Earphones / Headphones: Where to try, what to buy?

If cars are taking you by surprise then you are not looking behind yourself enough.

One of the mottos of the cycle trainers is "no surprises"

so says mr 'getintoafightwithped/lorry/copper/orphan/atleasttwiceaweek'

so, they didn't surprise you, you were just being a tool?

:^]

ha!

Bdw

most of my road incidents are where people demonstrate utter fuckwittery

eg ramming me from behind at a red light or the van that did not give way to the right and ploughed into me on a roundabout.

did they catch you by surprise?

If you are in accident and wearing headphones, i very much doubt the law will have any sympathy - for that reason i'm out.

As much as i love some decent tunes, there is no way i would ever ride with em - Like the look of that speaker though.

am not sure what the difference in legality is between having a car stereo on with the windows shut and having a pair of earphones in whilst cycling

its not that earphones will block out a great deal of noise, but will just mean there is more noise in your ears

solely using your ears to monitor what is going on behind you is not a good idea (cars creeping up on you etc), additionally sounds reflect off walls, bus shelters and other traffic so their direction is not entirely clear

otherwise deaf and hard of hearing people would not be allowed to cycle

using your eyes is much much more important

am not sure what the difference in legality is between having a car stereo on with the windows shut and having a pair of earphones in whilst cycling

its not that earphones will block out a great deal of noise, but will just mean there is more noise in your ears

solely using your ears to monitor what is going on behind you is not a good idea (cars creeping up on you etc), additionally sounds reflect off walls, bus shelters and other traffic so their direction is not entirely clear

otherwise deaf and hard of hearing people would not be allowed to cycle

using your eyes is much much more important

+1 I never do understand the contrast of people's opinions between cycling with headphones and driving with music. It seems that those with the strongest opinions are usually the ones with no experience to back up their thoughts.

Listening to music from speakers, and listening to music through headphones have completely different impacts on your hearing. You require all your senses to cycle safely, hearing in particular unless you have eyes in the back of your head, so blocking out most of your ability to use one of those senses really isn't the best idea IMO.

However its up to the individual and, I don't mind anyone wearing headphones, but please don't try and pretend its safe. I have been cut up too many times by people in their own little world with their headphones on to buy that.

electric cars and scooters however is a completely different ball game.

However, i believe in using my ears, cos they work as they should and help keep me safe from those dangerous things called vehicles.

Like the look of that speaker though.

a bit youth mans dem tho' isn't it? much different from riding about with mp3's playing out your mobile?

or pikeys riding about with shit ghetto blasters in tescos bags?

there can only be one portable sound system

I'm ok listening with shit headphones but with isolating canal headphones I feel really disconnected and everything is bliss. It switches me off to the outside world because it's so serine. Without headphones on I look around quite a bit.

I mostly have one earphone in..On the left ear obv

electric cars and scooters however is a completely different ball game.

However, i believe in using my ears, cos they work as they should and help keep me safe from those dangerous things called vehicles...

...expect electric cars and scooters.

Listening to music from speakers, and listening to music through headphones have completely different impacts on your hearing. You require all your senses to cycle safely, hearing in particular unless you have eyes in the back of your head, so blocking out most of your ability to use one of those senses really isn't the best idea IMO.

However its up to the individual and, I don't mind anyone wearing headphones, but please don't try and pretend its safe. I have been cut up too many times by people in their own little world with their headphones on to buy that.

• all of the above
  

Listening to music from speakers, and listening to music through headphones have completely different impacts on your hearing. You require all your senses to cycle safely, hearing in particular unless you have eyes in the back of your head, so blocking out most of your ability to use one of those senses really isn't the best idea IMO.

However its up to the individual and, I don't mind anyone wearing headphones, but please don't try and pretend its safe. I have been cut up too many times by people in their own little world with their headphones on to buy that.

I regularly cycle with headphones on, I regularly travel in cars listening to music, they do not have completely different impacts on your hearing. While listening to music while cycling, I can still hear cars that I can't see yet, so I am not blocking out my sense on hearing. Like you say, it's up to the individual, you're lying that you don't mind about people wearing headphones though. I'm not pretending it's safe, I know it's safe. If it wasn't safe, I wouldn't do it. I've been cut up too many times by people in they're own little world on red bikes, but I don't think having a red bike makes you an unsafe cyclist.

On the topic of electric cars, can people honestly not hear them? It comes as a bit of a surprise to me, as for me, most of the noise that comes from cars is the tyre noise. Maybe that's just me.

i dont use my isolating earphones while cycling because i still want to have the background noise

the earphones are on at a volume where i can still hold a conversation with someone, as such i dont think they affect my perception of things around me

it was actually suggested to me as part of my cycle training to make me look around more, i tend to look behind every 4-8 beats, which is much more frequently than most cyclists i see on the roads

On the topic of electric cars, can people honestly not hear them? It comes as a bit of a surprise to me, as for me, most of the noise that comes from cars is the tyre noise. Maybe that's just me.

i think i have my ears on unconsciously listening for engines, when my unconscious mind doesn't hear an engine there is nothing there so to speak, then WOOOOOSH ! an electric car scares me to shit more than anything.

I regularly cycle with headphones on, I regularly travel in cars listening to music, they do not have completely different impacts on your hearing. While listening to music while cycling, I can still hear cars that I can't see yet, so I am not blocking out my sense on hearing. Like you say, it's up to the individual, you're lying that you don't mind about people wearing headphones though. I'm not pretending it's safe, I know it's safe. If it wasn't safe, I wouldn't do it. I've been cut up too many times by people in they're own little world on red bikes, but I don't think having a red bike makes you an unsafe cyclist.

Like i said i don't mind people doing it, i do mind people pretending it is safe. I cant believe you can say its safe with a straight face.

I snowboard with my headphones in, but i know it compromises my safety - thats my choice, but i dont try and justify it as being as safe as riding without them.

i think i have my ears on unconsciously listening for engines, when my unconscious mind doesn't hear an engine there is nothing there so to speak, then WOOOOOSH ! an electric car scares me to shit more than anything.

Though surely if anything, listening for tyre noise would be more natural, as at normal revs, most cars engines are drowned out by the tyre noise, it's only with unusually noisy cars that you can usually hear the engine over the tyres.

Like i said i don't mind people doing it, i do mind people pretending it is safe. I cant believe you can say its safe with a straight face.

I snowboard with my headphones in, but i know it compromises my safety - thats my choice, but i dont try and justify it as being as safe as riding without them.

If you don't mind people doing it, how come you said this:

I have been cut up too many times by people in their own little world with their headphones on to buy that.

Sure, cycling with headphones technically makes you less likely to hear things on the road, though in reality I don't find that. Hence why I have no problem doing it.

does anyone have experiance with koss portapros? they've got good reviews, but i dunno if they'd be any good for cycling

I have Portapro's, and used to ride with them, when my route to college was on roadside cycle paths, between two small hampshire towns... They are ok, if you want to ride with headphones in. They are fairly robust too, despite their looks. Buy them. You can't go wrong for that price...

If you don't mind people doing it, how come you said this:

Sure, cycling with headphones technically makes you less likely to hear things on the road, though in reality I don't find that. Hence why I have no problem doing it.

I said i have been cut up too many time by people listening to headphones to buy that it is safe - meaning that from the evidence i have seen based on cyclists behavior when wearing headphones i have concluded that it impares ones ability to cycle with all your wits about you.

Thats my view, and i understand that yours is different, and i am not trying to change your mind, a cyclist cutting me up bothers me no more than a motorcycle or car doing so, shit happens and arseholes travel by all means - i gave up having a ruck with other road users along time ago as it only results in me getting angry, frustrated and in a bad mood, better to have deep breath, put the smile back on, and get on with life than sit around brooding over something you cant alter

God knows how many times an iPod (music, to be politically correct) listener has walked right out in front of me. I can't help but think the same goes for cyclists...

each to their own in any case.

i think it's unsafe to listen to music while riding, so i don't do it.

Everyone else, do what you want, i know whats good for me, and I'm sure you know whats good for you.

I said i have been cut up too many time by people listening to headphones to buy that it is safe - meaning that from the evidence i have seen based on cyclists behavior when wearing headphones i have concluded that it impares ones ability to cycle with all your wits about you.

Thats my view, and i understand that yours is different, and i am not trying to change your mind, a cyclist cutting me up bothers me no more than a motorcycle or car doing so, shit happens and arseholes travel by all means - i gave up having a ruck with other road users along time ago as it only results in me getting angry, frustrated and in a bad mood, better to have deep breath, put the smile back on, and get on with life than sit around brooding over something you cant alter

I have been cut up so too many times by people in high-viz, so is it right that I assume that wearing high-viz makes you unsafe? How about this theory, some people don't really care about cycling, they don't put effort in to be a good cyclist. On the other hand, you've got good, safe cyclists, who don't ride with headphones because of the stigma attached to it. Those cyclists that don't really care about how good a cyclist they are don't pay attention to that. Therefore there is a higher proportion of dangerous cyclists who wear headphones than safe cyclists who wear headphones.

I respect that you're not trying to change your mind, and i'm not trying to change your mind, i'm just telling you why I think what I think. In my experience, people just assume that cycling with headphones is dangerous so they never do it, and they're never proved wrong so they assume they're right.