So Who rides with "tunes" on?

[Kijona]

It all depends on the type of buds you use. The hard plastic ones do not insulate your ears from outside noise causing you to have to turn the volume way up to hear the music. This = bad.

The type that I use, and that I recommend to others if they so desire, is a soft foam type. They're much like ear plugs but with drivers in them. You only need a little volume on your player to hear the music and they don't filter out quite as much noise as earplugs so you can still hear your bike and any other important sounds.

I found that riding without anything protecting your ears is extremely harmful. I rode for 2hrs once without anything in my ears and after I stopped, my ears were ringing something fierce.

[Toogoofy317]

I don't use ear buds they are illegal for one along with ear plugs. My docs say ear buds all the time so do I listen to the doc or the cops?

However, I do have speakers in my helmet I play CCM music. It calms me down if I'm worshiping God I don't do stupid or rash things. Like flipping off someone who cuts me off. I really can't hear the music at highway speeds mainly at red lights which is where the majority of my rides are.

But hey that's me!

Mary

[oz353]

Mary, what kind of helmet do you have? How does it work? Is it set to pick up a specific frequency? Or do you plug it in? Whats the sound quality like? A helmet like that may be worth looking into.

Thank you all for your insights and opinions. Everyons has brought some good points to consider. I think that in time, when im comfotable on the bike and with my ability ill be one to listen to something on long trips. Or perhaps even on trips across town to visit my sister. (15 mins or so from my place)