so I can drop the clutch in if required. I want to hear my front mech so I can trim it if needed. I want to hear whether the rear mech is happy or if it's getting full of crud or if there is a stick in it. I want to know if there's a tick tick tick because there's something puncture-causing wedged in a tyre, or whether the brakes are starting to sound a bit abused.

You can still hear all the above with bone conducting headphones. If you haven’t used them it’s a little difficult to explain but you don’t miss anything - unless you had them cranked up to an uncomfortable volume.

Edited by benny.c on Monday 26th October 17:33

[anonymous-user]

benny.c said:

Daveyraveygravey said:

Some people say they have the bone conducting ear buds because they can still hear the outside world. This is also guff, if you are listening to music, are you concentrating on the world around you? Do you need any more distractions?

I have music on in the car and when I’m working without any issue whatsoever.. Music needn’t be a distraction.

Exactly. You’re on a single carriageway, its daylight and traffic is quiet, you hear a car approaching fast from behind, do you...
A) pull over, stop, and wait for it to pass
B) pull into the kerb a bit more but keep riding
C) just carry on riding and make no change to your road position

I’ll bet for the majority the answer is C and a few Bs. By the time you’ve heard the car approaching from behind, it’s probably on your wheel so doing anything is out of the question so this whole “concentrating on the surroundings” thing is balls. And anyway why should a sensible, competent cyclist need to concentrate on their surroundings, why can’t they just ride their bikes? oh yeah, because it’s absolves the motorist. We’re in this stupid position where the vulnerable on the road are having to take more and more precautions because the liability is taking fewer and fewer.

Again some motorcyclists wear them all the time, granted they have mirrors but when does your average ninjabusablade rider use those?

[benny.c]

I’ll also add - I can hear better wearing my open face helmet with the Trekz than I can in my full face lid with no music.

[anonymous-user]

Hard-Drive said:

Absolutely no way. Ever.

On road, I want to know where traffic is, and be alert for other things that might happen. Dogs, debris falling out of trees etc. On a group ride, not a chance, and to be honest they'd be quite within their rights to say "no" anyway.

Off-road, again, no. I want to hear what my tyres are doing, are they hooking up nicely or am I on the limits of grip or braking? I want to know if other riders are approaching (bikes or horses!), and, to be honest, I want to appreciate the sounds of the countryside.

And, are people that mechanically unsympathetic that they don't want to hear their bike talk to them? I get a bit of satisfaction from every clean snick of a gear change. If I was going uphill and the gears grumbled a bit, I know to ease off a bit on the next one. I want to know about chain slap on a descent so I can drop the clutch in if required. I want to hear my front mech so I can trim it if needed. I want to hear whether the rear mech is happy or if it's getting full of crud or if there is a stick in it. I want to know if there's a tick tick tick because there's something puncture-causing wedged in a tyre, or whether the brakes are starting to sound a bit abused.

To be honest, I'd thought about a very small light radio with a speaker somewhere on the bars for touring/bikepacking, but absolutely no way would I wear headphones.

If you’re listening to all those sounds, are you really concentrating on the trail ahead? What’s that tick-tick noise? Is that mech aligned? Is that chain slap? What berm? Oooooof hello floor.

Find some good ear plugs, pop them in and go for a ride, you might experience something new.

[fastraxx]

I always wear them. If something is going to hit me it wont matter if I am wearing headphones or not. I know plenty do the same as helps to drown out some of the noise of cars passing closely.

[Ares]

J4CKO said:

Not something I would ever do on the road, I rely too much on my hearing but seen loads of other cyclists with headphones in.

Not judging as appreciate its different for all and there are functions like pass through and whatever.

Just wondering how you manage, whether you have had any issues or its fine ?

No. Never. Never ever....and I'll go as far as to have a pop at any cyclist I pass that wears them if they've not heard me coming up behind. Bloody dangerous IMO, put themselves at risk (their call), but puts others as risk too. I've had a few close misses because of it.

[Tempest_5]

I used to right with headphones on back in the days of tape cassettes. I prefer being able to hear what's going on around me now. It's not just motorists on the road but also other mountain bikers on the trail. You can hear someone clattering towards you around a corner even if you can't see them.

Another thing is sometimes you get distracted by the music and aren't so proactive with your safety. Just put the music on the Gopro vid later.