Originally Posted by
reducedfatoreo
I haven't personally taken a dB-meter out on rides, but I would not be surprised at all if wind noise on descents or headwinds reached 90-95 dB or even higher, well above the "safe" limit of exposure.
First, since the noise is generated by the turbulence in and over the ears, I am pretty sure that what a dB meter read would be meaningless. For that matter what you hear and what I hear in the same ride would be likely to be different given different helmets and different heads. That said I don't think the wind noise I have heard is anywhere near your 90-95dB figure.
I never would have guessed that wind noise while riding at normal touring speeds was over 70dB. I think the rule of thumb for motorcyclists is that protection is needed if you will at or exceeding 60 mph for 60 minutes. Most of us won't be anywhere near hitting 60 mph for an hour on our next tour, even counting head winds.
Then again given anatomical, riding position, and helmet differences maybe what others hear is substantially louder than what I hear.