rumrunn6

Um, yeah. Some songs just do not work. It's definitely cheating good music.

I noticed some earbuds actually amplify ambient sounds. I used to walk at lunch and there were a few times where some rustling leaves and bird sounds startled me.

mijome07

Thank you everyone for you input. I didn't realize how many of you play tunes while riding/commuting. This is what I was thinking about getting. One of my nephews got a new MP3 player, so I can use his other one to try out the speakers.

illwafer

are you serious?

flyinblind

Ipod Shuffle not so loud that I can't hear ambient noise. I have trouble keeping earbuds in but have found that the headphones that have the band passing behind the head instead of over the top work quite well with a helmet.

LesMcLuffAlot

Highly illegal where I live. Even one ear bud.

M_S

Sometimes I listen to music. Usually not. I have an ipod.

I don't think it's dangerous.

dogbreathpnw

Organ donors.

No, seriously, if you want music when you ride, you need to make an effort to ensure that you can hear ambient noise. There are setups out there (look at some of the other threads) that allow ear buds to be positioned outside of the ear canal. Alternately you can pick up some cheap little speakers and mount them on the handlebars/handlebar bag.

Covering up your ears when operating a vehicle is illegal in the entire state of Washington and selected metropolitan areas in Oregon. YMMV where you are.

navionflyer

I have been thinking about a Cyclesound unit. It's a little pricey, but has gotten good reviews from what I have seen.

Tim

iamamtnabiker

while not on a rd. only use 1 ear.

pipes

I use Bose Ear buds they fit so well I don"t remember them ever falling out .

mijome07

Yes sir.

mrbrown

I listen to NPR podcasts with open-style ear buds (not the kind that plug into your ears and kill the ambient sound).

bhikkhu

100% agreed. I don't listen to anything but the road, myself, and the most dangerous drivers, cyclists, joggers, etc, are those who are out on the road but paying little attention to their surroundings. How many accidents are immediately followed by "I didn't see him" "I didn't hear anything" "I don't know how it happened"...

Not that everyone listening to tunes is being irresponsible, but if you have the option of paying more attention to the road and doing without the earbuds, I think it would be a good thing.

Jarery

Well it took 62 posts. I think thats a new record before the ignorant chimed in.

Jim from Boston

I am confused by this post. There are 63 posts on this thread, including the Original Post and yours is the last. Post #62 is:

Though I myself listen to talk shows and occasionally music while cycling, I thought post #62 was a reasonable comment from a thoughtful subscriber. However, as you mentioned, "Well it took 62 posts. I think that's a new record before the ignorant chimed in." Are you implying that after the Original Post, the 62nd reply was the first ignorant one to chime in? Reply post #62 plus OP post #1 is post #63--that's yours! Is this a circular reference? ;-)

Jarery

Its pretty simply. I said 62 posts, not replies. I can draw it out with arrows and stuff if your still confused

Jim from Boston

So I conclude from your post #63 that you consider the author of post #62 to be ignorant; that was my original inference, and that's what I find puzzling. The subject of listening while riding has been examined in several threads at least since I started subscribing, and while such threads have often been scathed as "trolling," I've not seen any one individual on either side of the debate who has written a thoughtful reasoned response as in post #62 personally insulted. It seems to me that posts #'s 13, 16, 20, 32, 44, 47, and 56 also expressed similar sentiments.

breakaway9

I have a one hour news program that I listen to on the way home, I listen to it for my 45 minute commute home, then resume and listen to the remaining 15 minutes on my way back to work the next day on my 20 minute ride in... it usually works out perfectly because the only real traffic I hit is in the last 5-6 minutes of my morning commute... in the winter I wear a balaclava which keeps the ear buds in place, but in the summer I find they fall out at least once on my commute... I found in the summer moving the ipod to a stem mounted topeak bag helps a lot in the winter I snake the wire under the straps of my messenger bag and into the inside pocket of my jacket... Works out really well...

bhikkhu

if you mean me...

I'll confess to being opinionated and out of the mainstream of the thread, but not to ignorance. I grew up riding, I started racing partly as an excuse to keep riding all day in my late teens. I did get my ass kicked in about every race and finally dropped my USCF registration in '85, but I've never left the sport. It's been a long time since I drove a car to work, so I commute on the roads and bike trails every single day, even in the snow and ice. I hope to do some centuries this year on a new road bike I just finished building.

My opinion about earbuds while riding is informed by many years and many thousands of miles of what has worked for me. I have probably avoided hundreds of accidents because I stay very aware of my environment, and I do take it seriously. I don't expect anyone to agree with me, but I just figure at least its fair - I don't appreciate drivers (or even joggers) who toddle around oblivious, on the phone or generally paying no attention, so I don't do it myself.

MNBikeguy

Thanks for the link.
I hadn't thought of audiobooks. Definitely will check out others.

Jarery

Just because something is well written does not make it any more correct if its wrong to begin with. Also, ignorant is not an insult, its simply implying the person lacks knowledge.

lastly, next time you think you came up with a witty reply, skip sending me private messages telling me you responded, I'm capable to reading threads all by myself.

mijome07

The reason why I started this thread is because one of my cousins who rides bikes started last year commmuting to work via bike. Once he started his 20 mile roundtrip to UPS (he'd been driving there for the last 8 years), I gave him a headlight/tail light (Planet Bike Super Spot 1W/Superflash), advice on commuting and a good deal on stuff (i.e. Kryptonite New York 3000 U-Lock, Jandd Rear Pac 2 and a Jandd Extreme Front Rack for a $100!). Talk about a cousin hook-up.

As time went on, we started to meet up at this local mountain. I noticed he would always wear his headphones, and I always asked him about his safety. He said that he never had the music "that loud", so everything was fine. I told him that I couldn't ride/commute with headphones on.

I told him about the "iRide" device and he said it wasn't the same thing. Mind you, we've rode a bike trial to the beach many times, and I thought it would be cool to listen to music without being limited (so to speak) by the earphones.
He still wears his headphones with one of many over-rated/priced iPods he owns (he agrees too). So I opt for the iRide.

Jarery

I cited the ignorance since most who are anti music make their claims based on the false assumption that adding music eliminates all other sounds. Or that adding music eliminates the ability to remain aware. They make these statements without ever doing it themselves and finding out its false.

There are also some who find riding hard and the addition of music truly would reduce their safety. For those folks, please keep away from earbuds, and preferably keep to mups and off the roads

I also call BS on the avoiding hundreds of accidents due to lack of music. I ride 15,000 km a year, most with music, and I dont have hundreds of close calls. Maybe you need to look at your riding ability if you have that many close calls? And you would have missed all of them if you listened to music?

I listen to music, can hear cars coming up behind me, can talk to other riders i pass, and still have my eyes to see and take in everything a non music listener can. How does adding music suddenly make a rider oblivious to whats around them?

If adding music makes you oblivious of your surroundings to the point of being unsafe, by all means leave them at home. But some of us are not plagued with your disability.

bhikkhu

Well, to some extent discussion boards wouldn't be worth much if everyone agreed on everything. Perhaps if there had been good portable systems around when I started riding in the '70s I'd have formed different habits and then think about things differently. I could easily see how a system with speakers wouldn't block the ear canal and probably would be no harm, but I have never tried one myself, having developed different habits.

I think my original intention was just to say that if you can do without music while you ride, that may be a better option. I don't think you actually disagree with that, though perhaps my tone was unintentionally judgmental or pious. Anyway...moving along now.

Jarery

To each their own, i prefer enjoyable music mixed into the background over just traffic noise If i was out in the country perhaps id prefer no music like yourself

Just as a side note, the times I've found myself zoned out the most and riding on autopilot, were times when I was deep in thought trying to figure out a problem at work/home while on the bike. My hour commute is always my best 'alone' time for thinking out issues without telephones or people interrupting me. With music i rarely zone out to that extent.