Music when riding

Jason82

Personally I find listening to an Ipod less distracting than daydreaming and listening to songs in your head which is what I do if I don't have an ipod.

beeroclock

Sorry - but I disagree - when listening to music one can not fail to be distracted by the music itself, a certain passage in a song taking your mind off what you are doing.

This is not the same a deaf person - who by the nature of their impediment is more in tune with their other senses.

Jason82

beeroclock wrote:

Sorry - but I disagree - when listening to music one can not fail to be distracted by the music itself, a certain passage in a song taking your mind off what you are doing.

This is not the same a deaf person - who by the nature of their impediment is more in tune with their other senses.

Distracted enough not to see a big metal box on wheels? I have never been and I can still hear traffic with music on aswell as wind. I would hate to see some of you people driving, you can't hear traffic from inside a car unless you have the windows open.

walsht1105

if you use headphones while riding on the road you have made a decision that deaf person cannot make.

No one is saying because you listen to headphones you shouldnt ride on the road, it's your decision to make - if you want to impair you hearing that you could late need to rely on to avoid an accident then you can do it.. But you can't defend your decision as if its a sensible one to make! After your eyes, your ears are the most important tool when getting a feel for the traffic behind you. In some cases your hearing will mean you don't have to look over your shoulder so it can be the first sense you rely on.

By ristricting your hearing your taking a risk, simple!

So in answer to the OP: Listening to headphones is a risk that some are prepared to take but most are not. You may not rely on your hearing as much as your eyes, but anything that COULD help you make a decison that COULD save your life is a good thing to have, right?

Jason82

walsht1105 wrote:

So in answer to the OP: Listening to headphones is a risk that some are prepared to take but most are not.

I take it you have done a survey to find this out have you? Or are you just talking complete b*llocks lIke the rest of the music can kill you brigade?

MancMissile

My conclusion after a ride is tunes on in my left ear (not too loud) and nothing in the right ear. I could hear cars coming up behind me perfectly well and benefited from some quality tunes to help me up the climbs.

Jason82

MancMissile wrote:

My conclusion after a ride is tunes on in my left ear (not too loud) and nothing in the right ear. I could hear cars coming up behind me perfectly well and benefited from some quality tunes to help me up the climbs.

Good man you definatly need some help on long climbs.

walsht1105

Jason82 wrote:

walsht1105 wrote:

So in answer to the OP: Listening to headphones is a risk that some are prepared to take but most are not.

I take it you have done a survey to find this out have you? Or are you just talking complete b*llocks lIke the rest of the music can kill you brigade?

Yes, my survey has been carried out over a year of cycling on the road, 3-5 times a week for up to 6hours at a time. I will see the odd cyclist with their Ipod in but the majority do not.

I find it funny that the 'listening to music through headphones when cycling on the road is fine brigade' can't just admit that they are prepared to take the risk to enhance their enjoyment!

Impair/Lose your sense of hearing to listen to music OR have the extra sense of hearing your surroundings to help you make a more informed decision that MAY save your life

You could ride all your life with headphones in and not have a problem, doesn't mean it's not a risk

MountainMonster

walsht1105 wrote:

Jason82 wrote:

walsht1105 wrote:

So in answer to the OP: Listening to headphones is a risk that some are prepared to take but most are not.

I take it you have done a survey to find this out have you? Or are you just talking complete b*llocks lIke the rest of the music can kill you brigade?

Yes, my survey has been carried out over a year of cycling on the road, 3-5 times a week for up to 6hours at a time. I will see the odd cyclist with their Ipod in but the majority do not.

I find it funny that the 'listening to music through headphones when cycling on the road is fine brigade' can't just admit that they are prepared to take the risk to enhance their enjoyment!

Impair/Lose your sense of hearing to listen to music OR have the extra sense of hearing your surroundings to help you make a more informed decision that MAY save your life

You could ride all your life with headphones in and not have a problem, doesn't mean it's not a risk

TBH, if you don't see a car, hearing it will only make you panic a bit as you don't know where it is coming from, or what direction it is heading. I can't count how many riders i've seen out on their own, they hear a car coming up behind them, stiffen up and automatically swerve around trying to avoid a car they don't even seen.

I'll take my chances, never had a crash due to headphones, and even with them in, I look over my shoulder about every 20 seconds to be aware of my surroundings.

I may be taking a "risk" as you say, but at 40kmh the only thing your going to hear is wind, and maybe a lorry if it slams on its brakes behind you.

SLX01

What exactly are we supposed to be listening out for? I can see everything in front of me and if I move off my riding line I look over my shoulder. The only thing you can hear is overtaking cars which go past every few seconds, do cars that are going to hit you sound any different to careful ones?

tonynicholls

Peddle Up! wrote:

Must....... resist....... posting....... to......... "done to death topic".

Too late! :roll:

If nothing else convinces you not to listen to music on a ride, think about this...

You might be knocked off by an electric car.

How would that feel?

Shocking!

I'll get my coat...

MountainMonster

Lol you guys who say that riding with headphones are such a danger are serious a laugh. Your probably also the ones supporting "health and safety" as you british love to call it. I call it over-protective government parentism.

jonny_trousers

Isn't the issue more the distraction element rather than the impaired hearing one? Listening to music through headphones cocoons you into your own little bubble of detachment in a way that listening to music through a car stereo, for example, does not (there are cyclist specific headphones available on the market specifically designed to counteract this issue).

I ride in London traffic so personally, I want to have all of my senses looking out for me. Say that you can cover your sensory bases satisfactorily with sight (and smell lol) alone, by all means, but suggest you are just as aware of what is going on around you while listening to music through your headphones and I will have to suggest you are talking out of your backside.

The issue of using music to motivate yourself is an entirely different one. I'm pretty certain there will be countless studies that show listening to certain types of music can increase/decrease your productivity and so from a training perspective, if you can listen to Rammstein while you hammer a particularly tricky hill without putting yourself or anyone else in danger, then I'm sure that would have its benefits.

MountainMonster

You do realise distraction happens on a very very regular basis with cyclists? Thinking of anything other than what you are doing is called a distraction. Some get distracted by what they see, look at an object too long and it becomes your focus. The only way to truely never be dtstracted is to never have a brain in the first place, so this whole "distraction" arguement doesn't comr into play for me.

Of course, though, it depends on where you ride. Center of london, yeah could understand not wearing headphones. While out riding where I do, where you go through 2 villages in a 120km ride, not so much a worry. The problen is the commuters in big cities automatically assume that because it doesn't work for them, everyone else is automatically wrong.

Canny Jock

If you've got headphones in, how can you hear the sneaky drafter on your wheel and leave them for dead while pretending not to know they were there :-)

CRAIGO5000

Wearing one headphone in your left ear isn't a huge distraction imo if you're a half decent cyclist.

I nearly had an old dear ride into me as I was riding in the cycle lane on the way to work last week. She approached a junction on my left on the wrong side of the road and then continued to make her turn right into my cycle lane - head on into my path! If I didn't have my up tempo drum & bass on then I'd have likely still been asleep and not noticed her intentions in order to make my evasive manoeuvre. (which included a glance over the shoulder)

[perspective]
Listening to music won't kill you, inexperienced kamikaze riders probably will though...

Listening to music won't kill you, falling off your bike head first into a kerb without a helmet on probably will though...

Listening to music won't kill you, smoking 40 cigs a day for 30 years probably will though...
[/perspective]

whitestar1

MountainMonster wrote:

Eyes are the most important sense, I rely on them, by looking over my shoulder and being smart when crossing intersections. So yes, I do ride with headphones in.

I rely on my eyes too. Depending on noise isn't enough. Must confess I listen to my ipod too.

ollyridesfirst

MountainMonster wrote:

Eyes are the most important sense, I rely on them, by looking over my shoulder and being smart when crossing intersections. So yes, I do ride with headphones in.

Absolutely agree with this.....I ride to work with headphones in and have the music loud! It makes me more aware of what is going on around me by using my eyes more! Surely that makes me a better cyclist when on the longer rides with groups as i still use my eyes just as much, but have my ears too? Some people just aren't comfortable having music on while they ride, others can't use clipless pedals etc.....it's all personal preference!

Next thing, you'll be saying blind people shouldn't be able to cycle! :roll:

dawebbo

I want to hear more about this riding by smell. Do you feel more vunerable if you have a cold or a bad bout of hay fever?

Peddle Up!

Use the force Luke. :roll: :roll:

plowmar

Peddle up wrote

Must....... resist....... posting....... to......... "done to death topic".

Too late! Rolling Eyes

If nothing else convinces you not to listen to music on a ride, think about this...

You might be knocked off by an electric car.

How would that feel?

Shocking?