nickbubblehead

Anybody have any cheap simple solutions to reducing windnoise and still safely listen for traffic? I am thinking of using cotton or a set of foam earplugs. Would to hear your ideas.

10 Wheels

Get a mirror.

khatfull

Wind noise, one of the relaxing parts of riding. Those of us with kids (three for me) don't hear a lot of white noise, I cherish mine

cyclefreaksix

Turn up the volume on the mp3 player??

schnabler1

Roll up the windows.

Terex

You're kidding, right? If not, tighten your chin strap. Your helmet will function to protect you as designed and you will eliminate most wind noise.

BarracksSi

Earplugs help, that's for sure.

There's also Slipstreamz. I met a rider on the street who said they worked great. I haven't bought any myself, but I've also heard that they aren't made anymore.

crhilton

It's a bit irritating when it's 30mph winds... If that's the issue I can understand where the OP is coming from.

I just deal. I don't like anything interfering with my hearing so I don't plug anything into my ears. You might try cheap ear plugs found in the firearms section of your local x-mart. They don't work very well, but they're cheap and you can still hear a lot of different ranges of sound with them in.

wirelessness

The wind noise does not bother me. But I do worry about hearing loss. I ride motorcycles and I know it's not the same situation but even with a full-face helmet I always wore foam earplugs. I don't spend a lot of time on my bike going 30mph+ but I do wonder if it is causing some long term hearing loss. I absolutely does on motorcycles. If it bothered me as much as you I would not hesitate to wear foam earplugs. If you want a little more sound for safety just cut them in half and use a half piece per ear.

youcoming

Klennex

velocanuck

wind noise on a bicycle possibly causing hearing loss? say what?...

I can't see any kind of ear plug being safe in traffic...

I think most of us just accept it.

rydaddy

Today's ride was a bit windy and annoying so I pulled my sweatband over my earbuds

SpinDr

This time of year, I wear my thermal running headband (Nike Pro) under my helmet. Keeps my ears warm and reduces wind noise, but I can still hear traffic okay.

Ben

OBXCycling.com

I ride with a 10-20 wind daily and without my mirror (or looking back constantly) cars sneak up on me all the time.

carpediemracing 

There's a product that sponsored the Kenda/Masi/whatever team that resembled a little shield you mount on your helmet strap. It's designed to shield the ear from the wind. They don't sponsor them this year and I have no idea what it was called.

The best way to hear better is to turn your head 45-90 degrees. Your head acts as a wind shield, allowing the sheltered ear to hear better.

cdr

noise boy

The short answer to your first question, is yes it can cause permanent hearing loss. I am a sound engineer and am intimately aware of how little it takes to permanently damage your hearing. Unfortunately I can't think of anything that would cut the noise without also cutting out the high frequency noise that an approaching car makes.

clausen

Wind noise is mostly from helmet vents or the straps. Some helmets are worse than others. Tighten your straps, cover your vents or buy a new helmet.

exRunner

I am a semi proffesional musician. (OK part time after hours wanabe, but...) I use a $300 custom fitted ear plug in one ear and a $700 custom fitted IEM in the other. On stage at full volume I can talk to the drummer (as long as I use simple words-you know how drummers are) in a normal voice level and he can still hear me, if I kill the IEM feed for a moment.

Probably a little expensive for the OP, and I am not sure if they surpress some frequencies more than others (they claim to supress on a flat curve), but they are very cool.

velocanuck

really?..wow, learn something everyday. Never would have occurred to me that my hearing could be damaged with the wind noise.

This must be for someone who has a susceptible condition though?...sure the wind noise is a 'pain' and cars sneak up, but it's not that loud that it has ever hurt my inner ears, like loud music can or my wife finding out I bought another power tool or bike part I didn't really need.

giantdefy

Wow, I dont notice the wind noise, does that mean im deaf? Or maybe Im not going fast enough. hmmm...
Try a different helmet or use a sweat band like someone else suggested.

noise boy

Not necessarily, it's all about decibels and exposure time. The trick is, I believe alot of the wind noise is also caused by the shape of the person's ear, so there is no real good way to measure the exposure/levels. I don't worry about it too much, I am much more concerned at work (routinely 105-115 db for several hours).

Creakyknees

I'm convinced that years of riding has contributed to my hearing loss.

I tried the slipstreamz things, wasn't able to notice much difference. Haven't tried foam plugs yet... but I might.

Psimet2001 

Huh?

mmmdonuts

Wind noise drowns out the ringing in my ears so it's kind of a win for me.

To the OP, it's getting colder. A skull cap that covers your ears will take care of the wind noise.

bwunger

The question though, is how loud is it at certain speeds. I've done a little looking and it's hard to find data. Closest I've found is for motorcycles, while wearing a full face helmet at 30mph. Most of those peaked at around 95db, which, according to OSHA, is safe for approx 4 hours of exposure per day. Unfortunately there are too many factors involved to really draw much for conclusions about a bicycle.