Riding with headphones
-
I rode with my bluetooth earbuds in tonight. It was a much better and different experience, and I'm definitely going to do it every night now. Usually I get all the questions everyone gets and end up having to stop at a light for longer than I want to. Tonight it was just me and me and the OW. I had to be extra careful, just to watch out for traffic a little more and of course I couldn't hear the motor starting to whine when I hit top speed, but it was well worth it. I could tell people were trying to engage me a couple times, but I either just flew right by or pointed quizzically at my ears. I wouldn't do it during the day, when there is a ton of a traffic to contend with, but at night I highly recommend it... unless you get hit by a car. If that happens, I don't know what you were thinking...
-
@sidebox I cycle (road & mtb) and snowboard with headphones - my snow helmet even has headphones built into the earpieces
Music helps you focus and stay in the groove - also running a black (double black diamond state side i think) with some epic chase music from a films score really improves the experience.
I would say wear headphones like the apple ear pods - ones that let sound through so you get the music but can still hear cars, I think bone conducting headphones would also be good for this reason
-
I use this nifty little thing which allows me to listen to music, point to it and fake a phone call to avoid chatting with onlookers, (unless I am in the mood to stop) cuts down on wind noise on that side and allows you to still monitor your surroundings with the other ear. It also functions really well as a Bluetooth phone.
-
@sidebox I agree... my riding is sooo much more enjoyable with music playing.
I got these bone conductive (non-in-ear) bluetooth headphones on sale at Best Buy last week:
AfterShokz - Bluez 2 Behind-the-Neck Bluetooth Headphones - Black
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/aftershokz-bluez-2-behind-the-neck-bluetooth-headphones-black/9347004.p?id=1219405800081&skuId=9347004
And I'm really liking them a lot.
I find them extremely comfortable because they sit on my cheek, not in my ear, they fit below my helmet, I can still hear my surroundings (if I don't turn them up too loud), and they're really easy to just push a button on and turn off to talk to gawkers.
The sound quality isn't super-awesome, but it's not bad either, and mostly I just need the sound to keep me happy and "in the groove".
