Communication while cycling
 

Not sure where to post this buttons seems correct.


What do you use to talk/ communicate while cycling?

We have ear buds but my wife, and me sometimes cannot hear due to the wind noise.

Appreciate any and all responses

are you on separate bikes or a tandem? Are you trying to hold a conversation or simply point out obstacles/hazards?

Nothing. Earphones are not allowed where I live while biking, unless they are integrated / part of the helmet. We communicate with signs when riding in group at high speeds or we discuss at low speeds.

Family Radio Series units with ear buds have been tried, they’re a push to talk and generally a pain in the arse. Even VOX, or voice activated suck. Bottom line was not hinging, just ride up alongside someone and chat.

Hand gestures for some things. Conversation for others.

Flailing arms & pointing. Ends with yelling at various clouds.

When speeds are slow double up and chat as you rotate every few minutes. When pace is high, no one wants to chat and then point at dangers as well as yell out stopping, slowing or holes.

A couple I ride with has the helmets with integrated microphones and speakers. It's more of a novelty than a necessity. It also annoys others when they are in a close group because of the echo.
Also, when one of them is in a bathroom everyone near the other one can hear the toilet flushing.

I can't recommend anyone use something that will block or muffle other sounds that must be heard. If you are able to, then it just as important to hear the sounds of traffic as it is to see traffic.

However for a time, when I was riding with my son a lot, we used the Zello app on a smart phone along with a blue tooth handset that allowed for two way conversation. And the speaker was loud enough to be easily heard by every one around you whether you wanted them to hear or not. But pretty much any bluetooth headset, microphone or earphone you can pair to your phone would work through the Zello app.

And it only requires you to be within cell service. So you don't even have to be near each other. Hanging the hand set on my jersey or bars was easier than fishing the phone out of my pocket and taking out of the zipper bag that I kept it in to keep sweat off of it.

The app essentially just makes your phone work like a walkie talkie. But since you can use bluetooth devices with your phone, you don't have to have direct access to your phone while riding. So you could get a microphone and a earpiece that sits behind your ear and still allows you to hear other things to use with the Zello App.

What if the toilet flushing is the least of it? Like, what if one of them had eaten at Taco Bell?

Remember that incident during the pandemic when a member of a city council or something used the head during a virtual meeting and forgot to mute his mic? All was heard.

There was a scene like that in The Naked Gun, where Frank Drebin goes into the bathroom wearing a portable mic...

It's funny that you used Taco Bell as an example. We had stopped at one to use the bathroom when the incident occurred. He was inside, the rest of us were standing outside when we heard the flush through her helmet speakers.

I think they said the range is about 1/4 mile, as long as nothing (like a mountain) is in the way.

I ride mostly by myself, and I like being able to always hear everything in my surroundings. I don’t do much group riding, and do only a few supported rides per year. I know others do it, and this is just my feeling, but I can’t imagine what would necessitate radio communications with other riders. Voice and/or hand gestures have always worked well enough. — Dan

This. I've seen them.

https://store-us.sena.com/collection...H_JgJgNHfxRlDH

I have a set of Sena pis that my wife and I use when we are riding together but not in a group. It's one way we can talk to each other when riding single file or when she inevitably falls behind me. They work pretty well. I do get to hear her curse my name quite clearly as we approach hills.

I use these "Cat Ears" devices on my helmet straps to reduce wind noise:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/...AC_SL1000_.jpg
https://us.amazon.com/Cat-Ears-Class...r_1_10?sr=8-10

Yeah so do I. They work remarkably well. You have to get the slimline version though, the standard are an aero drag and make you look like a Wiggo wannabe.