Do you ride with headphones in ?
Discussion
Your Dad said:
Poke one eye out and chop an arm off while you’re at it, you’d still be able to see and have a w
k.
Muppet.
Uneducated and illogical piffle, written by a key board warrior with ham fists unable to process the information which has been laid before them and unable to react intellectually.. k.Muppet.
BrundanBianchi said:
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.
I have adapted my riding over the last 8 years to ride with headphones in. I have all my kidneys intact. I have never played a game on the road, in fact I spend most of my time making everyone else mistakes for them as they are unable to drive.Armchair_Expert said:
Always cycle with both headphones in and max volume. Have done on every ride other than group rides since 2013. Around 45k miles covered i that time.
Nothing wrong with doing so, it encourages a much more enhanced all round awareness as you need to visually update every few seconds owing to lack of audio stimuli.
You cannot tell by the distant sound of an approaching vehicle from the rear it's position, speed or intention, so the hearing sense is pointless in such circumstances. Your forward and peripheral vision are key to safety on a bike, there is nothing audible that will not be visible to you sooner.
If removing audio capability in itself was dangerous, deaf people would not be allowed to operate machinery, drive cars or ride bikes. They can do all of these things, and often well.
The mantra of "its dangerous because you can't hear anything" is just uneducated, ill considered knee jerk nonsense. Think of the bigger picture.
That sounds like a very ill thought out argument and hugely out of balance. Might as well play Russian roulette. I wonder how many times you've been "saved" by a considerate motorist who has spotted you have half hobbled yourself.Nothing wrong with doing so, it encourages a much more enhanced all round awareness as you need to visually update every few seconds owing to lack of audio stimuli.
You cannot tell by the distant sound of an approaching vehicle from the rear it's position, speed or intention, so the hearing sense is pointless in such circumstances. Your forward and peripheral vision are key to safety on a bike, there is nothing audible that will not be visible to you sooner.
If removing audio capability in itself was dangerous, deaf people would not be allowed to operate machinery, drive cars or ride bikes. They can do all of these things, and often well.
The mantra of "its dangerous because you can't hear anything" is just uneducated, ill considered knee jerk nonsense. Think of the bigger picture.
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.
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.
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...
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...
Armchair_Expert said:
Your Dad said:
Poke one eye out and chop an arm off while you’re at it, you’d still be able to see and have a wk.
Muppet.
Uneducated and illogical piffle, written by a key board warrior with ham fists unable to process the information which has been laid before them and unable to react intellectually.. k.Muppet.
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?
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.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?
He'll next tell us he rides with a blindfold on......
Armchair_Expert said:
Always cycle with both headphones in and max volume. Have done on every ride other than group rides since 2013. Around 45k miles covered i that time.
Nothing wrong with doing so, it encourages a much more enhanced all round awareness as you need to visually update every few seconds owing to lack of audio stimuli.
You cannot tell by the distant sound of an approaching vehicle from the rear it's position, speed or intention, so the hearing sense is pointless in such circumstances. Your forward and peripheral vision are key to safety on a bike, there is nothing audible that will not be visible to you sooner.
If removing audio capability in itself was dangerous, deaf people would not be allowed to operate machinery, drive cars or ride bikes. They can do all of these things, and often well.
The mantra of "its dangerous because you can't hear anything" is just uneducated, ill considered knee jerk nonsense. Think of the bigger picture.
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..." Nothing wrong with doing so, it encourages a much more enhanced all round awareness as you need to visually update every few seconds owing to lack of audio stimuli.
You cannot tell by the distant sound of an approaching vehicle from the rear it's position, speed or intention, so the hearing sense is pointless in such circumstances. Your forward and peripheral vision are key to safety on a bike, there is nothing audible that will not be visible to you sooner.
If removing audio capability in itself was dangerous, deaf people would not be allowed to operate machinery, drive cars or ride bikes. They can do all of these things, and often well.
The mantra of "its dangerous because you can't hear anything" is just uneducated, ill considered knee jerk nonsense. Think of the bigger picture.
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?
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
I don't, but: -
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/sho...
However: -
https://road.cc/content/news/236335-dutch-study-us...
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
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.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. 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.
Edited by benny.c on Monday 26th October 17:33
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. 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?
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.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.
Find some good ear plugs, pop them in and go for a ride, you might experience something new.
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