Listen to Music While Cycling With Slipstreamz.
For my entire cycling career, I had never once even considered listening to music while cycling. On the other hand, without my iPod shuffle, I couldn’t run to the end of my driveway without getting bored. Well, last week I decided to take the plunge and I threw in my Nike Flight earbuds and saddled up.
Man, was I disappointed. First off, wearing sunglasses, a helmet, and wrap around ear buds was just plain uncomfortable. Then, when I hit any speed higher than 10 mph, the wind noise made the music pretty much impossible to hear. Naturally, I got home and told myself, “there has to be some better way to listen to music while biking,” and went straight to Google.com. That’s when I stumbled upon a product called Slipstreamz.
Slipstreamz is a great system for listening to music while biking. Many cyclers out there are very opposed to listening to music while cycling for safety reasons, but Slipstreamz seems to have kept safety in mind. Slipstreamz are designed in such a way that they knock down road noise, and actually make it easier to hear your surroundings. I only recommend listening to music on trails so you don’t have to worry about traffic. Also, for your safety and the safety of everyone else on the trails, make sure your music isn’t too loud to the point you can’t hear “on your left” calls, etc.
Slipstreamz work by attaching to your helmet chin strap, and then you slide in your standard iPod earbuds (or standard earbuds) into the little pouch. That’s really all there is too it. Slipstreamz also claims that they will keep your ears warm, which is a bonus for the chillier cycling months ahead.
Get all of your Slipstreamz details here. [slipstreamz.com]
Hey, these are kind of cool.
I know some frown on listening to music while biking; but training for races can be so boring without music…
[...] be a great way to safely listen to music while cycling. We had previously talked about using the Slipstreamz system to keep wind noise to a minimum, but there is still the problem of not being able to hear traffic, [...]
There are those who oppose the practice of listening to music while cyclist for many reasons. It is bad enough you do it, but why encourage others to? In my opinion, if it is currently illegal to drive or motorcycle with ear/headphones on then why should cycling be any different?
Hi Synonymous,
I think you may have missed the part where I said that you should only listen to music while on trails. I’ll quote it for you:
“I only recommend listening to music on trails so you don’t have to worry about traffic.”
Oh, and I bet you missed the part where I said not to listen to music too loud for your safety, and the safety of others. I’ll quote that here too:
“Also, for your safety and the safety of everyone else on the trails, make sure your music isn’t too loud to the point you can’t hear “on your left” calls, etc.”
Life is too short to be so uptight.
I’ve tried several audio player to listen to music when I’m cycling, the voice was not optimal and then the noise disturbed .may be I will try it after I got info from your article. thanks for the information
I ride wearing earbuds on all but large group rides and /or races of course. Believe it or not, listening to music wearing noise canceling earbuds actually makes me safer on the road. Muted vehicle noise allows me to focus on the road and road hazards such as car doors swinging open, pot holes and vehicles around me without being startled by loud engine noise and honking horns. I can still hear emergency vehicle sirens and car horns without having a heart attack. Wearing earbuds actually improves my sense of positioning in traffic and makes me a more predictable vehicle to other vehicles around me. However, I would only recommend wearing earbuds in traffic to only the most experienced and confident riders. I have been riding while listening to music for about ten years and have never been in an accident.
Listening to music and wearing headphone is a good idea. Even though i use bike tracks that go parallel to the freeway atleast the headphone stop getting me freaked out everytime a semi passes by at a 100 kph. Without headphone the pressure wave created by the semi always messes up my balance for a second or so.
I used them for a long time, they were great, but after time they tend to fall apart. The fabric where the cord goes through the holes tends to rip and the foam where the ear pieces go tends to fall apart. Great product but make sure you buy spares.
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