commuting safely with tunes

TRADESIZE

I am very much enjoying my commute to work most days, but would enjoy it even more with tunes.

I think wearing headphones is simply too dangerous. I tried it with one in one ear on low volume and left the other ear to listen to the traffic, but after one commute like that I still thought it was too dangerous.

How do you guys get round this?

It would be nice to be able to clip a mobile with good sound out of the loudspeaker to the handlebars, but i dont even know what mobiles play tunes on loudspeaker for 2+ hours, and is there such a device for attaching one to your handlebars?

how do you (safely) listen to your tunes when on the road?

AndyManc

Have a read through this :P

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=12584577&highlight=music

UnworthyPapaLazaru

http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/Product/0/ ... akers.html

or try this

Jen J

TRADESIZE wrote:

how do you (safely) listen to your tunes when on the road?

I don't think it's possible to do so safely

N4PALM

Of course its possible to listen safely just dont turn it up loud.

I dont carry my ipod with me much anymore cos the weight of the thing in my pocket annoys me. But I never had a problem listening to music while I ride.

I would have the music quiet enough that I could hear my bikes drivetrain, hear the cars behind me and have a conversation with a friend riding alongside me. If I got to any technical sections of road and I wanted my full attention id just turn the volume down til it was basically off. Once on more open roads I could turn it back up, but never so loud that I couldnt have a conversation with another rider next to me.

Jen J

N4PALM wrote:

I would have the music quiet enough that I could hear my bikes drivetrain, hear the cars behind me and have a conversation with a friend riding alongside me. If I got to any technical sections of road and I wanted my full attention id just turn the volume down til it was basically off. Once on more open roads I could turn it back up, but never so loud that I couldnt have a conversation with another rider next to me.

That's great multi-tasking you've got going on there...

biondino

If you can hear your own drivetrain how the hell can you hear the music?

I wonder if there's a parallel between people who think they can cycle safely with headphones and people who are convinced they drive better after a couple of pints.

sc999cs

On a similar vein to biondino, if your music is so quiet that you can have a conversation with the cyclist next to you, why bother with the music in the first place?

Are you sure Tradesize that you really want music?

Jen J

biondino wrote:

If you can hear your own drivetrain how the hell can you hear the music?

Maybe their bike sounds like mine?

N4PALM

Jen J wrote:

N4PALM wrote:

I would have the music quiet enough that I could hear my bikes drivetrain, hear the cars behind me and have a conversation with a friend riding alongside me. If I got to any technical sections of road and I wanted my full attention id just turn the volume down til it was basically off. Once on more open roads I could turn it back up, but never so loud that I couldnt have a conversation with another rider next to me.

That's great multi-tasking you've got going on there...

Its not rocket science.

biondino wrote:

If you can hear your own drivetrain how the hell can you hear the music?

I wonder if there's a parallel between people who think they can cycle safely with headphones and people who are convinced they drive better after a couple of pints.

The roads arent as dangerous as some people seem to think. And music doesnt always have to be so loud that it drowns out everything else. People in cars can have the music so loud they can hear nothing else. I naturally have good spatial awareness and I totally understand the importance of listening to all the hazards around me. Having music nice and quiet in the background doesnt impede this, but I'm not so irresponsable that I let it drown out the important sounds.

Theres a big distinction between drink driving and listening to music!

N4PALM

sc999cs wrote:

On a similar vein to biondino, if your music is so quiet that you can have a conversation with the cyclist next to you, why bother with the music in the first place?

Are you sure Tradesize that you really want music?

Because I can still hear the music so it breaks up the monotony and helps keep the rythm of the pedalling.

AndyManc

When you are listening to a personal music player , if you can't hear someone near you talking then the volume is at a level that will be causing long term damage to your hearing.



Just a thought :roll:

biondino

When you're in your car you rely on your hearing vastly less than when you're on a bike, though. I'm less bothered with the distraction element as I don't think music is (usually) that distracting. It's the fact that when I'm riding I use my hearing EVERY time I have to make a decision, no matter how small, about where and how I ride. And it's not just horns, or revved-up engines, or HGV hydraulics; it's the difference between the car behind me coasting or accelerating gently, the sound of a freewheel 10 yards behind me, the sound of a trio of schoolkids 25 yards ahead. They are the bread and butter which, along with my eyes (which, bear in mind, can only see 170 degrees at any one point while my ears manage the full 360) give me the mental picture of the circumstances in which I'm cycling.

always_tyred

You could listen to Enya. That's barely music at all and minutes go by withouth anything happening.

N4PALM

Just to clarify I do ride 80% of the time on car free cycle path and when I'm in the city center I pretty much roll the volume right off. Also being an ipod, having it in my pocket and unlocked means I can just rub my hand on the outside of the pocket to change the volume. Thats easier than adjusting arm warmers or drinking from a bottle.

Clearly listening to music *can* be very dangerous while riding. I'm just saying it is also quite possible to do it safely on the roads. Tho maybe the city center isnt such a good place.

zanes

N4PALM wrote:

The roads arent as dangerous as some people seem to think.

Yes, because most of those that don't think the roads are dangerous have been in an accident, and then realise that they are. Like the bloke on a mtb that "raced" me the other day. Except his definition of racing involved me dropping him on every open bit of road, only for him to overtake in the traffic. Fine, but he was overtaking buses he couldn't see past, cars indicating right, other cyclists filtering. But admittedly I am quite a woosie filterer!

I'm not saying everyone who crashes is ignorant of the dangers, or everyone who commutes should be terrified of the road, but a healthy respect for the dangers can only increase peoples safety. Or have I had more beer than I think??

N4PALM

zanes wrote:

N4PALM wrote:

The roads arent as dangerous as some people seem to think.

Yes, because most of those that don't think the roads are dangerous have been in an accident, and then realise that they are. Like the bloke on a mtb that "raced" me the other day. Except his definition of racing involved me dropping him on every open bit of road, only for him to overtake in the traffic. Fine, but he was overtaking buses he couldn't see past, cars indicating right, other cyclists filtering. But admittedly I am quite a woosie filterer!

I'm not saying everyone who crashes is ignorant of the dangers, or everyone who commutes should be terrified of the road, but a healthy respect for the dangers can only increase peoples safety. Or have I had more beer than I think??

That guy was just acting dangerously. But percieved danger and actual danger are different things. I was just saying that people just act so like they are affraid all the time saying this and that is too dangerous. Like cycle helmets, so many people think its so dangerous to ride without one that they almost find it offensive when people dont.

I just think people should MTFU and ride. Honestly you'd think that some people believe that anyone that doesnt ride like they do has signed their own death certificate and therefore is offended by that persons wrecklessness. If anyone deviates from their idea of what is and isnt safe they must be a stupid corpse waiting to die any second now. Its a wonder with those beliefs how anyone would leave the house.

singlespeedexplosif

Jen J wrote:

TRADESIZE wrote:

how do you (safely) listen to your tunes when on the road?

I don't think it's possible to do so safely

I do. I always commute with music on and it's very safe.

Cunobelin

Soul Cycle