Now I use headphones occasionally at work to listen to stuff but also need to listen for the phone and people coming into the office so have them either on one ear or volume lowish. Personally I can't be doing with them outside but them Noise cancelling ones...... WTF!
Cycling to work this morning on the coastal path, got stuck behind this guy where the path was too narrow to pass, rang my loud and lovely Spurcycles bell, Said excuse me multiple times, louder and louder resorting to OI's...several times. This fella was in a world of his own, listening to some self help podcast no doubt and told to go for a walk by his GP, you know enjoy nature, get some fresh air!
After 3/400m of this I passed him when able to and suggested he might want to remove his headphones so he is able to avoid danger, listen to the sounds of the natural world, fully immerse himself in the natural world. Got a load of abuse back! Ridiculous! runners with their normal headphones are bad enough but these things take it to a new level!
This doesn't even take into account the impediment to sensory development issue in teenagers and the theory they increase the drop in hearing clarity and sensory awareness for middle aged people!
any normal person wearing these outside should be shot! you wouldn't even need to use a silencer, they wouldn't hear the shot. Or the slight rush of air whistling from the Bombers as you swung them at their head.
that is all!
Where can I get some of these wonderful sounding devices? Anyone care to recommend a pair?
OP gets annoyed by some guy walking/cycling without being able to hear things around him and impeding the OP’s progress over a few hundred metres, (edit) where, by the OP’s own admission, it is ‘too narrow to pass’ (/edit)?
chill out OP. Take the opportunity to hang back and enjoy the surroundings at a modest pace.
Even without headphones I rarely hear people approaching from behind. It’s only when they barge past grumpily I realise they might have wanted to pass.
@v8ninety if you want accessible and only pricey then AirPod Pros. If you want esoteric, expensive, and better at blocking out sound then Cosmic Ears or similar.
I recall when doing 10 under the ben, a young lady riding at genteel pace along the singletrack puggy line section seemed genuinely surprised that dozens of angry blokes, who eventually passed en mass, were most displeased about the excellent sound cancelling properties of whatever she had shoved in her lugs.
Passed a runner at Whitelee Wind Farm last month, Full over ear noise cancelling cans and a border collie attached to her waist via an extending lead. Totally oblivious to bells and shouts, unlike her dog, who saw sense and moved in.
Some people have zero situational awareness or consideration, 'tis the way of the world.
You sound like car drivers talking about cyclists daring using the road in primary
OP has a point, that's why I strap a bluetooth speaker to my pack instead. Everyone gets to enjoy my tunes too 😀
I’d say they are a pain. At some point you need to get past. You have no means of sharing sheetin alerting them before doing so. This has never happened on a really narrow path. But even on a typical sustrans path i think it’s safest for both parties is they aknowledge they know I’m passing
the theory they increase the drop in hearing clarity and sensory awareness for middle aged people!
The hearing of middle aged people has been losing clarity long before the invention of noise cancelling earbuds lololol.
for clarity this was meant to be tongue in cheek! I wasn't in a desperate rush, I just find it tedious that people have so little respect for their environment that they block it out. I thought the interaction was so ridiculous I thought I'd share as it was amusing and we're all cyclists on here so could bathe in the camaraderie!
It's nothing like sharing the road with cars, or chilling out. PGP + TR its about being aware of context!
Anyway my personal favourites are when you ring your bell, pedestrian then suggests you need a bell! happens every few weeks, I imagine their hearing has likely been impaired by wearing NC headphones at home!
No virtue signallers asking if he feels the same about deaf people? Come on STW, standards are slipping!
No virtue signallers asking if he feels the same about deaf people? Come on STW, standards are slipping!
As someone with a hearing impairment I thought I’d implied such ‘virtue signalling’ in my post.
The number of people on my commute into Bristol using an escooter, with one hand on the bars, a phone in the other, hood up, headphones over, and looking down at their phone is practically uncountable on a weekly basis. The only way these people can sense anything around them is by smelling it. Their awareness of the path they're on extends only 2.5m in front of them.
is by smelling it
Assumes they aren't releasing a cloud of plum scented steam as they go, or is that just every e-scooter hoody near me?
I recommend the Sony range by the way xm-4/5 in or over ear depending on your budget OP 😉 (I actually own Bose QC35's because they were given to me, would never use them on the bike though, I like awareness and I'm sweaty).
any normal person wearing these outside should be shot! you wouldn't even need to use a silencer, they wouldn't hear the shot.
This isn't hollywood, a bullet travels faster than the speed of sound, so assuming a clean kill they're not going to hear the shot that ends them, even without headphones 😀
Love my noise cancelling headphones for public transport and sometimes walking. Aftershokz for cycling and generally for walking.
This doesn't even take into account the impediment to sensory development issue in teenagers and the theory they increase the drop in hearing clarity and sensory awareness for middle aged people!
I hesitate to point this out, but seeing as how the noise cancelling system is designed to cancel out annoying droning sounds like aircraft engines*, allowing the sensory system to enjoy the sounds being played into the ‘phones to allow sensory development to continue without impediment.
*Also other things, like people…
I’d say they are a pain. At some point you need to get past. You have no means of sharing sheetin alerting them before doing so**. This has never happened on a really narrow path. But even on a typical sustrans path i think it’s safest for both parties is they aknowledge they know I’m passing
Nice thought, utterly useless in practice. I used to be a Sustrans Ranger, and I lost count of the number of times I’d come up behind some peds, walking along the path, whereupon I’d call out and ring my bell, to be met with them completely ignoring me while I continually rang my bell, calling out ‘excuse me’ loudly until having to say, very loudly, “oi, excuse me, I’d like to get past please”, which they did with poor grace, stopping dead and turning around and giving me an earful about ringing my bell because it offended them…
The problem is that as far as the peds are concerned, it’s not a shared use cycle path, it’s a footpath that they’ve got sole use of to walk their dogs, their herds of unruly children and converse in groups about anything really, regardless of anyone else wanting to use the path. Entitled, much?
**There’s these things called bells, but as pointed out above, peds happily ignore them regardless of headphones or not.
I lost count of the number of times I’d come up behind some peds...
I'll take a wild guess... This actually happened once, didn't it.
No-one has ever been offended by the sound of my bell.
I just got a pair of Galaxy Buds 3 (non pro) free with a phone. They noise cancel probably about 2/3 of the noise (subjectively) but you can still hear. They got panned in reviews for this reason but it actually works pretty well when you're outside. Not when you're on a plane though.
I lost count of the number of times I’d come up behind some peds...
I'll take a wild guess... This actually happened once, didn't it.
No-one has ever been offended by the sound of my bell.
It happens regularly* on my commute, especially at this time of year when the sun is out. And, weirdly, some people will happily ignore my bell but when my kids were small would always give way to them when they rang their bells.
*regularly as in several times per week. There are also shared use paths around here that are better avoided when the weather is nice. I know for a fact that if I ride along the seafront this evening, on my way to the weekly night ride, that it will be infested with runners who will be completely unaware of the presence of anyone else. I'll use the shared use pavement on the unpleasant side of the road. 😀
Sitting on the train the other day and this bloke was " listening" to his music on headphones, but we were all subjected to his choice of music because he was so cheap, he wouldn't wear noise cancelling headphones. What an arse.
