Originally Posted by
rekmeyata
....However after saying all of that personally I would NEVER wear any type of earplug or headphone while riding a bike, I think it's unsafe because you end up blocking a certain percentage of the outside world which could lead to an accident because it prevented you from hearing potential danger even if you think you can outsmart the problem by either turning down the volume so low you might as well have it off, or just use one earplug and thus keeping the other ear open, either way you still obstruct important sounds that you could have heard earlier and taken evasive action sooner. In addition to that, again personally, I cannot enjoy good quality music listening to it through headphones or earbuds because part of sound is also about feeling it and headphones deprive you of that sensation, which is another reason why I'm not a fan of small speakers.
Thank you. I thought I was going to be the only nay-sayer. As much as I love my own tunes I would never consider listening to my music while riding my bike down the road ( or paved bike path ) because of the very reasons you already stated.
On a bike, you're too vulnerable. Listening to the ambient sounds going on around you is paramount to protecting your a** when you're riding a bike. If you have music blasting away you are going to be sound deaf to the things around you that just might kill you or possibly cause you to hurt someone else. Heck, I wouldn't want music playing on a mountain bike ride either because to me mountain biking is not just about the ride but about being in a special environment where I can enjoy nature ( including the sounds of nature ). Besides, I can listen to music almost any time I want. The time I get to ride my bike is so special to me that if I included music to my rides...well, it wouldn't make it so special anymore. This kind of reminds me of all the people I see in cars riding around with video ( movies ) going. Whenever I see this I just think to myself, "What!, you can't watch enough T.V. when you're home that you have to watch it while driving down the road!
I love music and video but I'm not so addicted to it that I have to watch or listen to it constantly. Sometimes silence is golden. Sadly the person hooked on media entertainment isn't going to know that.