Cyclists with earphones in.....

[E38Ross]

I see a few cyclists about wearing earphones, i'm always slightly dubious about this because surely it's a little dangerous? I suppose you could get away with wearing one earphone and tucking the other away somewhere....?

So.....do yo ever ride with earphones in? Sometimes I've thought about it as on longer rides by myself I do get a bit bored and think some music may help a bit....but at the end of the day i'd rather be bored and alive

thanks

[trashbat]

All the time, but in a considered way. You need non-isolating phones, appropriate volume, and very good situational awareness (especially rearwards). I find it motivates me and keeps me off autopilot, plus remember that you can't hear much at speed anyway.

[Dr Murdoch]

E38Ross said:

I see a few cyclists about wearing earphones, i'm always slightly dubious about this because surely it's a little dangerous? I suppose you could get away with wearing one earphone and tucking the other away somewhere....?

So.....do yo ever ride with earphones in? Sometimes I've thought about it as on longer rides by myself I do get a bit bored and think some music may help a bit....but at the end of the day i'd rather be bored and alive

thanks

I've wondered this before, but deaf people are allowed to ride bikes so whats the difference? Maybe someone could argue that you're more distracted, but I don't really buy that tbh. Car drivers can't hear whats going on around them, but they're just not as vulnerable.

[E38Ross]

trashbat said:

All the time, but in a considered way. You need non-isolating phones, appropriate volume, and very good situational awareness (especially rearwards). I find it motivates me and keeps me off autopilot, plus remember that you can't hear much at speed anyway.

good points. I've got 2 pairs of earphones, one of which are Shure SE530 PTH's.....i shan't be using those on the bike

think the others are in-ear but relatively cheap ones. May give it a go on my next long ride alone. did 30 this morning in what seemed like hurricane-force winds

thanks chaps.

[trashbat]

You should also be able to turn it off easily, otherwise complex situations get surprisingly stressful. I do this in the car too with steering wheel controls.

I'm not necessarily recommending you do it either; I just don't think it's inherently unsafe. In 25,000 miles I got into two accidents, and both of those were me hitting something in front.

[Fartomatic5000]

I've thought it would be nice to listen to radio for long rides, but I've never considered wearing headphones.
Can't find any handlebar mounted speakers small enough, doesn't need to be great quality, just enough for radio discussions, news etc.

[otolith]

The wife rides with earphones in, but she's not listening to music, she has an app which speaks speed and distance to her.

I sometimes listen to music on earphones in the Elise. Even with earphones in and the roof on, I can still hear more ambient noise than I can in the Saab. Someone in a double glazed Merc with their stereo turned up is going to hear a lot less than someone cycling while listening to their MP3 player.

[AndrewEH1]

I ride with one earphone in. I can hear better than most pedestrians who walk about not looking or listening where they are going, plus I can hear a traffic coming.

I never ride with two in though.

[Smartboy]

Never mind earphones, get one of these: http://bianchista.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/raleigh-v...

One of my mates (when I was about 9) actually had one of these new. Thought the radio was the height of awesomeness!

[TwistingMyMelon]

I do sometimes on the commute, I usually only have one in my left ear, so right is free, on the really quite roads where there is one car every 5 minutes I might put both in

As others said I wouldn't use noise isolating ones

I only really use them the slicked out MTB on the commute as the Roadie is more skittish so requires more concentration

For all those saying that its unsafe, my sister came up behind me on a main road and sounded her horn behind to say hello, if it wasnt for the headphones taking the "edge" of the horn I would have fallen off with suprise!

I've seen some in city centres with both plugs in, I think thats a bit stupid...

[trashbat]

I use these (£6!), which are increasingly hard to come by.



The insert fits into the ear, but doesn't form a seal, so you get a decent sound without that weird isolated feel of in-canal ones, nor the transmission of all the sounds through your bones! In terms of ambient noise it's not much different from not wearing them.

[mrmr96]

I put the left one in, and nothing in my right ear. This is because overtaking traffic will be passing me on the right.

[otolith]

swerni said:

otolith said:

The wife rides with earphones in, but she's not listening to music, she has an app which speaks speed and distance to her.

why an earth would she want that?

So she knows how far she's gone and how fast she is going?

[otolith]

swerni said:

I've a little gadget on my handlebars that tells me all of that.
Isn't that over engineering a solution to a problem?

She doesn't have a little gadget on her handlebars, she has a free app on a phone that she would have been carrying anyway. Isn't a dedicated gadget over-engineering it?

(Actually, the app communicates with a HRM chest strap, cadence and speed sensor as well as using GPS, so there is a little gadgetry there, but it was cheaper than buying a similarly capable bike computer)

[Miguel Alvarez]

Another one who has the left ear in but the right ear free and music low enough to hear traffic but loud enough to take the edge off boredom on long rides.

[BliarOut]

Try budfits with standard apple earphones. They stop them falling out and hold the earphone slightly outside the ear so you can hear background noise as well as music.

Unless you're driving a car, in which case, "inconsiderate wkers riding with earphones in".

[Pothole]

I love listening to music while cycling. I wear earplugs on my motorcycle, too. Neither set up prevents me from being aware of traffic, etc.

Most people generally manage to refrain from doing things which actually put them in danger. The fact that we don't have any 1000 bed A&E departments scattered about the country would tend to prove that, or do we really believe that God looks after fools and babies?

Why do others insist on jumping to the opposite conclusion?

Edited by Pothole on Thursday 18th April 16:29

[otolith]

swerni said:

Fair enough

Got to say, that would irritate. the hell out of me.

I should probably have bought her a mount for her phone so she could see the display, though that does kind of say "mug me". I nearly bought her a mount with the ANT+ dongle built into it, but realised that it wouldn't work with any kind of iPhone 5 adaptor so would be obsolete as soon as she upgrades her phone.

I find it quite irritating to be shushed when she's listening for a progress update from it, though!

[London424]

Same as others. When on my own I ride with the left ear only. If out with a friend I'll turn the volume off until I get to a hill when I'll turn it up for some motivation.

[Dixie]

otolith said:

I sometimes listen to music on earphones in the Elise.

i tried this once on a long trip up the M1 with the roof off. I could not maintain a constant speed at all.

It partly why i'd never ride with earphones in.