I frequently ride with AirPods, usually listening to podcasts but sometimes music. Transparency Mode allows excellent transmission of ambient sounds. I dislike it when people broadcast their music in public spaces with portable speakers.
Jay Lonner Bellingham, WA
Sent from my Atari 400 I ride with music pretty often but I stopped riding with headphones after too many close calls. I use a jbl clip speaker. I’ll hook it to a basket on most bikes. Bikes without baskets I clip it to my handlebar bag.
I nearly always have music on when riding, using wired earbuds, phone in pocket. Mind you, it's music that does not demand attention, often medieval organ pieces, or classical/ambient, slow moving, either way. Never 'songs', that's just my musical preference. I do the same when driving. Also, in both cases I keep the volume pretty low so I don't block the sounds of my environment.
Here's something a little different.. Being a sound recordist by trade, I've been out on a few rides packing a portable stereo sound-capture rig in order to make pristine field recordings out in the wild. So will stop for a break and record a 10-15 minute chunk of my environment wherever I happen to be. then jump back on my bike and ride, listening to the new recording at a loud enough volume that it does block out the surrounding ambient sound while riding (would never do this with traffic! only on a trail). It's wild because the recording is similar to what I would hear if I took off my earbuds, and actual tire/surface riding sounds come trough and blend w the recording to make it seem like everything is real, even though only part of it is real. But the sound in the earbuds already happened and does not relate directly to my environment, like certain birds, insects, wind or a distant car on a road or airplane overhead, you think those things are there but they are not. It's amazing how disorienting this can be when the mind wanders, forgetting that I'm listening to a recording of my surroundings 20 min ago. A truly hallucinatory experience. Not something I do often but a really insightful experiment on auditory perception in general. I find it really interesting to play tricks like this on the brain. It's also a great attention/focus exercise.
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I have not ridden with music for decades, 3 to be exact.
Newsflash, there are cars out there! I have always had a rearview mirror, even as a licra lout. I was roundly ridiculed. However I always here that car coming from behind before I see it.
As a bonus we could all use a little quite.
I have enough traffic that I don't like to cause any reduction in my senses even if its minor. But I am an overly cautious fellow
On Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 8:32:17 AM UTC-4 Brian Turner wrote:
I don’t like using earbuds while I’m out in an urban or outdoor environment… something about needing to hear the other ambience around me, I guess.
My favorite portable speaker for the bike is the Bose Soundlink Micro. It’s rugged, waterproof, small, and attaches to various points in various ways. Plus, it sounds incredible because well, it’s Bose.
Brian
Lexington KY
One's ability to hear their surroundings with earbuds(not the oft confused in-ear type) depends on the volume. In the past I've ridden countless miles with an FM Walkman and it's wired earbuds. It's more like background music,
and I could hear my surrounding just fine. Where I live now in the boonies the FM reception of a Walkman isn't very good so I have not listened to it in years. Plus radio content, save QED in Pittsbught, is poor. I never had any desire to listen to anything
that required my attention, like a mp3 player and surely not a smartpone. Those are way more distracting that the listening itself.
A memorable time I listened to external audio was back in the 80s while on a bike tour with a buddy, on our way to see a Rush(the band) concert in LaCrosse, WI. He brought his big/bulky cassette recorder/player with it's built-in
speaker, the 70's type that took D size batteries ! He brought his brand new cassette from one BIlly Idol of "Hot in the City" and "White Wedding" fame. Imagine him holding the cassette player with it's retractable handle on top of and while riding drop bars
....... oh the wacky things we used to do. Hey the handle was made of steel, very stout steel .... ahahahahaahah !
Nowadays I prefer the sounds of rural enviroment and the wind, and laughing at all the wacky things that arise in thought -;)
On Saturday, October 18, 2025 at 2:17:47 AM UTC-4 John Dewey wrote:
When I’m not riding my guitar is nearby.
Out on the road, I always have music playing in my head and sometimes I wish I could turn it off.
Jock
I also don't listen to music or podcasts whilst riding. I'd prefer to also not hear other cyclists music. In the city I'm fairly ambivalent about it due to all the other noises. But in quieter settings and especially in parks, trails,
or wilderness I find loudspeakers particularly rude. Even if it's music that I regularly enjoy, I find the disruption jarring. But I also definitely have an auditory sensitivity, so there is that. (And none of this is to say I don't like music. I listen to
it constantly at home and probably go to concerts 3-4 times a month..Last month was Nathaniel Rateliff, Iron & Wine/Band of Horses, Destroyer, and Modest Mouse/Flaming Lips)
I use a anker soundcore mini, it conveniently fits snug in a bottle cage so I put in the seat tube mount. Plenty loud too.
I have a wireless bluetooth speaker (JBL Go2) that I put in the rear pocket of my handlebar bag and play music stored on my iPhone. Allows me to hear traffic while also enjoying tunes. I also wear a mirror attached to my glasses.
I feel naked without it.
On Friday, October 17, 2025 at 5:01:05 PM UTC-7 Eric Daume wrote:
I almost always ride with Bluetooth (wireless) headphones, playing either a podcast or music. I ride a lot of trails but also some roads. I don’t have an issue hearing cars coming up behind me.
Eric
On Friday, October 17, 2025, 'aeroperf' via RBW Owners Bunch < [email protected]> wrote:
Who rides with music? What set-up do you use? What safety precautions do you take?
My situation is relatively unique. I live on a paved rails-to-trails, and go out 10km and back 10km a few times a week mostly for exercise, and to prepare for annual bicycle touring trips. I love the sights and smells, and, yes,
sounds of the ride.
But sometimes I just want to get into a cadence. And I know the right music to get into that cadence.
And while I have iPods, both wired and Bluetooth, I have not ridden with music.
So…any tips? Do you still hear the cars coming with earbuds? Or fit headphone speakers under your bike helmet? Do you use a wired iPod in your shirt back pocket, or Bluetooth from your phone? Safety? I have six intersections to cross, some with signals
and some without.
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