Cycling and headphones

[N-plus-one]

I rather enjoy the BikeRadar website. I find their reviews and articles to be pertinent, interesting and well-researched. But....

I've just seen their review of "The Best Headphones..." (https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/best-headphones-for-cycling).

I'm a bit disappointed. I consider headphones while riding to be a rather bad idea. Let me elaborate:

1. Loss of situational awareness. Riding, especially on highways, comes with a degree of risk. Last time I checked, the score between cars vs cycles was eleventybillion to nil. These are not good stats so I'm a bit surprised that there are people who are prepared to take this risk. Sure, I understand that some couriers "need" to be connected, but that doesnt cut it for me.

2. Enjoy the silence. Aside from Depeche mode, this is key for me. Cycling allows me to disconnect from the hurlyburly of professional life and to re-balance. A solitary ride is a pleasure. A group ride is a social event. A grind up a col is a good workout. All these allow me a degree of personal recalibration. They dont need piped music to augment them.

Am I simply becoming a grumpy old man (I'm owed it, it's due to me, I've worked long enough for it) or does the purist ethos of cycling rather preclude distractions?

Over to you...

 

[grantoury]

Interesting. @Imlach did a thread on the very same subject. I agree with you on both points.

 

[Imlach]

I rather enjoy the BikeRadar website. I find their reviews and articles to be pertinent, interesting and well-researched. But....

I've just seen their review of "The Best Headphones..." (https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/best-headphones-for-cycling).

I'm a bit disappointed. I consider headphones while riding to be a rather bad idea. Let me elaborate:

1. Loss of situational awareness. Riding, especially on highways, comes with a degree of risk. Last time I checked, the score between cars vs cycles was eleventybillion to nil. These are not good stats so I'm a bit surprised that there are people who are prepared to take this risk. Sure, I understand that some couriers "need" to be connected, but that doesnt cut it for me.

2. Enjoy the silence. Aside from Depeche mode, this is key for me. Cycling allows me to disconnect from the hurlyburly of professional life and to re-balance. A solitary ride is a pleasure. A group ride is a social event. A grind up a col is a good workout. All these allow me a degree of personal recalibration. They dont need piped music to augment them.

Am I simply becoming a grumpy old man (I'm owed it, it's due to me, I've worked long enough for it) or does the purist ethos of cycling rather preclude distractions?

Over to you...

I wouldn't cycle without my earphones, I also don't walk anywhere without them. I'm very addicted to having a soundtrack to drown out the world. I do take some precautions though, when going through trafficked areas and build up areas where pedestrians and other cyclists have to be considered I always have one earbud out, my left one, as we drive on the right here. Then I can hear cars and people going past. As soon as I'm on the long barren country roads and in the woods they're usually both plugged in. I typically take them out when I rest somewhere in the woods, and walk about a bit. But I find that tunes, when cycling, allows me to escape into my own little world and just focus on cycling, and especially at night I enjoy the atmosphere I can create with certain playlists. A bit how some people have tunes that fits just perfectly to cruising down an empty road at night in a car.

But yes some people block out every bit of noise and that certainly is dangerous. That goes for pedestrians as well,I can't tell you the amount of times I have to get off my bikes because someone can't hear me yelling.

I don't do social rides so I wouldn't know about that. I don't have music in when I ride with my partner but other than that I'd rather not be without it.

I think it is possible to enjoy music and be safe cycling, is the tldr. But you're not wrong in your assumptions. In my thread which Grantoury refers to someone mentions using earphones that don't drown out traffic. I think they're quite neat too. Your point about couriers is also valid, but I don't think it's entirely attributed to music. They just ride recklessly because they're timed.

 

[Imlach]

Also I don't always listen to music! Sometimes it's the news or podcasts on BBC Sounds app

 

[d8mok]

I ride with music.

You can still hear cars or anything else that might cause you harm. If anything I find it helps with awareness.

 

[Gtpulse]

You might get whacked by a car you didn’t hear while wearing earphones. I’d guess that’s more down to the driving of the car than the riding of the cyclist - does it sound different just before you get knocked off?Equally you might live longer from being out on a bike regularly as you enjoy listening to music while cycling. I personally don’t wear earphones, the roads I ride are rural/forest and I enjoy all the noises, I listen to enough music in the car and at home.

 

[N-plus-one]

You might get whacked by a car you didn’t hear while wearing earphones. I’d guess that’s more down to the driving of the car than the riding of the cyclist - does it sound different just before you get knocked off?Equally you might live longer from being out on a bike regularly as you enjoy listening to music while cycling. I personally don’t wear earphones, the roads I ride are rural/forest and I enjoy all the noises, I listen to enough music in the car and at home.

or you might cycle across the path of an overtaking car, having not been aware of its approach. Not of the car driver's doing...

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

I have been thinking that being whacked by the car you didn’t hear is more likely with electric vehicles than in the past. I think this is the same as helmets. You do you and everyone else does themselves.

 

[Ren Rawbor]

I have been thinking that being whacked by the car you didn’t hear is more likely with electric vehicles than in the past. I think this is the same as helmets. You do you and everyone else does themselves.

Agreed it's the silent electric cars that are a real threat headphones or not. Personally I don't wear headphones as I'm half deaf anyway & enjoy hearing what I can of the sounds of the trail/road etc (don't generally wear a helmet either, although having just realised our new house is 25mins from Farmer John's gaff that's likely to change soon)

 

[Imlach]

Agreed it's the silent electric cars that are a real threat headphones or not. Personally I don't wear headphones as I'm half deaf anyway & enjoy hearing what I can of the sounds of the trail/road etc (don't generally wear a helmet either, although having just realised our new house is 25mins from Farmer John's gaff that's likely to change soon)

That I definitely agree with. I'm actually shocked at how quiet some of them are, some of them you literally can't detect any sound until they're virtually less than a meter from you. I know organisations associated with visually impaired populations are very unhappy with that and actively fighting for them to be re-designed.