listening to music/newstalk on the road

kinaldo

I've been criticized for this by a couple of people and am wondering what the general consensus is here amongst the boards cycling community.

Bicky

I would always have newstalk or the last word on while i am cycling. I know it is a stupid thing to do but cycling can get tedious.

pokypoky

wheres the "I'm not foolish enough to cycle with headphones on option" this poll is as rigged as a fishing trawler

Funsterdelux

I prefer to have all my senses operating while on the 2 wheels, there are too many idiots on the road to risk it.

dalk

Personally, I find that listening to music on the road distracting. I find myself listening to the music rather than paying attention to whats going on around, so I don't do it anymore. The loss of surrounding sounds never bothered me.

Trojan

kinaldo wrote:

I've been criticized for this by a couple of people and am wondering what the general consensus is here amongst the boards cycling community.

My opinion is that a lot of people are very quick to criticise it without having tried themself or forming their argument based on any facts.

I wouldn't come through bumper to bumper traffic town at 6.20 with music on, but in a lot of conditions for me it's just fine. Depends on wind conditions (volume), type of headphones (blocking or non), content type (some require less concentration), and very importantly the road and traffic conditions.

youcancallmeal

I like to think I'm a very aware cyclist, i.e. always checking behind when going around cars in cycle lanes so I don't pull out in front of traffic. Since I've started cycling in and out of Dublin city center 6 years ago I've always listened to headphones. I don't feel it affects my ability to be a safe road user and I've never been in a situation where it has compromised my safety. That said I think its an acquired skill, for example if I was coming up to a busy junction I just automatically tune out the noise from my headphones and concentrate on whats happening around me. Happens a lot where I might be listening for a weather report or whatever only to find I missed it cos I was concentrating on the road.

tywy

I listen to my iriver on the way in and out of college. I'm not driving in traffic for the most part so it's grand. I also keep the volume down so I can still hear enough of what's goin on around me.

kinaldo

pokypoky wrote:

wheres the "I'm not foolish enough to cycle with headphones on option"

I'm guessing that would be applicable to the 'none of the above' option, yet I can't help but find that comment to be a little too ironic coming from a serial road offender such as yourself.

cardshark202

I love all these comments: "I like to think I'm safe enough that it doesn't affect me" Bollocks to that. It's dangerous for obvious reasons. These threads do nothing when there is no option to vote against reckless cycling.

leeroybrown

Personally I wouldn't listen to music or the radio while cycling. My reasoning for this I'm generally in a position where I'm a slower vehicle being overtaken from behind. I think my hearing is a very useful asset in this situation. That said as Trojan points out there are situations where it is far less of an issue and as someone will eventually point out in a discussion like this "deaf people can cycle too".

Interesting cyclists aren't the only iPod users I have seen on the road. In the last year or so I've occasionally observed the phenomenon of young car drivers listening to an iPod while driving. What would Martin Cullen say...

kinaldo

cardshark202 wrote:

I love all these comments: "I like to think I'm safe enough that it doesn't affect me" Bollocks to that. It's dangerous for obvious reasons. These threads do nothing when there is no option to vote against reckless cycling.

kinaldo wrote:

am wondering what the general consensus is here amongst the boards cycling community.

see how I worded that to exclude the opinion of trollers like yourself?

Capt'n Midnight

I used to use headphones for a while, not over my ears, just behind them so you you still got directionality from external sounds.

TBH. I think that motorists are the ones we have to remove from their sound proof cacoons. There should be a maximum reduction of sound in a car, and a maximum level for the radio. So it would be illegal to have sound so loud that you could not hear an emergency service vehicle within 300m. It would be to sell or use make a car where the sound of a legally approved cyclists bell could not be heard at 40mph on typical road surface.

while on the subject of bells - can we get the powers that be to remove a requirement for a bicycle bell OR make it a requirement that motorists wouldn't block out so much sound that they could not hear it.

Most people in this country do NOT own cars, yet they are the ones kept awake at night by sirens that have to be made louder to break through the soundproofing of cars.

sonic juice

indeed.

wwhyte

For long rides in the country, I've done it occasionally (though the earphones get a little annoying after a couple of hours). For rides in the city, never.

Cabaal

Funsterdelux wrote:

I prefer to have all my senses operating while on the 2 wheels, there are too many idiots on the road to risk it.

think your taking your life in your hands using headphones while cycling imho

Trojan

cardshark202 wrote:

I love all these comments: "I like to think I'm safe enough that it doesn't affect me" Bollocks to that. It's dangerous for obvious reasons. These threads do nothing when there is no option to vote against reckless cycling.

"You're all stupid and I'm right, and I choose not to back it up because it's obvious."

Membrane

So what's a good affordable MP3 player to get suitable for use on the bike?

I've been thinking about getting one for my exercise rides through the Wicklow mountains. No traffic to mention to worry about, in those conditions I have music playing in my head to keep my brain alive anyway, so I may as well get a player.

I'm not looking to spend a lot of money, it needs to havea solid state memory (flash I presume), have at least 512Mb capacity, shuffle mode is essential, and preferably have a clip so that I can attach it in a position where I can reach the controls without having to do acrobatics by fishing it out of my jersey's back pocket, have USB1 interface (or be backward compatible with it), preferably while connected to my PC it would be available as a drive so that I can simply use a file manager to drag and drop and delete songs from & to it, and have a rechargable battery. Not sure if it is attainable, but it would be great if I could get about 5 hours usage before it runs out of power.

Civilian_Target

Hell - there's loads of reasons its unsafe. You're reducing your ability to hear potential danger from behind you, you're promoting a reduction in road awareness by concentrating on the radio/music and affects your balance.

kinaldo

I've very suprised at these results. For over 2 years I've done a lot of cycling in and around town and the suburbs but have never felt at all unsafe with headphones on. The most danger I find is busy roads littered with drains and potholes, and crazy jaywalking pedestrians.

blorg

Used to do it more in the past, these days generally only on off-road cycle paths or (maybe) very quiet roads in the countryside, don't feel safe using headphones on the road with traffic. Part of this is the reduced awareness but I honestly think the (car) traffic in Dublin has got a _lot_ more dangerous over the last ten years. I can honestly say that of all the places I've cycled Dublin has by far the worst drivers (Lisbon is the only place that was worse.)