Music on? or Off?

bfreeman0

Hi all,
Just wondering if you listen to your iPod (phone or other mp3 device) while your out riding?
I tend to only listen to it while I'm on my own, though I do keep it low enough so I can listen out for other people.
Any preferences? listen to specific genres when your out? or do you just listen to the music you would listen to if you were not on your bike.
If so what would you recommend?

jayson

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

MountainMonster

jayson wrote:

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

But if you're on a trail, there is not traffic everywhere!

As far as music goes, I only listen when I am on my own. I normally chat with everyone when riding in groups. I stick to many different types of music when riding, but it has to be upbeat what ever it is. Otherwise I just get on a downer so to speak

RevellRider

MountainMonster wrote:

jayson wrote:

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

But if you're on a trail, there is not traffic everywhere!

They may not be what most people consider traffic, but if you ride at my pace you could be holding a lot of people up and not hear them behind you.

It's no music for me

cooldad

What Jayson said. Only time I'd consider it is to drown out the noise of those spawn of satan Hope hubs.

MountainMonster

RevellRider wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

jayson wrote:

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

But if you're on a trail, there is not traffic everywhere!

They may not be what most people consider traffic, but if you ride at my pace you could be holding a lot of people up and not hear them behind you.

It's no music for me

Fair enough havn't thought about that side much. I can understand the reasoning behind it, but disagree with it. Having enough sound to hear the music is aweomse, but can still hear things on the trail.

jayson

MountainMonster wrote:

jayson wrote:

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

But if you're on a trail, there is not traffic everywhere!

Unless u can fly u have to ride to the trails though which invariably involves negotiating traffic.

Atz

Not a fan. I like to hear the great outdoors as I ride through it. Also on more than one occasion, I've broken something that could have led to a worse problem later on and would possibly not have noticed had I not heard a strange noise.

bluechair84

I find the quiet incredibly soothing and resets my stress state back to zero. Kicking around the trails with music just becomes sensory overload for me and I can't enjoy the ride as much.

Briggo

jayson wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

jayson wrote:

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

But if you're on a trail, there is not traffic everywhere!

Unless u can fly u have to ride to the trails though which invariably involves negotiating traffic.

You have to ride to the trails do you, do things like cars not exist in your world?

ddraver

if I'm with a group (as I usually am) I don't cos of the sounds of nature and general conversation etc. Having said that I had a few weekends on my own and I thought I'd just keep it on up the first hill and I really liked it. It was a trail (Marin) I know like the back of my hand and i was in the mood for pinning it (I notched up my PB that day)

I probably would nt do it on a new route or on a natural route or if I was taking it easy but for "training" I liked it. Trail Centers or forestry rides are unnatural enough that I don't mind!

Neil Fat man on a bike

OFF

Rode a couple of times with the ipod, managed to not notice a little noise or two untill the littlenoise became a grinding to a stop mechanical fault that couldn't be fixed on the trail. 5 mile walk/freewheel home.
The granny ring must have sheared/lost a bolt but I only noticed when it twisted and jammed against the BB bearing cup and wedged as tight as hell.

wordnumb

Headphones in. I take care of my bikes so don't need to listen out for mechanicals. And I disagree with the logic of headphones being dangerous in traffic - if somebody is going to run you down they're not going to warn you first. It's all about observation.

Anonymous

Off. I can do without the technology. It's the one place I can be out away from traffic, TV, work, computers (and computers are my work) and just noise.

(though I do take my phone to track my routes, but it's the one gadget and I can forget about it once it's tracking).

Anyway, music is great as a distraction at work, but it is a distraction when riding too. I'd be away in my own world and not concentrating on what I'm doing or where I'm going (or others have gone). As my rides involve some technicality it would just be risky in my opinion. Besides my earphones are ones that go right into the ear canal and fall on them I've got ear buds inside my brain!

devildawg5

Headphones in and cranked up, pre ride check as usual, bike is kept top notch so no worries of failure, I agree with wordnumb, observation, we have eyes.....whatever is behind, is behind and stays behind, anyone with headphones louder than an emergency siren, let me know I want some........

ddraver

I think I ignore it on the downs - if anything it psyches me up a bit. i enjoy it most on the fireroads/ climbs where a bit of heavy Metal distracts from the pain a bit :oops:

Atz

devildawg5 wrote:

Headphones in and cranked up, pre ride check as usual, bike is kept top notch so no worries of failure

What, really? I've snapped spokes, got stuff stuck in mechs, cracked hangers etc. None of those are anything to do with a pre-ride check or maintenance. On a few occasions I've saved myself from a potentially nasty accident or expensive repair by hearing something go wrong and stopping.

Plus there's the times when you're behind someone with headphones on who is riding slowly but you can't pass and they can't hear you asking them to let you past.

Aldo001

Bit of both.
In the mornings on the way to school it is on loud. I look behind me as often as you would check your mirrors in a real car and I can generally hear cars anyway. I wouldn't get to school awake if I didn't have music and it helps me get going. It also helps me get home veeeerrrry fast
On trails on my own, it's a bit of both. As much as I like the sound of nothing but my tyres doing their thing, pinning it down a trail with some bangin trance is a really good feeling. Just escaping from everything with my mind on the trail only.

Raymondavalon

If I'm doing roadwork on a cycleway where there's no traffic, I'll have the MP3 player on
On the trail music is something I can live without, nothing beats the sound of the bike rumbling along the singletrack.
Also, things can and do go wrong on the trail and my ears are an early warning system

edhornby

isn't it yet another thing to clean afterwards and faff with when you should be just enjoying the ride ???

only time I can see it being a bonus is the long flat uneventual sections when touring

Buckled_Rims

I've never used a MP3 player either on the road or MTB (which I've done lots of trails on). I hear chatter and noise all day, I just like the quietness of a the forest or countryside when I ride.

I suppose for motivational purposes it's good, but I don't need to be motivated as I'm a natural outdoors person anyhow.

supersonic

Hate listening to music when riding, ruins the experience for me. Plus I want to be as alert as I can.

D-Cyph3r

Nope, tried once and found it way too distracting, i'm also paranoid about not hearing something potentially important, like say someone shouting for their dog (just before it runs out in front of me) or someone who may have gone man-down (no gay reference) and in need of help.

ddraver

edhornby wrote:

only time I can see it being a bonus is the long flat uneventual sections when touring

That's when i used it for the first time.....

Bikehawk

+1 for the quiet, work around running machinery the whole time so enjoy the relative silence out on the trails. On the road prefer to hear traffic approaching nowadays.

bfreeman0

wordnumb wrote:

And I disagree with the logic of headphones being dangerous in traffic - if somebody is going to run you down they're not going to warn you first. It's all about observation.

I can't remember where I heard this but apparently if you block out your ears, you also decrease your area of vision, which I have also learned with experience.
I realised recently that I don't use it while on trails on my own, it's only when I'm biking round town that I have my music on. I do enjoy the peace while on trails and on the road.

Atz

Even if not, the ability to hear that a vehicle is coming up behind you is a godsend. Sometimes with the speed differential you can easily end up having a car somewhere you're not expecting it and being able to hear it can save you from a prang.

MountainMonster

jayson wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

jayson wrote:

I dont listen to music when im on my bike, i like the sound of the trails and countryside because i listen to music 8hrs a day everyday when im at work and besides i think its very dangerous riding with headphones with traffic everywhere.

But if you're on a trail, there is not traffic everywhere!

Unless u can fly u have to ride to the trails though which invariably involves negotiating traffic.

Most of my routes to get to trails require riding down the path along the river to get out of town, so nope, no traffic. Maybe a walker once every km.

tenfoot

You can't beat peace and quiet, birds singing, and the sound of tyres rolling on whatever surface you happen to be on.

That's music to my ears 8)

lochussie

What most peope have said. I love the sound that a soft DH tyre makes, esp when you really load it round a berm.

daccordimark

The whole point of cycling for me is to get away from the man made and enjoy nature so music is a definite no-no even on the (infrequent) ride to work.