Yay. All the time when I commute (which is mostly off road).

If a car approaches me fast from behind and is going to hit me then I very much doubt that hearing it a few milliseconds faster is going to make the outcome any less damaging.

you need to work on your spidey-senses.
when I hear an engine note that sounds loud or revvy, I look behind to see whether I need to give them more room or get out the way if their driving like a loony. you can also tell if they’re hovvering behind you or are too close by the sound.
don’t underestimate the power of your hearing.

you need to work on your spidey-senses.
when I hear an engine note that sounds loud or revvy, I look behind to see whether I need to give them more room or get out the way if their driving like a loony. you can also tell if they’re hovvering behind you or are too close by the sound.
don’t underestimate the power of your hearing.

I ride so fast they have to be revving hard to keep up and overtake. So all traffic sounds the same.
Don’t underestimate the power of EPO, malt loaf and pies.

Big Yay! I did a lot of long solo rides on quiet scottish country roads, I’d still only put the left earphone in though.

Right tune + right road = some of the best moments I’ve had in cycling, and I include MTB in that 8)

Unfortunately the effect has worn off slightly, plus I think one headphone turned up to overcome wind noise was damaging my eardrum, I would often get a disturbing ‘fluttering’ feeling in my ear after long rides.

Nice while it lasted I suppose.

I always think the risk has to be worth the gain.
Is having music playing to make the ride more pleasurable worth dying for?

I wear my iPod all the time when on the train and Tube. But running and cycling I quite like the free head space they give me and part of the benefit is the metronomic calm they bring. Music would spoil that for me.

when i commute through Central London, no. When im on a ride through the Surrey roads, yes. I dont have a reason, I just do!

I normally listen to music when I commute, using a set of in-ear headphones like these.

Even with my music at >50% volume I can hear car engines, and quite often I can hear the music car drivers are playing on their stereos.

This is worth a read. Basically, hearing is no substitute for looking.

An ear on the traffic

The one place I wouldn’t feel particularly comfortable riding with them in is on narrow country lanes with high hedges or blind corners. Even then, wind noise is going to stop you hearing traffic until it’s pretty close.

I always think the risk has to be worth the gain.
Is having music playing to make the ride more pleasurable worth dying for?

But no other road user other than pedestrians can hear anything either.

I have headphones on for EVERY.SINGLE.RIDE
usually some Drum n Bass or similar, hard aggresive tunes make me cycle faster. I do look behind me perhaps more frequently than if I wasn’t wearing any and I also turn it off when approaching busy junctions or turn it down on major roads. I love cycling and I love tunes so it’s great to be able to combine the two.

Yay….

You need to just make a decision about this on your own. There are loads of ninnies on here who will probably tell you DEFINITELY YES or DEFIANTLY NO.

I do it sometimes. It’s not the safest thing in the world. I understand that. But hey… life for living and all that.

Roadies don’t pay attention to what’s/who’s around them anyway so crank it up.

But no other road user other than pedestrians can hear anything either.

No, but they don’t get treated the same way as cyclists do either. When I’m driving I don’t feel it’s very likely that the car behind is going to be so desperate to pass me that they’ll start to overtake me 10m from the junction he wants to turn into and then turn across me/into me. I don’t know about motorbikes but I’d imagine it’s the same if you’re in the middle of the lane doing the same speed as the cars.

When I’m on my bike this does happen though and it’s good if you can hear it coming. So it’s a no from me.

Definitely maybe,sometimes….depend really.

Depends on the person and the situation really

Some people have no awareness of their surroundings at all anyway, we’ve all met them…. Or are one of them…..
When I used to commute I always had music on at 6.30am on the way in, but never on the way home at 5pm

And, as has been mentioned, motorcyclists wear earplugs to preserve their hearing. I do this and, believe me, you don’t miss anything.

Only on night rides for me as there is generally less traffic when I go out and it’s easier to see them approaching from their lights so no need to rely upon hearing them so much, added benefit of masking out the sound of the screaming zombie beasts that appear from the shadows and chase me down the road 😉

I am still baffled by all the people who can pinpoint the precise location of a car and predict its activity just using their hearing. Are you half human, half bat or something? 😉

I am still baffled by all the people who can pinpoint the precise location of a car and predict its activity just using their hearing. Are you half human, half bat or something?

<- This

I wear headphones on the MTB including the road bits when I’m on my own.

3 easy rules for not dying.

1) keep a constant distance from hedge/kerb
2) ALWAYS LOOK before turning or moving out further.
3) ALWAYS LOOK before turning or moving out further.

If you think being able to hear a car coming is going to stop a BMW turning you into a red smear from behind whilst the driver is facebooking on his iphone you are deluded.

Always listen to music on the roadride or id die of boredom. I use Aftershoks bone conducting headphones and theyre ace. I can still hear any traffic as there is nothing bunging my ear canals up.

Mibbes aye, mibbes naw.

If it’s out on the “open road” and you’re travelling at a decent speed then wind noise can mask the sound of any approaching vehicles anyway.

If tried it a couple of times but generally prefer without.

No

GCR

If you think being able to hear a car coming is going to stop a BMW turning you into a red smear from behind whilst the driver is facebooking on his iphone you are deluded.

Well, if someone’s just going to plough into you then yeah, it makes no odds. But IMO people are more likely to do very stupid things from behind you (!) when you’re on your bike and when there’s a big speed/size difference and you’re not taking up the whole lane, than they are when you’re on your motorbike or in your car.
It’s a bit anecdotal but there’s several times I’ve been alerted by a sudden change in engine note behind me that something stupid is about to happen and been able to take a little bit of avoiding action.

Personally I’m not in a hurry to give up even that little bit of a heads up.

Only in my left ear and that depends where im riding and how busy the roads are

Bored whilst riding a bike, ever thought this games not for you?

I’ve got a headband-style set of headphones that the right hand speaker broke off, so I use that… But I do think there’s a fair amount of cobblers spoken on the subject, I don’t ride any differently when I can hear a car behind me. I still prefer to know if someone’s there or not, though, just because having better awareness is comfortable even if I do nothing with it.

For those that said no, why would hearing a car come from behind stop it from hitting you ?
If you wear and listen then you need to look at the right times n places but if something’s behind nothing is going to stop it?

all the time

I usually listen to audio books and podcasts and have never had a problem after thousands of miles of commuting

Don’t have headphones that totally block out noise and don’t have the volume too loud.

You can still hear vehicles coming up behind and as mentioned previously you don’t know if they are going to hit you anyway. Maybe buy a rear view mirror for that…but it may ruin your street cred (if you have any! :D)

I wear them if I want to, cant understand why people think its irresposible to.

I can hear more than I can when riding a motorbike. cars are getting so quiet these days youd be a fool to rely on hearing anyway. as I say to my children when teaching them to ride – imagine every car driver to be one of the numpties in tesco that doesnt even know how to push a trolley let alone know whats happening around it.

observations and a very low opinion of drivers abilities has kept me relatively accident free all these years – so I feel Im ok to listen to music/ sing/practice languages/ listen to the radio as I ride – especially dance tunes when late definitely makes you move quicker 🙂

(in a safe way obviously!)

You ever thought of trying these fella…pricey, but good. I got a pair – bit of a luxury buy as I would never normally spend this on headphones…what can I say…5 Kronenburg and a stint online and my Mrs left me then 3 days later a parcel containing these arrived AfterShokz jackpot if you ask me!!

They sit on the outside of the ear and use your cheekbones to vibrate the sound in…all I know is they work and you keep your senses and can hear everything as well as your music, have a read of the pitch the site.

Nay.

Yey.

Cheapo headphones, not the modern plug type ones that actually block other sounds, and not bass/low frequency type music, pop/rock/light electro, and not too loud. Should be of a volume that when going fast down hill you can’t really here a music for the wind. You’ll find cars are plenty loud enough and a different part of the sound spectrum to be easily heard, unless its really windy in which case you would presumably look more often to compensate.

No.

Why take the risk? If the riding is so boring that you have to listen to music then find somewhere better to ride, or just ride harder.

Found the cables too annoying, so glued an old Smart light mount on the back of an x-mini speaker and a bracket on the bars. With iplayer on the mobile, result is TMS/R6 on the commute alongside the traffic noises.

I’ll confess since I got my new phone for jaunts round Stainburn I’ve put it in the pocket behind my head turned up with tunes. result is much the same as have headphones in, with less cables, as the above says.

curiousyellow – Member

Why take the risk?

That’s the debate isn’t it- I don’t think anyone’s saying “Yeah, it’s dangerous but I do it”. Lots of us just don’t think there’s any risk. Or rather, there are risks but not ones you can mitigate by not wearing headphones.

I honestly reckon it’s pure placebo. If people feel safer, that’s grand. That’s why I keep one ear open. But I don’t believe it makes me any safer, it just makes me feel a bit more comfortable.

No, would like to hear the surroundings before they kill me.

I love these threads. OP you say you’re worried. Know what,don’t bother.If you can’t multi task,just leave it.Better safe than weaving all over the road.

One of my routes to the dirt involves a fair bit of fire roads. To reduce the boredom I once took my ipod.
Even though I’ve ridden the tracks a hundred times I got lost.
So I think music on the road is a bad,bad thing.

personally I don’t

Definitely not when commuting – you can hear a d1ckhead revving and squealing before you can see him so that’s reason enough

on a weekend road ride I am too busy enjoying the experience of riding the bike; scenery, gear selection etc and just generally letting your mind relax

however I can see some application – for example if you were touring and you had a dull stretch of A road, a bit of music would break up the monotony