Max reading: slightly downhill with traffic, maybe 25 mph? A bit slower than the traffic (around 30 mph).

If any of you use a smartphone while riding, there are sound meter apps available. They generally give very unreliable readings, however. I used a reliable sound meter.

I am no expert, but my ENT and audiologist vehemently disagree with you, not about the effect of noise, but certainly about the effect of aging. They characterize my moderate hearing losses as "age appropriate" and caution me that the degradation will likely continue to a point where hearing assistance will be advisable.

I use Wind Blox. They do a fairly decent job of cutting down wind noise and chill. Unfortunately, they work best when you keep your helmet straps tighter than I like (i.e., tight enough to press the Wind Blox against your temple and cheek).

Block wind noise and enjoy the ride!

You mean there is no Presbycusis?

RNAV I'm am in the Petrochem Industry, but very sensitive to any further hearing loss (USMC, large Caliber Fire arms, very noisey work environment etc) and do have a hearing loss, I wear molded Silicone ear plugs at work (those work very well)
I might see if the LBS will let me test ride the Air Attack, I think with the design and the lens should direct the air past the ears.
I will also adjust the straps on my MTB helment to lay flat against my face and bracket my ears in the triangle.
I have a Quadlock coming, so I can look at the info and leave both ears open.

Thanks for all the good suggestions, the glove mirror idea is great.

Read the actual article. Under "causes," the article states that causes include:

"...susceptibility of the cochlea for drug insults."
"diet"
"atherosclerosis"
"noise trauma"
"smoking"
"hypertension"
"otoxic drugs"

In other words, the actual effect of aging itself on hearing is zero. All hearing loss is attributable to poor lifestyle choices, all of which are avoidable.

Aging is not a CAUSE of hearing loss. Aging is simply a CORRELATE of the true causes of hearing loss, which are listed above.

Reread the article. Presbycusis is hearing loss due to age. If it is not age related, it's not presbycusis.

The sound meter won't measure what you are hearing, only the noise the wind makes going around the meter. To measure what you hear in this instance, the microphone for the meter would have to be inside the ear because you are trying to measure the noise of the wind going around your ear.

I seriously doubt that they have ever "vehemently disagreed" with me. First of all, I've never met them, and as a result, could not have entered into any sort of a debate in which disagreement, vehement or otherwise, could ever have occurred.

There is no such thing as "age appropriate" hearing loss. Hearing loss is a result of environmental factors (loud noise) and behavioral decisions (diet, lack of exercise, ototoxic medication, smoking, etc.

There's no reason for your hearing to deteriorate further IF you protect your hearing by using hearing protection (properly: most people don't use hearing protection and a majority who do, don't use it properly), eat healthy foods, exercise, avoid drinking and smoking and avoid ototoxic medication.

Your doctor saying hearing loss is inevitable is like a witch doctor pointing a bone at you and putting a curse on you.

You either have not read the article, or choose to ignore the actual information provided.

1. the definition of presbycusis is that it is age related hearing loss.

Aging is RELATED to, or CORRELATED with, the TRUE, or ACTUAL causes of hearing loss as listed in the article under "causes" ie poor diet, smoking, drinking, hypertension (which is itself due to poor diet as well as to stress) and of course, loud noise, both instantaneous and prolonged.

If you live your entire life as a librarian in a quiet, rural town, eat well, and exercise, your hearing loss in your later years will be minimal.

Teenagers who blast their earbuds at max volume, go to rock concerts and clubs have significant high frequency hearing loss.

As long as you can understand the difference between causation (loud noise, poor diet, etc) and correlation (older people tend to have suffered more hearing damage due to cumulative exposure to loud noise as well as deteriorated health overall due to poor diet and perhaps lack of exercise), you can understand that aging in and of itself is not a cause, simply a correlate of hearing loss.

I have had a lot of exposure in my 50 years, from Concerts, to 155mm Howitzers a hundred foot away, the worst was firing 3 shots from a muzzle braked .458 win mag in the field without plugs (ringing changed pitch for each shot THAT cant be good), plus countless thousands of rounds of full and semiauto fire, from 17 yo on, throw in the Steam turbines, helical and recip compressors, 1000 hp pumps etc, I really need to baby them to keep whats left.

what specialized model?

I suffered some hearing loss while in the Army. My father had lost some hearing in the Navy. The effect for both of us was immediate... but then gradual loss also occurred later for my Dad... and I think also for myself. Meanwhile.... a couple family members also experienced hearing impairments as small children. So there may also be a genetic factor in my case.

Although I test decent enough... there are inconveniences with the higher frequency's. This I've been lead to believe is normal (for my age). It really is a numbers game. It doesn't matter how much my hearing might deteriorate over the next 25 years.... if I only live for 10 or 12 more. And... if I had the choice to live 50 more years with the last 25 years as stone cold deaf..... I'd gladly accept the deafness.

Alright let's see, I cleaned up that little circle jerk that was in this thread.

I'm not naming names but please keep the discussion civilized with no name calling OR passive aggressive posts.
This would be a good opportunity to go over the harassment clause of the forum guidelines found here: Forum Guidelines - Bike Forums
which states:

Running helmet straps under eyeglass temples is usually slightly quieter, especially if the straps lie flat against the head as this reduces turbulence over the ears. I did not find Slipstreamz spoilers or flaps to be sufficiently effective to be worth the effort.

I just got the Catlike Whisper helmet on sale at Competitive Cyclist and had it on today for a really windy ride (first 25 miles steady into a 15-18 mph headwind) and while I could hear the wind and feel it, obviously, it wasn't as loud as I expected. I could hear ambient sounds, including cars. I'm very impressed with the helmet. It's comfortable, light and while I initially regretted buying the bright, alien blob green, it's saved me twice in town when people saw me coming (or at least saw my bright green head) in areas where their view was blocked by parked cars. YMMV

I second the glove mirror. Very clever. :-)

I re adjusted the straps to lay flat against my face and to bracket my ears in the triangle, and put my glasses over the straps.
It was still noisey enough I could rarely hear my tires on the road, and cars were still very close when I heard them, and could not tell one car from two or more.
Also the position of my head made no difference at all.
But it did seem to be less noisey riding today, even in a stiff headwind.
I have some shooting earplugs (molded silicone with open baffles, and no they dont work for shooting) that I will try tomorrow.
I gotta make that mirror glove.

I just purchased a POS Trabec helmet for its MIPS protection. I haven't thought consciously about wind noise but I did notice when I rode some very isolated roads just how quiet it was. Granted, I wasn't going fast but there were small descents. Next time I go out, i'll pay more attention and report back if it is indeed quieter. (I've been riding Bell Influxes for years. Just so-so on noise.)

Ben

I've never experienced wind noise when I ride. Not even when I've ridden in 80+ km/h winds.

Maybe it has something to do with ear shape? Length of hair?

Machka, I have very short hair (Flat Top #1 blade on the sides)

I test rode half a dozen bikes today. Wind noise was not a factor.

Was it windy?

Light to moderate winds this weekend. I think I noticed the wind noise more because of this thread.

Wind noise has bothered me in the past though, no doubt about it. I do think that something like wind blox or etymotic er 20's should be sufficient.

I'm also sometimes bothered by traffic/automobile noise on specific routes and sections with a lot of traffic, esp. fast traffic. I try to avoid those routes whenever possible, obviously.

I've ordered up a pair of wind blox: will report back soon on how well they work.

I have used those exact earplugs and they are horrible for noise reduction. They are totally inadequate for shooting.

Having said that, you don't need much noise reduction for cycling, so they may be perfect for you.

Here's an inexpensive option which is great for a lot of situations, not just cycling:

Etymotic Research | ETY?Plugs® Earplugs

Avoid the blue ones, as they are designed for very narrow ear canals.

I think this is a huge factor for me. I hear wind on the bike with or without a helmet, so it's not flapping helmet straps curating noise for me. I can hear when the wind dies down or switches direction when it's swirly, so I think it's just down to ear shape in my personal case.

The interesting thing is that I wore a heart rate monitor yesterday, and louder wind noise tended to correlate with higher heart rate. I think it must mean headwinds and crosswinds were both loudest and slowing me down the most.

I have fairly small ears with tiny ear canals. I can't wear most earbuds to listen to music, they just don't fit ... I have to find extra small ones, probably built for children. So that might be why I've never experienced annoying wind noise.

I do, however, hear my pulse in my ears when I exert myself ... the higher my heart rate, the louder it gets.