Originally Posted by operator
Beh, while not being able to hear cars coming behind you might be an annoyance, "distinguishing between safe traffic" is just fear mongering.
How exactly do you hear a car that is going to run you over and one that isn't? Are you going to jump out of the way of every car that seems like it's going to pass close?
Operator, I trust you realized that I was sarcastically paraphrasing posts I have read in other sections of the forums. Those were in response to how utterly irresponsible and unsafe it is to listen to music while you ride because you will not be able to hear traffic approaching from the rear. Anyone expressing an opposing view was described as an idiot, fodder for the human organ harvest.
I gave up on listening to music on my bike almost before I tried it because the noise caused by wind contacting whatever type of listening device I plugged into my ear was just too loud – forget for a moment that the wind noise blocked out the sound of the music – the wind, itself, was causing such a racket that prolonged exposure would certainly have caused hearing loss.
Since I started wearing a helmet, wind noise has been much less of a concern for me – I know that the leading edges of my straps are deflecting the wind enough that it isn’t whistling in my ears.
Originally Posted by AllenG
I also posted this in the Commuting Section. Slvoid made a wax model of an ear, fitted with a decibel meter, and blew a 25 mph stream of air over it. Average of 90 dbA. And then: Ok, so riding with a sound meter zip tied to my messenger bag a-la radio style on my way home yielded an average dBA of 96.2, low of 58, high of 112.
It would be interesting to know the details of these two tests. There are many variables that could skew the results. I would think that vibration on the zip-tied meter could cause a false reading. Traffic noise could also affect both average and peak readings. Also, directing a stream of air over a model of an ear may or may not accurately simulate conditions present at ones own ear while riding a bike. First of all, most of us don’t subject ourselves to a constant stream of 25 mph air during our rides. Secondly, a slight tilt of the head is enough to change the air deflection in a way as to afford comfort by minimizing the noise produced.
I don’t mean to challenge at all concerns about possible hearing damage caused by wind noise produced when riding a bike – but, personally, I would certainly know if I were subjecting myself to those noise levels – I would feel it during the ride, and my ears would be signaling me “loud and clear” afterwards.
Interesting tests, though.
Caruso