indyfabz

In some jurisdictions. Here in Philly you are technically required to have a bell or some other devise capable of producing a sound audible for a certain distance, but you may not use a whistle or siren. My guess is that last part was included a long time ago to prevent confusion with police officers.

noglider 

GlennR you seem to be saying the cause of your being sideswiped is the road condition (too narrow). Am I right? If so, I recommend you take the lane in those places, and use a mirror. Don’t let people try to overtake you where there isn’t room.

noglider 

Yes, and it’s not only required, it’s also a good idea. If you try it, you will see what I mean. I have eight bikes, and each one has a bell, except for our tandem, which has two.

Seattle Forrest

I'm always grateful when other people have the opportunity to ride with me.

mstateglfr 

Its law in some places, but not most. At least thats what ive seen from very infrequent reading. It certainly isnt a law where I live or where I have lived(IA, IL, MS).

Bells are fine by me for sure. They are quite obvious when someone approaches from behind.

spelger

not to be a nit picker but what does "until not too recently" mean exactly? ear buds are just head phones that fit into your ears. and head phones have been around a very long time. i'm pretty sure folks have been riding with head phones/ear buds for in excess of 40 years.

MattTheHat 

I meant in the last 20-30 years or so. People have been riding bicycles for a heck of a lot longer.

Athens80

To be a nitpicker, the Walkman was first released 40 years ago. Was it common to ride around listening to a Walkman 40 years ago? Those headphones rested lightly on the ears, and certainly didn't shut out ambient sound. The old style headphones were big and had 1/4" cable connectors to hook up to your home quadraphonic amplifier and reel to reel tape deck. No one was riding around headphones listening to their stereo 40+ years ago - their extension cords were not long enough to keep them powered.

spelger

Remembering the Sony Walkman | Like Totally 80s

i guess to continue to nitpick...the gold Walkman at the top of the page is what i rode around with. 3.5mm plug with head phones that fit into your ear, not the large head phones you elude to. this thing was so sweet i practically had this thing on all day every day. a mechanical marvel with spectacular audio. with no cassette inside it was nearly the same size as a cassette in its little case as the photo shows. so that was 1982 (before i searched it up i though '83). that is nearly 40 years ago. prior to that, many years in fact, i had a transistor radio (dating myself?) with a simple crystal earpiece while riding, not the best audio by far but adequate for the times.

https://www.jameco.com/z/FEL-971102-...oaAmCtEALw_wcB

diphthong

truth.

Princess_Allez

I ride with earbuds in. I use the Shure se215. They have a wire to connect both buds. They work great. I also have tried the Samsung galaxy buds, and those too are nice.

If I'm on a section of road where there's no shoulder or dedicated bike lane, I'll pop the left bud out to listen to traffic. I do, however, also use a Garmin Varia radar that's synced to my wrist watch and head unit. The watch will vibrate (in case I miss the head unit notification). The head unit tells me how many cars are approaching, their relative distance and relative speed. I do head-checks, over my shoulder, whenever necessary. I find my spatial awareness to be more in tune than others. I feel confident and safe using both earbuds, but just for absolute safety I will occasionally only use one earbud.

Miele Man

I wear hearing aids that fit just inside the ear not deep inside the ear canal. I can NOT wear them when riding the bicycle even at slow speed due to the wind noise. I use to let them dangle around my neck via two cords one in front of my neck and the other behind it. Saturday a loop on the hearing aid let go and I lost it when the two cords disconnected from it.

I would not wear anything that would lessen ambient sounds or possible distract me when riding my bicycle.

Cheers

jackb

I ride with a bell and use it when ever I encounter pedestrians or cyclists on an MUP or on the street. Often people do not hear it because they have ear buds in their ears, so when I go by, passing in either direction, I cant' be sure that they know I'm there. Any sudden movement into my path is possible for any number of reasons. It seems reasonable to me to be aware of your surroundings when moving or when encountering others who are to insure safety.

bpcyclist

Passing people is just a huge risk area for me. Anymore, if I am on a MUP, I pretty much slow to a crawl when passing peds/pets. They almost never hear me when I shout which side I'm coming on. Totally unpredictable. I'm afraid I am going to hit one of them. I give other cyclists a huge berth when passing them. I just think that passing is a very dangerous thing these days. Better safe than sorry.

WhyFi

That's why many here preach to just avoid the MUPs as much as possible. In my area, there are times when a short trip on the paths is the safest and/or most convenient way of getting to/from roads that are more suitable for riding. In those instances, I hop on the path, ride conservatively, and save any spirited efforts for the roads.

noodle soup

+1

I ride the MUPs for about 3 miles at the beginning and end of many rides, but as a warm-up/cool down, and to avoid a few traffic lights.

one4smoke

In my humble opinion, a cyclist needs all his senses to be at 100% while riding. If there’s anything preventing that, even ever so slightly ...you’re really not doing all you can to be the safest possible.

GlennR

Saw these at the local running shop. Not sure if they are any better.

Seattle Forrest

If you're on a bicycle, especially outside, you're not doing everything to be as safe as possible. Everybody accepts a certain amount of risk. Some people are willing to accept more than others, and that's ok.

Chi_Z

they also do not have smartphone that distract the driver 20-30 years ago, what is your point?

one4smoke

Your statement is true, and so is mine.

jamesdak 

Bingo, I ride 95ish percent of the time with earphones in and it's all good. The wind noise when I don't keeps me from hearing behind me anyway I've notice over and over again. But I also use a helmet mirror and feeling totally freaked without it. It's a much, much better tool for seeing what's coming behind then my useless hearing.

jamesdak 

noodle soup

but your statement doesn't help answer the question asked by the OP.

jamesdak 

For the OP, It's been 20 or so years now but one thing we were developing in my military days was a bone mic setup for our guys to use during HALO jumps. The mic sat on the top of the head under the helmet. Worked well for most guys but one. We used to tease him that his skull was too thick. When free falling wind noise is way higher than what any of us will experience on a bike. Anyway, I'd imagine that tech is much more advanced now. We were also working with a ear piece/bone mic that sat in the ear.