fooferdoggie 

My wife and I just bought a tandem e bike and she is blind so we need good communication. but I also want ot listen to my podcasts or audiobooks. so what to use so I can tell her whats going on but still listen to stuff?

Carbonfiberboy 

Do not listen to music or anything other than what's going on around you. Never wear earbuds, headphones, or play a speaker. Pay attention. You can't ride well if you're distracted. It's like using a cellphone while driving X 2.

kayakindude

It's fine, you wear the bud in your right ear. I use it for music and turn by turn directions on mapped rides. Leave the left ear unobstructed to monitor traffic. That and a mirror will keep you covered.

Now getting away with music and books with your wife on the bike is another topic altogether.

fooferdoggie 

I only listen to audiobooks or podcasts I do this at work too it doesn't to distract me and I can hear around me. I use airbus as they don't really block much sound.

Leisesturm

Of course it does. It HAS to. Of course the $64,000 question is "how much does it distract"? Obviously not so much that you cannot operate safely. Still, I'm with CFB. I will listen to music in a car, while driving on the superslab, but I usually keep it off in heavy traffic. I never have music on a bike, and if I need to have a GPS give me turn by turns, I have bone conduction headphones that do not block my ear openings in any way. The sound is conducted into the inner ear through your skull bones. People listen to music with them. It is marginally better to do this than with earbuds but ... I like music. I am a musician. It can't be great music if it didn't affect you in any way.

On a tandem I let my wife navigate. She too is blind and has a Personal Locator/GPS that talks to her even more than a regular one talks to me. It is designed for blind people and allows her to participate in the ride in a more meaningful way. Don't want to sound judgemental but I simply cannot imagine needing a podcast or other audio entertainment with the Mrs. onboard. All that said, there is this: I have researched just about every tandem intercom on the market. I've bought a couple of cheap wired ones. Both me and mine have really fine hearing though and everytime we get ready to pull the trigger on a really well reviewed intercom we decide we just can't justify it. But ... each of us has an iPhone and we never use all the minutes that are in our plan. It has occurred to me that we have the perfect tandem intercom right in our pockets. All we would have to do is call each other or set up an audio only 'facetime' connection at the start of a ride. Voila. Of course, cell coverage would be necessary. Where is that a problem? There is probably cell service at the summit of Mt. Everest now. I thought of this last year and we still haven't given it a try. Maybe one of you can test out the proof of concept.

fooferdoggie 

I losten to audiobooks 10 hours a day or so as I work alone it is not distracting to me it is normal I operate my machines and do far more attention needing work while listening. I even read on the net. been doing it for maybe 20 years. a phone call is an idea though.

Jim from Boston

Quote:

Originally Posted by fooferdoggie

I losten to audiobooks 10 hours a day or so as I work alone it is not distracting to me it is normal I operate my machines and do far more attention needing work while listening. I even read on the net. been doing it for maybe 20 years. a phone call is an idea though.

Frankly, I don’t read the Tandem Forum nor have I ever ridden a tandem, but I noted this thread on the New Posts. I don’t bother to respond to popcorn threads about listening to audio devices while riding, but I have posted about the value of listening:

Quote:

Originally Posted by BobbyG

I also listen to spoken word podcasts at a low volume in my curbside ear. I can hear traffic fine. On the rides I don't listen, or if I don't like the podcast and pull the earbud out I don't feel I gain any extra situational awareness.

My guess would be that picking one horn out of the Manhattan cacophony of horns, and echoes off the buildings, would be daunting in and of its self.

Whats more, I feel that when listening to spoken word podcasts in my curbside ear at a low volume, I can hear traffic better than when I'm in my car with the windows up with no music or podcasts.

However, it's been my experience that when a music clip is played, even in one ear, I start to loose my situational awareness. I think it has something to do with the way the human brain works....

Quote:

Originally Posted by PaulRivers

...I feel safer wearing headphones than not, because my brain sometimes it can rely on my hearing to hear cars behind me, when the only thing that's actually affective is to actually look.

Wearing headphones makes my brain realize that I'd better look - which is far far safer than hoping a car passing me is making enough noise to hear it.

You can't rely on your ears for knowing what's behind you, you have to look.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim from Boston

Well said, @PaulRivers. I agree that a controllable external auditory source can help to focus on the task at hand, rather than distract.

For myself, I work at preparing reports depending on careful detailed analyses, and I always have a talk show on. It definitely focuses me, even though I don't pay much attention; it's more a background awareness.

It seems to fill in my mind in addition to the current purposeful activity so my concentration has no other place to wander.

In fact, if there is no ambient “distraction,” the silence is deafening (and I don't have to worry about a car plowing into my desk).

Carbonfiberboy 

This unit is most common among teams with whom we ride: https://www.precisiontandems.com/tan...iquestions.htm

No music, just intimate convo with your wife.

Also see past threads on the intercom subject:
https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cy...om-system.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cy...intercoms.html

kayakindude

It's interesting but expensive. Wouldn't cell phones and aforementioned headphones accomplish the same thing? I can usually converse with my wife unassisted so I've never tried.