Music on the move: Aleck launches near-ear audio aimed specifically at cyclists

Hearing might be the second most important sesne after sight when riding a bike but the amount of useful input it contributes is so much less than that of vision.  It is like saying that when walking hearing is the second most important sense after vision, by default, somethng, howevr limited, must be in second place behind the most important one.

At least we agree that hearing is an important sense which is of use whilst riding a bicycle.

Hope you ride with a bunch of mirrors then and actually use your "visual awareness" with them to cover the roughly 180degrees that you are a lot less sensitive to otherwise with your earpieces on. Sound - from other traffic - is addititional and important source of information, not noise to be blocked. I'd rather caution against being fooled that your visual awareness is enough.

Destroyer666 wrote:

Hope you ride with a bunch of mirrors then and actually use your "visual awareness" with them to cover the roughly 180degrees that you are a lot less sensitive to otherwise with your earpieces on. Sound - from other traffic - is addititional and important source of information, not noise to be blocked. I'd rather caution against being fooled that your visual awareness is enough.

an important source of information? what does it tell me? There is a motor vehicle behind me, not really surprising in an unrban environment, that will be the case almost constantly.

What do you expect me to do with that information? How does the noise of a car from behind change what I am doing? If the input data does not lead to a response it is unneccesary data. Honestly what do you do when you recieve this important information that you can hear a car behind you? Why does this requirement not apply to drivers in cars, since studies have shown cyclists with earphones can hear more tarffic noise than drivers with their windows closed, before even considering putting the radio/music on in the car.

If there is no noise, can I just move out into the lane without looking? what about electric cars or other bikes?

If I hear a noise from behind how do I know whether it is going to pass me safely or drive straight into me?

Isn't the best course of action to cycle in a straight line in a predictable manner, and if you want to change that line for any reason then look over your shoulder?

I do not use earphones when I cycle, mostly what i hear when I cycle is the air passing my ears. and this drowns out any music I try to listen to, but of course this wind noise does not at all affect the ability to precisely determine the speed and direction of following vehcles purely from engine noise.

I have mixed feelings about this.

On the one hand, deaf people should be able to use the roads safely, and I certainly agree that there's a massive double standard when people care about cyclists wearing headphones but not motorists with windows closed and stereo blasting.

On the other hand, I do think that being able to hear can only add to spatial awareness and safety. Audible cues are part of road safety - police cars have sirens; cars have horns; lorries often have reversing beeps or audible turn warnings; even bicycles often have bells. And being a cyclist is a very different situation to being in a car. As a cyclist, it is fairly inevitable that you will be overtaken frequently, and therefore arguably need greater awareness of what is going on behind you. Most cyclists do not ride with mirrors, and therefore in order to see behind, they need to fully turn their head. Mirrors (as mandatory on all motor vehicles) allow greater general awareness of what's going on behind through peripheral vision, and also when focusing specifically on the mirror, greater awareness of what's going on ahead through peripheral vision.

In addition, when riding my bike I typically think far more about my position within the carriageway than I do when driving a car. Do I go to the left or right of that pothole? Do I take primary position through a narrow section?  Do I take secondary position and allow an overtake? These sorts of decisions are certainly influenced, at least in part, by my understanding of what is going on behind me - is there a vehicle there? How long has it been there? Is it a big vehicle or a small vehicle? Is it a bus that is likely to stop at the approaching bus stop? Do I think they are going to aggressively squeeze through if I move to the left to go around a pothole? Etc. etc. These questions aren't always concious, but I think they feed in to the unconcious decisions we all make all the time when cycling, but are largely irrelevant for driving a car.

Jees, what near senseless rant. You can't seriosly imagine other sources of sound than "motor vehicles"? And even with cars, how about a car honkin? with sirens? speeding towards? Nope? No idea what to do with that info in any scenario? You just ride in a straight line? And what on earth has "riding in a predictable manner" have to do with what I wrote? And you don't see any difference to car drivers? Seriosly? One simple clue, I did mention something about mirrors in my original comment. But nevermind, actually I hope you don't answer. You've shown your inability to listen - just keep riding your straight line.

I can never understand this obsession about being able to hear clearly vehicles behind you. If the vehicle is going to drive into you because the driver didn't see you then they are going to do that whether you heard them coming or not. By the time you think "this car sounds a bit closer than others" you probably don't have time to do anything anyway. Full disclosure, I don't wear headphones when cycling any longer but I don't have a downer on people who do

The only time I got out of the way was approaching a red/amber light at a roundabout. I heard an engine roar behind me and went through the light and swerved right to behind the wall that separated the 2 halves of the carriageway.

I'm sure they would have hit me if I had not escaped right.

A pedestrian asked if I were alright !

Perhaps rid first your own obsession to think of traffic as just cars, and some sense might reach you.

Welsh boy wrote:

I can never understand this obsession about being able to hear clearly vehicles behind you. If the vehicle is going to drive into you because the driver didn't see you then they are going to do that whether you heard them coming or not. 

I wouldn't agree with that. Regularly on my London commute I can tell from the engine and tyre noise if someone is coming up behind who's going over the speed limit and unlikely to pay any attention to a cyclist and so adjust my speed and road position for my optimal safety accordingly.

I like to hear what's behind me. Because most of my riding is rural traffic is infrequent and so can be a surprise, not least because I have partial hearing loss. It's not going to prevent a high speed close pass but at least it allows me to clench for the effects or take evasive action. Probably the closest I've come to a serious collision was actually being overtaken by faster cyclists through a pinch point, only them yelling averted it which I might have missed with earbuds in. I suspect I'm not the use case for this or other audio devices as I also like the solitude and connection to nature that cycling provides. I also find I'm quite distracted by music and tend not to have it on in the car particularly in urban environments.

I find good music helps me concentrate.

Exactly. There's nothing better than Iggy Pop telling me (full blast) that I am the passenger.

Oldfatgit wrote:

The communication with other users in the group was interesting ... until it mentioned through the smart phone app.

Is this going to be free ... or will it be charged?
Will it only work in 3g/ 4g / 5g etc ... what if there's no or limited signal?
If it uses Packet Radio (like our old brick phones could), is that charged ... and by whom?

I ride sometimes with some people who use helmets that allow them to talk to each other. I was surprised to be told that they work over Bluetooth. The range is surprisingly good, 100m easily, plenty for a group on bikes.