auk

Been known to do both . . .

Aeroplane

This is a stupid question, on par with "Who wins, a bear vs. a shark... on the moon?" Music distracts you and will possibly cause accidents. Helmets protect your head in case of an accident. Totally different and unrelated concepts.

If you must listen to music, my pal has a sensible method: use earbuds, but tape them to your bag strap (backpack, messenger, man-purse, whatever). You can still hear the music if you really listen for it, but ambient noise is still very available.

brunop

ipods? ya'll definitely drank the koolaid! get further off the grid!! throw yer ipod at yer car!!!

samwinks

i personally dont find listening to my ipod and riding all that dangerous if at all (while in savannah). i refuse to ride with my ipod in richmond the roads are a lot busier and sketchier here. i think the most dangerous thing you can do is ride hands free and talk on your phone while you ride in oh lets say 5:30 traffic.
-sam-

spud

i agree with you on this one generic.

as far as the actual vote goes, well it depends on the kind of hazard. for hazards caused by others, i'd say riding without a helmet is worse; for hazards (i guess cyclists' decisions) caused by the cyclist, i'd say riding with headphones/earplugs is worse. i realize some artists and producers fully utilize stereo capabilities, but a lot do not, and listening to music with one earplug/headphone shouldnt be too much of a hazard, maybe distracting, but one ear would still be able to hear traffic sounds. if i rode while listening to music, i would use only one earplug.

travsi

i don't wear a helmet, but how could anything but riding with a helmet be less safe? i mean anything time riding a bike with a helmet is always safer than riding without a helmet, with or with out music device. unless its one of those accidents where a helmet does nothing.

spud

i think the intent of the post is basically, are earplugs (+ helmet) so unsafe that they cause more accidents (and damage) than riding without earplugs and no helmet. or a different way of putting it: both earplugs and riding without a helmet are bad, from a safety view, which is worse?

travsi

yeah, i got it. i riding without a helmet and sometimes with music. i wouldn't say this is a safe way to ride, but thats how i roll.

spencer

you really think so? in SF youd just say ipod cause everyone REALLY DOES have ipods.i dont know one person with any other kind of mp3 player.

genericbikedude

thats not the point. imagine if pacific bicycles bought up every other bike brand and gave out enough political contributions to pass laws prohibiting indie framebuilders. to our children's generation, "magna" would be synonymous with "bike." extreme example, but still...


also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodity_fetishism
and: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_consciousness

nitropowered

Hmm... I tend to ride without a helmet and with my ipod on a brakeless fixie. I guess I'm in for it.

On the otherhand, I always wear my helmet on my roadie racer bike and hardly ever use the ipod.

urbanknight

I tried riding with my audio device (there I didn't say ipod, happy?) recently, and it wasn't a distraction, but I only wear one earbud (the right so I can hear traffic on my left) and keep the volume low enough so that I hear at least equally or better the environmental sounds. Of course, I play pop music that I won't get too thoughtful with. I'm a band director and love classical music, and would probably start conducting on my bike if I listened to that!

ink1373

ipods are ****ing stupid. more people riding with ipods means more natural selection.

recursive

How long does it take? I've been riding with mine for at least a year now.

shoot.first

I ride with helmet and sometimes headphones.
but NEVER without a helmet son.

fmshades

i'm dumb enough to ride with no helmet, i will admit, but in no way dumb enough to ride while listening to an i-pod.

i don't know how many times my ass was saved from getting wrecked, by my hearing the CLICK of an opening car door.

allidoispedal

when im wrking, i have my ipod in one ear and my fone headset in da other. i dont wear a helmet when im wrking although i should. as for the poll results i disagree with ev ones answer because u can put da volume down so u can listen to and listen to traffic. ive never had a problem with not hearing a car comin etc ...

cardstock

I always have my helmet on. It is way too easy to get hit. But I do have my earbuds taped to the straps of my helmet. I listen to music rarely, only on the really nice days when i want to ride fast, but then I am being twice as careful because I am pushing myself. With the buds on the straps away from my ears if I play something familiar to me I can leave it pretty low and still "listen" to the music

ink1373

too long apparently. since you (1) own an ipod, and (2) listen to it constantly it seems, you already lose at life. sorry.

jim-bob

I like my ipod. Work drags me all over the damn country, and it's nice to have a ton of music I like in such a portable form. What do you recommend?

(I don't listen to it while riding, though. It's mostly a hotel room/tech platform device for me.)

huhenio

I ride and listen to music. Depending on traffic the volume goes up and down. Most of the time I only have to pedal next to the white line, and intersections are like every 3/4 mile or so. I have to do like 10 blocks on heavier traffic and still the ones behind me have to wait or they are stuck and the ones in front of me I can see them fine.

zelah

well, as far as the whole being more aware without a helmet thing, i'm calling shenanigens, no matter what i'm wearing i know where the hell i am and what the hell is going on.

all summer i rode with no helmet and an ipod, no problems (the time i got hit i wasnt listening to anything)

but yeah, i dont really feel more or less safe with or without helmet/earbuds, but for now i usually dont ride with anything during the day, and a helmet at night

recursive

Haha, ok there. I guess I don't have a life according to ink1373. I seem to be doing ok without. Maybe one day I'll be cool enough to understand what the hell you're talking about.

asterisk

whats up sociology 101 dude!

BadA

I rode without a helmet at first, but then I got one cause all the serious cyclists wore one. I'm glad I did. Actually riding without a helmet isn't dangerous. Having an accident without one might be.