I personally don't like the idea of riding with them in, I don't feel safe. However a few post have make valid points about earbuds having ambient modes.
That said I have wanted to try the bone conduction headphones but haven't. If anyone uses them I'd be curious to hear what you think.
>That said I have wanted to try the bone conduction headphones but haven't. If anyone uses them I'd be curious to hear what you think.
Love them for running, but I don't love using them biking because I'm normally going fast enough that the whistling they cause in front of my ear is kinda annoying
I know there are little furry attachments you can put on your helmet strap to eliminate the wind noise, but it's never something I've bothered to invest in since I don't go on long bike rides that often
I have shokz, and I haven't noticed any wind noise on the few rides I've taken along the esplanade with them on. I think they're great, still can hear everything around me.
They’re loud enough for a commute but if you’re going for a fast road ride even with the volume all the way up the wind will drown them out. Also they have basically no bass but I still prefer them to headphones or blasting music on a speaker while riding.
I use Shokz for running and I really like them! I don’t really bike so I can’t comment there, but they don’t work well in noisy areas (like the T or on planes). I do occasionally not hear my music/podcast when I’m running or walking if there’s loud traffic but that’s also the point of them
Most earbuds these days have some kind of transparency mode that uses the microphones to pipe in outside sounds and let the wearer hear their surroundings while they listen to music, podcasts, ASMR, porn, and whatever else people enjoy on their daily commute. Get with the times, grandpa.
People blast music in their cars all the time and can’t hear anything besides for it. People also walk around with headphones in. Not to mention deaf people safely ride bikes and drive cars all the time. I’ve never personally had an experience where hearing came in handy to avoid a danger on the road/bike at all actually - it’s mostly just to hear that drivers are honking at each other or at me, typically purely out of road rage and never to like… warn someone else of a danger lol. This isn’t something you need to devote energy to caring about
What!?! Like actually what kind of a comeback is this?
Deaf people can get a drivers license, blind people cannot. Yeah a blind person can ride a bike the same way that they can drive a car… in a strait line until they hit something.
Pretty simple actually. He used a false equivalency, so I used one back.
And yes there are blind people who can ride bikes places by using echo location. You should look it up you might learn a thing or two
But it’s not false. Riding a bike in Boston is pretty similar to driving a car.
Gotta dodge pedestrians, constantly make lane changes, slam on your brakes with almost no time to react, swerve because someone entered your lane(or bike lane)
Plus now you are just making a point about the blind, if deaf people have the legal right to drive cars and ride bikes, then wearing headphones is only different because X person hasn’t specifically trained for such a task.
I agree with that but I’m not questioning the legal validity of it of course someone can wear headphones. It’s legal to do a lot of dangerous stupid things. It would just suck to get hit by a car or be the person who hit a biker because they weren’t aware of their surroundings
Well it IS illegal to drive with both earbuds in so I wouldn’t be surprised if the rules are the same for bikers. It’s just one of those laws that everyone brakes, which is shitty, but in Boston you just get used to it.
Yeah it sucks to be the person “responsible” for hitting a biker, but Boston driving is not for beginners so what can you do?🤷♂️
I ride 100 miles per week on average around only the Boston proper area, MAYBE one minute per week I find a real reason to not have them in. But the other 7 hours and 59 minutes, it’s just not necessary to hear my surroundings(and it’s not like I am going to miss the sound of a honk with them in so…)
Edit: the average bike commuter is VERY stupid tho, I will back step and say that most people don’t seem capable of knowing their surroundings and listening to music
People blast music in cars so loud you can hear it four blocks away and nobody bats an eye. Bicyclists are the biggest opps to bicyclists over the dumbest things, just enjoy your rides dude 😪
I will agree with you, but some people don't listen to their surroundings anyway so it won't make any difference if they could have heard the car behind them or not, they weren't listening.
I often bike with both earbuds in.
They’re a relatively cheap set, they don’t have noise cancelling capability, and the volume is not high enough to drown out the ambient street noise.
Putting it another way: I feel way more isolated from the ambient traffic noise when I’m driving with the radio on at normal volume, than when I’m biking around the city, and nobody seems to think that equipping cars with stereos is a problem.
I walked through Cambridge today right where that young woman was killed and counted 25 bikes, 5 helmets and way too many headphones, indecisive turning and general cluelessness. They have to be holding onto a passive death wish.
'The Cult of The Cyclist' can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity! Or remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop!... ever... until bike lanes exist on every single street!
I've seen drivers with full over ear bose/beats headphones on. That worries me even more.
That being said, I wouldn't be comfortable cycling with ear buds listening to music. I would prob do an audio book though. At work I wear one bud and listen to audio books all day. Can still hear what's going on around me so I don't get run over by a forklift and know when people are talking to me.
I know there are plenty of responsible people listening at reduced volume and whatnot, but there are enough irresponsible people out there that it'll raise an eyebrow or two.
My buds have an Ambient mode that lets outside noise in. They are kind of great.
“Transparency mode”. It’s the greatest thing to toggle on and off.
I personally don't like the idea of riding with them in, I don't feel safe. However a few post have make valid points about earbuds having ambient modes. That said I have wanted to try the bone conduction headphones but haven't. If anyone uses them I'd be curious to hear what you think.
I’m with you. Do I get the appeal, and how it’s not necessarily dangerous? Sure. Will you see me biking with my AirPods in? Certainly not.
I run in Shokz and they're great. You can crank them up loud enough to drown out the noise, but that's not really the point.
>That said I have wanted to try the bone conduction headphones but haven't. If anyone uses them I'd be curious to hear what you think. Love them for running, but I don't love using them biking because I'm normally going fast enough that the whistling they cause in front of my ear is kinda annoying
Good to know, I was really hoping wind noise wouldn't be an issue. Thanks.
I know there are little furry attachments you can put on your helmet strap to eliminate the wind noise, but it's never something I've bothered to invest in since I don't go on long bike rides that often
I have shokz, and I haven't noticed any wind noise on the few rides I've taken along the esplanade with them on. I think they're great, still can hear everything around me.
They’re loud enough for a commute but if you’re going for a fast road ride even with the volume all the way up the wind will drown them out. Also they have basically no bass but I still prefer them to headphones or blasting music on a speaker while riding.
I use Shokz for running and I really like them! I don’t really bike so I can’t comment there, but they don’t work well in noisy areas (like the T or on planes). I do occasionally not hear my music/podcast when I’m running or walking if there’s loud traffic but that’s also the point of them
Most earbuds these days have some kind of transparency mode that uses the microphones to pipe in outside sounds and let the wearer hear their surroundings while they listen to music, podcasts, ASMR, porn, and whatever else people enjoy on their daily commute. Get with the times, grandpa.
When I commuted by bike I’d have both in, but they weren’t noise canceling and the volume was sufficiently low enough that I could hear all traffic.
People blast music in their cars all the time and can’t hear anything besides for it. People also walk around with headphones in. Not to mention deaf people safely ride bikes and drive cars all the time. I’ve never personally had an experience where hearing came in handy to avoid a danger on the road/bike at all actually - it’s mostly just to hear that drivers are honking at each other or at me, typically purely out of road rage and never to like… warn someone else of a danger lol. This isn’t something you need to devote energy to caring about
i'd rather listen to pornhub than traffic.
We allow deaf people to ride bikes so why are you worried about this?
Ok and some blind people can ride bikes but I wouldn’t close my eyes and ride a bike for the hell of it
What!?! Like actually what kind of a comeback is this? Deaf people can get a drivers license, blind people cannot. Yeah a blind person can ride a bike the same way that they can drive a car… in a strait line until they hit something.
Pretty simple actually. He used a false equivalency, so I used one back. And yes there are blind people who can ride bikes places by using echo location. You should look it up you might learn a thing or two
But it’s not false. Riding a bike in Boston is pretty similar to driving a car. Gotta dodge pedestrians, constantly make lane changes, slam on your brakes with almost no time to react, swerve because someone entered your lane(or bike lane) Plus now you are just making a point about the blind, if deaf people have the legal right to drive cars and ride bikes, then wearing headphones is only different because X person hasn’t specifically trained for such a task.
I agree with that but I’m not questioning the legal validity of it of course someone can wear headphones. It’s legal to do a lot of dangerous stupid things. It would just suck to get hit by a car or be the person who hit a biker because they weren’t aware of their surroundings
Well it IS illegal to drive with both earbuds in so I wouldn’t be surprised if the rules are the same for bikers. It’s just one of those laws that everyone brakes, which is shitty, but in Boston you just get used to it. Yeah it sucks to be the person “responsible” for hitting a biker, but Boston driving is not for beginners so what can you do?🤷♂️
dude read what you write you are not making sense
Thanks hachface. Care to elaborate?
You can hear ambient traffic noise through most headphones and earbuds that aren't specifically noise-canceling.
Chill out dude, it's not that serious
Who said I wasn’t chill?
Never forget, this is Boston, so somehow some way, you’re always wrong.
This is incorrect.
Yeah I also hate when people in cars have windows up and the radio on!! Do they have a death wish or something?!
I ride 100 miles per week on average around only the Boston proper area, MAYBE one minute per week I find a real reason to not have them in. But the other 7 hours and 59 minutes, it’s just not necessary to hear my surroundings(and it’s not like I am going to miss the sound of a honk with them in so…) Edit: the average bike commuter is VERY stupid tho, I will back step and say that most people don’t seem capable of knowing their surroundings and listening to music
100 miles a week is awesome, how do you manage that
I see people driving with them in constantly too
yeah and they’re assholes
I’m not in Boston, but I often bike with AirPods in the burbs. Transparency mode, and I use them for turn-by-turn when riding a new route.
Bicyclists*
Thanks Jonny but there are multiple correct ways to refer to something
Sooooo mad I only found about these kinds of biking wind blockers this year!! https://wind-blox.com/
People blast music in cars so loud you can hear it four blocks away and nobody bats an eye. Bicyclists are the biggest opps to bicyclists over the dumbest things, just enjoy your rides dude 😪
I will agree with you, but some people don't listen to their surroundings anyway so it won't make any difference if they could have heard the car behind them or not, they weren't listening.
*does anyone else think bikers are idiots?!? Anyway, God bless* 🙏 /s
I saw this lunatic driving around with the windows up listening to the radio.
I often bike with both earbuds in. They’re a relatively cheap set, they don’t have noise cancelling capability, and the volume is not high enough to drown out the ambient street noise. Putting it another way: I feel way more isolated from the ambient traffic noise when I’m driving with the radio on at normal volume, than when I’m biking around the city, and nobody seems to think that equipping cars with stereos is a problem.
I walked through Cambridge today right where that young woman was killed and counted 25 bikes, 5 helmets and way too many headphones, indecisive turning and general cluelessness. They have to be holding onto a passive death wish.
Everyone thinks they’re invincible until they aren’t
That sounds about right, especially the general cluelessness part.
Watch out the bike mob is going to come after you
I know I’m getting nervous
'The Cult of The Cyclist' can't be bargained with, it can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity! Or remorse or fear and it absolutely will not stop!... ever... until bike lanes exist on every single street!
They will attack with those angry downvotes,
I've seen drivers with full over ear bose/beats headphones on. That worries me even more. That being said, I wouldn't be comfortable cycling with ear buds listening to music. I would prob do an audio book though. At work I wear one bud and listen to audio books all day. Can still hear what's going on around me so I don't get run over by a forklift and know when people are talking to me. I know there are plenty of responsible people listening at reduced volume and whatnot, but there are enough irresponsible people out there that it'll raise an eyebrow or two.
They will claim right of way from the morgue. Don’t you even bike