Listening to music whilst out on a ride

I do too, but only in one ear (left closest to the kerb) and not too loud. I have no problems hearing what is around me.

I also use cyclemeter on my iphone which I have set up to give notifications about distance - its useful to know how far you have cycled, its a good tool to keep going.

I don't see why listening to music would be illegal in itself, I suppose if you had an accident 'without due care and attention' might stick I suppose.

+1 andy's comments - I too use only the left ear when
out on my own. tend not to use the ipod when in a group
though !

I don't personally but it is not illegal just frowned upon by some, i don't care either way.

I would love to listen to music but I think it is total madness. There are enough inches of press devoted to cycling accidents without making a positive attempt to increase them. When riding (IMHO) your ears are as important as your eyes and I certainly wouldn't advocate riding with both eyes shut - or even one come to that.

I have a friend, Matt, who I know from my gym who told me he listened to music whilst cycling in London. I told him I thought it was a seriously bad idea. He laughed in my face at my advice, sort of suggesting I needed to chill out a bit.

I didn't see him at my gym for a couple of months.

Bumped into him again in the sauna.

Me "Where've you been hiding? Been on holiday?"

Matt "I broke my right arm badly in a collision with a car. Also landed on my head and had stitches in my forehead. I remember what you said about not listening to music."

True story. He has a MASSIVE scar on the back of his right arm where the doctors have inserted a plate and screws in his upper arm. Listen to music when you get home. It's not that important. Even if you have it low, I think it is possibly the distraction rather than the volume which is more of a problem.

I guess there will still be people who read this and think, that won't happen to me. Why take the risk though? He readily admits that he may have spotted the car if he hadn't been immersed in his ipod music.

hmmm, mixed bag of opinion. if i was cycling in central london i don't think i'd have headphones on to be honest.

i listen to music all the time, have done for the last 25+ years, i've never noticed how much more dangerous the roads are when i plug myself in, i rely on my eyes a lot more than my ears whether i'm listening to music or not, it can be hard to hear a car with 20mph wind in your ears

do those who say listening to music on a bike is dangerous and distracting also not turn the radio on in the car and then wind the windows down, or do they use their eyes to see what's going on?

all the accidents (some involving hospital visits and surgery) i've had have been while i've not been listening to music, just to add that to the anecdotal mix

Think that's overstating it a bit! I imagine you cycle at night, when your vision is severely reduced? Listening to music is a personal choice of course, but it doesn't have to render you completely deaf, it has to be used wisely i.e not in heavy traffic and actually is quite motivational when riding solo.

IME perfectly safe to listen to music as long a conditions are right. Never been hit by a car in 15 years of riding with headphones..

Frantically searching for some wood to touch..

I ride around Shropshire for both fun and training. Music would cut me off from the world and negatively impact on the experience of being out there, which I find important and beneficial for my mental well-being.

In town or busy traffic I wouldn't think it a good idea to be 'in a world of your own' and I don't see any point in half-listening to music - all or nothing. But I can only speak for myself; perhaps other people find listening to stuff doesn't affect how they ride...

I don't. I think that the music is either distracting, or you are concentrating on other things (traffic/potholes/lights/effort/technique etc etc) such that your brain can end up tuning out the music anyway.

I tried on a pair of those shockwave thingies at the bike and tri show in Manchester. They are bone conduction devices that sit just forward of the ear and enable you to hear music while leaving the ears uncovered. However, I found that the music could still drown out ambient sound (dependent entirely on volume), and unless you held the speakers against the bone, there was no bass whatsoever. Without bass, there's less rhythm, and therefore less point.

Interesting story about Londonplayer's mate. I expect that in any incident, it would be more difficult to explain that you could indeed hear the car coming (appreciate that he didn't) - we get enough stick about hi-viz/road tax/cycle lanes/helmets as it is.

Pretty sure if I'd been listening to music on my commute on a quiet back road near Rotherhithe a few years back I wouldn't have heard the lorry fly tipping out of sight round the corner I was approaching (or at least it wouldn't have registered as quickly), and I wouldn't have thought, 'hang on, something's not right' and slowed down.

I'm also pretty sure I would have been right in its path when it came screaming round the corner moments later had I not slowed down thanks to what my ears were telling me.

It all comes down to personal choice, based on perceived level of risk and where you ride etc. My personal view is that I'd never do it. I take the point about car radios but you're slightly more exposed sat on a bunch of carbon/metal tubes than in a car with numerous safety features.

I can't help but think some riders like to have one earphone in just to look that bit more 'pro'. They should get bonus points for the surgical tape and for talking into the wire/pretend mic.

I can't help thinking what difference it would make wether you can hear a vehicle coming up on you from behind.
If it's being driven properly the driver is going to pass you safely. If it's being driven by a moron it's going to side swipe you or worse.

Post edited. The wind in your ears means it doesn't matter most of the time anyway whether you have headphones in or not. As others have said, if someones going to hit you by driving dangerously there's precious little you can do about it anyway.

This debate seems to have analogies to the Helmet Debate (sorry for swearing). I guess if you're cycling on quiet country roads, it's possibly just about OK. But as anyone has cycled in London, or any other busy urban area, will tell you, you need every chance you can get to stay out of the way of the bad drivers.

I knew someone who was deaf who listed one of their reasons for not cycling as because she didn't like the idea of cycling without being able to hear anything.

I use a pair of sports bluetooth headphones that I can pause the music by jabbing aimlessly at my right ear. They're also vented/open backed so even at full volume you can hear road noises, upcoming cars - even the noise of someones chain if they've sneaked up behind you.

not normally in heavy traffic though, it's just not worth it.

and never on group rides, just seems rude and you miss the banter

Don't tend to anymore (no reason) but kind of miss it.
Remember having a fairly clear descent down Dyke Road Ave at the end of the Brighton 100 one year with Iggy's 'Search and Destroy' up to 11.

Anyone who rides a bike listening to music,is a pratt,to darn dangerous.A good friend of mine who was my 2up TT partner whilst racing for East Surrey RC,has sadly gone deaf and needs to wear 2 hearing aids,and he says he had to stop riding because he finds it hard to hear anything coming from behind!How can you be concentrating on your ride if you are listening to hard rock or whatever?

Quite easily, the same way I can drive a car with the stereo on, whilst talking to passengers. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference - I personally feel comfortable with one earphone, it doesn't affect my spacial awareness or hazard perception, it just gives a bit of nicer background noise when I am on my own.

There is a difference between a single in ear earphone and massive headphones blaring IMO.

my sentiments entirely, its not as if you suddenly become invisible to motorists as soon as you plug the earphones in

Anyone who rides a bike listening to music,is a pratt"
bit harsh i feel

IMHO I think that sometimes not hearing how fast & how close the cars go past you is safer, also you don't hear the mindless comments shouted at you by the phlebs...

Very valid point(s)

My final points on the matter: As cyclists we already get bad press for being RLJ-ing lycra louts. Of course it's all bollocks but I don't feel like giving them another excuse for the short-sighted, bigoted and vitriolic bullshit that Clarkson, fat Yorkshire chef whose name escapes me and Dailywhail columnists spout. Even if you are the innocent party, I can just imagine them using the earphone line as ammunition in the event of an accident. Could it be brought up in an insurance claim and jeopardise your protection?

I don't commute by bike much so I might have a different view to others but I ride to disconnect from the usual clutter of life and will certainly not be syncing my Garmin with my phone/ipod with my earphones and do't want real time strava/ weather reports or texts bothering me. It all seems a bit....unnecessary.

I find that wind and traffic noise is so load anyway that I could not effectively listen to music without it being load enough to be a distraction. I would rather listen to music properly at home.

I can see people have a right to listen to whatever they want but the extra awareness of cars approaching from the rear that can be important, I wouldn't do it.

Anyway I have what I like to call my organic ipod available at all times, it has up to 5000 songs available although the memory buffer often get stuck in a loop. I had Seven Nation Army on it today, went on for about 12 minutes.

to be honest fella i couldn't give a shit what anyone thinks.....if i did i wouldn't be cutting about in lycra , fair point though

'he had to stop riding because he finds it hard to hear anything coming from behind!'

Is he blind too? Poor chap.

If someone is going to drive into you, they're going to do it whether you can hear them or not. If you're going to move into someone's path without looking, then you're an idiot.

I can see why you might want to do it on a long daily commute on quiet roads but in busy traffic its surely asking for trouble. Apart from not being able to hear the traffic the bigger danger is being distracted from the task of concentrating on the dangers of the road: Oh, this is such a great track, it was so great live.... cue drift off into a reminisce of a great night and fail to notice a pedestrian stepping between vehicles or whatever. Not worth the risk

'being distracted from the task of concentrating on the dangers of the road'

only likely for the very feeble-minded, I would have thought.

i'm typing this whilst listening to music and don't just stand there let's get to it, strike a pose, there's nothing to it's not a problem, my brain is perfectly able to cope with a few things at once without being distracted

The lorry driver who ran over Mary Bowers was on a hands free mobile phone. Distracted?

Not the same thing really

Someone pointed me in the direction of these the other day: http://www.aftershokz.co.uk/Bone-Conduction-Headphones-AfterShokz-s/1818...
Terrible, terrible name, but apparently they do work quite well. I've always been wary of wearing headphones on a ride, even on quiet roads. I do like to have all my senses available to be aware of my surroundings.... but when you've got a lot of shit going through your head, sometimes you need to block it out with music.

No Andyp,he is not blind,he was a really good club rider,and if he feels because of having to wear 2 hearing aids,and finds them a distraction when cycling and decided to pack in,who are we to criticise?We were young lads when we first raced together,unmarried and travelled all over Time Trialing,now both 66yrs old,I hope you have as much fun out of cycling as we have had,me I,m looking forward to a new season,my Pal he goes Birdwatching!Anyone who listens to music whilst cycling is a PRATT!!

Another comedy cycling debate like helmet wearing and wearing non-fluro jackets, those that do it think it's fine those that don't think it's ridiculous.

For me cycling is about getting away from the normal drone of everyday life so I don't want to listen to music, if you do go for it.

'who are we to criticise?'
'Anyone who listens to music whilst cycling is a PRATT!!'

Oh, the irony.

Ha Ha... Was just thinking that

No disrespect to your mate foxyloxy but at first, I thought this was anecdotal evidence about having the ipod on too loud.

I use to do it when I first started my 4 mile commute on my old (and too small) MTB, but as I got more and more into cycling and started doing longer rides I stopped because a) I like to just ride, look at the scenery of the surrey B roads an just relax more and b) I could always guarantee that at least 1 ear bud would fall out every mile for whatever reason leading to more annoyance. I can see why people like to, I use to but i can also see the dangerous part and why people don't.

I got hit by a bus a few years ago while on my motorbike and the driver had a hands free phone ear piece in.

Was he distracted because of this? maybe but no more than driving a car whilst talking on an in car phone or listening to music.

I personally don't like to listen to music while out riding, nothing to do with safety, i just like the sounds when Im out riding.
I do like to listen to music while driving the car though. guess that makes me a PRATT!! sorry for the shouting and over use of exclamation marks

So basically your right and anyone who disagrees is a PRATT. Quite a small minded attitude really..... Different generation I suppose

Not at all. A fondness for sweeping generalisations can be a life-long habit.

(But maybe you'll grow out of it. )

There ain't no sweeter music than tyre on tarmac.

Hearing a maniac screaming out of a blind turn into my left shoulder. Or a truck speeding up to do a left hook in front of my face. Not so sweet, but nicer to hear than not so I can do something about it.

If your music isn't distracting, then it probably isn't worth listening to. Just saying.

I have those headphones that go right in your ears and listen to metal on full volume most of the time when commuting. It blocks out the background noise of all the shit going on around me and helps me keep a rhythm and concentrate on what I'm doing and avoiding getting squashed. I can still hear motor vehicles quite clearly due to their lower frequency and sheer volume.

Going out for a ride is a completely different matter and I would never where headphones, but this is when my mind is more likely to wander.

as much as i love the general feeling of immersion and zen that comes from being out on the bike, there are times in the depths of winter at 5.30am when i need something to distract me from the hour long ride to work in pissing rain, pitch black and howling wind. at this point, a decent soundtrack can work wonders and enables me to maintain motivation and get the miles in. i compensate for the slight reduction in auditory awareness by looking behind a lot more. it's not ideal, but there is no tangible reduction in safety. you can see headlights behind and in front, and at the side (and it's invariably dark). of the 'accidents' i've had, driver error has been the cause and there isn't anything i could have done to avoid them, even if i was using an ipod at the time, which i wasn't.

in summer, when life is better and nature provides a more compelling and cheery soundtrack i tend to not use the ipod.

i fear for the general level of bike handling and awareness people have if they think they're going to suddenly become street pizza on account of blasting out a few Susan Boyle tracks on their commute.

^That, +1.

Windless days, silent bike, flying.

People that listen to Susan Boyle deserve to be run over

Ha Ha

IMHO riding my bikes around London and South East England is either an exercise in tilting the odds towards survival as much as possible, or a matter of enjoying it.

Busy roads, even on Boris blue lanes, are dangerous places (partly due to reckless cyclists) and I'll take every 0.1% advantage I can get. I've been properly mashed once in ten years of regular riding and despite a great service from the NHS its not good, probably with lifelong future joint problems. Dozens of less lucky cyclists have died - the pedestrians and cyclists will always come off worse in a wrestle with a big lump of steel. The human brain is very good at picking up clues and processing them instantly on a "System 1" automatic level, so I don't want to compromise any of that.

Out in the sticks I can't see the point of even partly cutting off the environment, the breeze in the trees, the joy of the birds twittering away whilst winching up a quiet climb, the patter of footsteps as a hedgehog overtakes me etc etc. And, the possible early warning of a mechanical problem from a change in bike noises.

So for me no headphones on the road and personally I would lobby for all of you out there to keep your ears peeled as well when out on the public highway, or on towpaths etc.

Keeps you safer, keeps everyone else safer.

It's not for me, I love the whole sounds of nature and rush of the wind and tyres on tarmac thing. What do you listen to and why do you prefer it?

I listen to music on the rollers (gotta find some way to entertain yourself) but, for me, on the road music's a no-no. I get enough entertainment from the world around me and, even if I was bored to death, safety first! Rather bored than dead!!!

Anyone tried aftershokz they conduct the music through the bone near your ear?

Yes, I tried them. Sound quality was lacking. You only get bass if you hold the speakers against the bone with your fingers, which would defeat the point. Also, the volume was either too low to hear against the ambient noise, or loud enough to drown out other sounds. Neither is good.

One of the lads in the club wears one earphone when riding. On Sunday, he and another lad took the wrong exit off a big major roundabout. I shouted into the wind, and the other lad heard me (maybe 50 metres away). He shouted repeatedly at maximum volume to the earphone wearer less than 2 metres in front of him. No response. That was the last time we saw him. One lad tried calling his phone. The other 6 of us regrouped and took the correct exit.

Surprised at the number of people condemning headphones as dangerous. Car drivers, pedestrians and even motorcyclists listen to music, don't see what the big deal is.

Nothing beats storming uphill to a decent dance track - great for your rhythm, motivation and keeping up the pace

let's not allow the health and safety police to take another one of life's pleasures away!

As some people have mentioned wind noise is sufficiently loud to be a major problem when going at reasonable speeds on country roads. That is why I'm thinking of getting a mirror. After all no-one would dream of driving a car without one, so why go on a bike without one, although I have been for 44 years. Used to have an iPhone on max volume in my back pocket occasionally but could only hear it if I turned my head a bit, which shows how loud wind noise is, especially compared to modern quiet cars.

i don't listen to music, but when i have my head band on over my ears in this cold weather I can't hear a bloody thing with all the the wind noise added in.

Commuting: no way I would listen to music. Morning traffic over here is distracting enough as is.
Training/Rec: Of course! Get a little adrenaline from a great song, catch up on NPR (BBC Radio over here), or listen to what's going to be coming up on you schedule-wise.

I have to say, the concern over the image of cyclists as a whole is impressive. If you really think about it, where else is there such a large community (with loose to no ties to each other) so concerned with their public image?

Ipersonally dont wear them as they hurt my ears but i found this after searching.

A spokeswoman from Gwent Police’s road safety division says: "There is no law specifically banning the use of earphones while driving."

However, the use of earphones at the wheel would fall under the Road Traffic Act offence of not being in control of a vehicle. .

"It would be up to the officer at the roadside to judge whether they thought the driver's control was impaired by the use of earphones or any other activity such as changing a CD or smoking.

"If a driver listening to earphones was involved in a collision then they could face charges under the more serious offence of dangerous driving."

Also, section 148 of the Highway Code states: "Safe driving and riding needs concentration. Avoid distractions when driving or riding such as loud music (this may mask other sounds)."

I appreciate this is in connection with a car / motorbike but i thought it might clear things up a bit.

Of course you do realise that your comments are falling on deaf ears

I ride alone,Im courteous and aware on the road always looking behind, i dont take risks but do i want to hear the screech of tyres of someone just about to send me to kingdom come? Nah rather be pounding away to ACDC's Highway to hell meself if someones gonna hit you they are gonna hit you and its true that without headphones the rush of the wind in your ears inhibits your hearing anyhow! Guess i fall into the Pratt catagorie.

I wouldn't do it. I use my eyes of course, but my ears as well to know what is happening around me. In winter I rug up and often have my ears covered. I dislike it. Personal preference of course. If someone I was riding with was listening to music instead of my amazingly gripping and interesting stories I would send them to the front so that they at least shield me from the wind. If they weren't going to do that, I would drop them and ride on my own - they are of no use to me...