I get almost no noise when riding without a helmet. It’s the helmet and straps that create noise for me…
Agreed. I switched to a LG Course this year and it’s sooo much quieter than any helmet I have ever owned before. The noise is really a safety issue more than a hearing loss issue. Being able to hear something coming up behind you a second or two quicker is an advantage.
I really thought this would be a thread about trainer dB levels, but wind?! That has never even occurred to me as being a problem.
A good read from Cat Ears:
http://www.cat-ears.com/copy-of-wind-noise
Very noise! (Sorry, couldn’t help it…)
Well, the jets taking off from the airport 20 miles away are an almost unheard 140dB from here.
Without being able to read the article, I’ve no idea whether it’s dBA, dbHL, dbSPL, at what distance it’s measured, or where the mic is - I suppose it should be where the eardrum is and with average hair growth in place.
As mentioned, too many unknowns to make it worrisome…
Definitely you seem to know yer stuff. Either you’re an audiologist, speech path, or you’ve had to learn about this because of OSHA regulations. I’m gonna rule out audiologist, because you’d get way more detailed. Also ruling out the OSHA stuff, because you’ve got some alphabet soup there. I’m going with speech path.
I’d think there’s dozens of variables (helmet, strap length/tightness/yaw, etc) and that’s before you get to the virtually unlimited combinations of variables of differing physiology of ears.
I can as easily dismiss this report (or any similar because of the variables) as I can easily accept that there’s a pause for concern. You don’t need to reach 100 decibels to cause damage. That’s the whole time-weighted average thing…which I’m guessing is what something in that alphabet soup means. Even though I might be out there for 3 or 5 hours, and I can barely ride that fast going down a hill…I’m not too worried considering the time weighted average.
But, if I were a better cyclist? Yah, I would stop and think it through a little bit.
Those cat ears are interesting
I got a headband similar to the ones the Raelert brothers were giving away. It’s one layer thick and goes over my ears under my helmet straps. It’s enough to kill wind noise… And as the the same time I can hear cars and stuff unimpeded… Maybe even better.
I also use a waterproof Bluetooth speaker between the aerobars… Seems better than buds. I always felt like the buds catching wind made noise and blocked the sounds around me from cars or other bikers
Aero helmets that cover your ears… Or matter how thin the earpiece… Solve this too
That is total bullshit. 100dB is very loud. Riding at 25mph doesn’t create any where near that kind of volume level.
I’m former military, so like a lot of those folks, I’ve a fair amount of hearing loss. As a result I’m very careful with what hearing I have left and I pay attention to how much noise is in my environment. I also have a good feel for volume levels because my other hobby is racing cars and tracks often have a 99-103dB noise limit. They put devices around the track to measure noise and if your car is too loud, the flaggers will signal you to come off the track. 100dB is loud as f**k.
I dunno about 100dB, which is yeah, CRAZY loud, but if you think about even being able to shout a conversation at the top of your lungs to the guy riding behind you while going 25+mph, it’s nearly impossible. So even if it’s not a full 100dB, it’s loud enough that sure, you probably should consider the impact to your hearing given how loud something has to be to make drown out even your full shout.
Isn’t the bolded more to do with the Doppler effect?
That is total bullshit. 100dB is very loud. Riding at 25mph doesn’t create any where near that kind of volume level.
I’m former military, so like a lot of those folks, I’ve a fair amount of hearing loss. As a result I’m very careful with what hearing I have left and I pay attention to how much noise is in my environment. I also have a good feel for volume levels because my other hobby is racing cars and tracks often have a 99-103dB noise limit. They put devices around the track to measure noise and if your car is too loud, the flaggers will signal you to come off the track. 100dB is loud as f**k.
I dunno about 100dB, which is yeah, CRAZY loud, but if you think about even being able to shout a conversation at the top of your lungs to the guy riding behind you while going 25+mph, it’s nearly impossible. So even if it’s not a full 100dB, it’s loud enough that sure, you probably should consider the impact to your hearing given how loud something has to be to make drown out even your full shout.
Isn’t the bolded more to do with the Doppler effect?
I doubt it - you’re riding RIGHT behind your buddy, like <8 feet of a gap between bikes. Plus, I think Doppler is a FREQUENCY shift (change in pitch of a sound), not an intensity shift, but I’ll let the physics experts debate that one.
I thought this thread would be about a different behavior…
Another excuse to wear the aero helmet while training…
What?
The db numbers are weird.
The research was conducted in a wind tunnel and might, for some reason, include the noice of the wind tunnel itself. That would be silly.
The research also might be focused on motorcyclists and not bicyclists. In the References list, they include research on motorcycle riding.
If cyclists are not ending up deaf in large numbers by the time they’re 60, I don’t think there is anything to worry about.
My thoughts exactly.
There are millions of lifelong cyclist all over the world, if bicycling was causing hearing loss, there’d also be millions of deaf senior lifelong cyclist.
Complete BS
As mentioned, too many unknowns to make it worrisome…
I like this. I’m going to start using it all the time to hamper progress on ideas which I do not support.
The fact of the matter is regardless of how much information or data exists on a certain subject, someone can always claim there are x more unknowns not considered. Which is perfect if that person wanted nothing to get done, ever, and no progress/conclusions arrived.
Good news!
DUI, too many unknowns to make it worrisome - what kind of alcohol, what kind of car, driver experience, etc… DUIs totally safe - busted.
The jet/airport/140dB example is a really good one - I particularly like it because airplanes are super neat. It takes factual information, glosses over the inverse squared law, draws a parallel to the current issue, then uses it as ‘evidence’ to ‘disprove’ the subject in discussion. Grade B+ internet trolling.
Now lets propose, just for a second, your ears hear things and the sound at the ear drum is the critical characteristic to hearing loss. For the purpose of discussion, let’s assuming while riding a bike air flows over a person’s body - including the face, helmet straps, and ears. I remember in school the idea of flow separation and drag being discussed - probably some yet-to-be-disproved hypothesis by Prandtl, Karman, or some other old, dead, guy that was totally wrong. There was this other crazy idea that disturbances in flow caused changes in energy and, among heat, energy could also be converted into sound (we could also pretend energy just went away if pesky Einstein kept his mouth shut). So putting that obviously wrong puzzle together, we could be fooled into thinking that while riding a bike, the flow as it passes facial features, helmet straps, and ears causes drag and/or separates the flow and generates sound. The creation of that sound is inches (or less) from the ear drum, where SPL matters - arguably.
Although you could measure your airport’s distance in inches and 140dB is higher than 100dB with no reported hearing loss, so you’re probably still right.
… if you think about even being able to shout a conversation at the top of your lungs to the guy riding behind you while going 25+mph, it’s nearly impossible.
I always wear earplugs whilst motorcycling mainly due to wind noise (although my Harley is quite loud too). If I forget earplugs, my ears really feel it.
Whilst cycling quickly down hill, the noise is loud, but not usually for a long period. I honestly don’t think it’s an issue.
Well, the jets taking off from the airport 20 miles away are an almost unheard 140dB from here.
Without being able to read the article, I’ve no idea whether it’s dBA, dbHL, dbSPL, at what distance it’s measured, or where the mic is - I suppose it should be where the eardrum is and with average hair growth in place.
As mentioned, too many unknowns to make it worrisome…
Definitely you seem to know yer stuff. Either you’re an audiologist, speech path, or you’ve had to learn about this because of OSHA regulations. I’m gonna rule out audiologist, because you’d get way more detailed. Also ruling out the OSHA stuff, because you’ve got some alphabet soup there. I’m going with speech path.
First job out of college was as a data entry clerk at the Institute of Hearing Research… ended up rewriting the data entry programs / doing a lot of stats on the results.
Cycling has definitely damaged my hearing. But it is from decades of cranking music through earphones while on the trainer, not from riding outside 
I have chronic tinnitus from all the loud music I’ve been exposed to over the past 40 years, so my hearing is pretty fucked either way
I don’t ride with anything in my ears. Sometimes, on long solo rides I’ll put one earbud in my right ear, just to break things up
My biggest issue with wind, is that it blows into my ears and swirls around my big empty noggin, which gives me a nasty ice cream headache
Early this season I was getting headaches from riding outdoors. It’s naturally windy here but it seemed a little more so this year. I ended up using an iPhone app to measure and it ranged (three different rides) from 101 to 109. I have a couple of readings close to 120 but it was 18-20 mph wind I was riding into.
Not sure how accurate the app is, I just never had headaches from wind noise so wanted to check it out.
My ears are hissing at night 
so I know have hearing damage, add that to my wonky eyes -it’s brutal. This is from a waterski forum. I wore ear plugs today’s set & it was nice! Might try that on the bike too
*I have seen a few skiers use ear plugs before their sets. I have not had a chance to talk to them about their experience (pros/cons). I have road biked and waterskied for years without any hearing protection. Speeds above 30mph, there is quite a bit of wind pressure on ones ears. *
I am concerned about my long term hearing loss from high speed wind noise, and trying to prolong any further hearing loss.
I am also concerned that a hard fall with hearing protection could cause eardrum damage.
Thoughts?
As mentioned, too many unknowns to make it worrisome…
I like this. I’m going to start using it all the time to hamper progress on ideas which I do not support.
The fact of the matter is regardless of how much information or data exists on a certain subject, someone can always claim there are x more unknowns not considered. Which is perfect if that person wanted nothing to get done, ever, and no progress/conclusions arrived.
Good news!
DUI, too many unknowns to make it worrisome - what kind of alcohol, what kind of car, driver experience, etc… DUIs totally safe - busted.
The jet/airport/140dB example is a really good one - I particularly like it because airplanes are super neat. It takes factual information, glosses over the inverse squared law, draws a parallel to the current issue, then uses it as ‘evidence’ to ‘disprove’ the subject in discussion. Grade B+ internet trolling.
Now lets propose, just for a second, your ears hear things and the sound at the ear drum is the critical characteristic to hearing loss. For the purpose of discussion, let’s assuming while riding a bike air flows over a person’s body - including the face, helmet straps, and ears. I remember in school the idea of flow separation and drag being discussed - probably some yet-to-be-disproved hypothesis by Prandtl, Karman, or some other old, dead, guy that was totally wrong. There was this other crazy idea that disturbances in flow caused changes in energy and, among heat, energy could also be converted into sound (we could also pretend energy just went away if pesky Einstein kept his mouth shut). So putting that obviously wrong puzzle together, we could be fooled into thinking that while riding a bike, the flow as it passes facial features, helmet straps, and ears causes drag and/or separates the flow and generates sound. The creation of that sound is inches (or less) from the ear drum, where SPL matters - arguably.
Although you could measure your airport’s distance in inches and 140dB is higher than 100dB with no reported hearing loss, so you’re probably still right.
Or - and hear me out here - instead of pissing about theory we could check. You know, there are lots of people who have been cyclists for various lengths of time. There’s no need to theorize, just check the hearings of people who have ridden X miles per month for 5/ 10/ 20 years. Ideally while starting at different ages. That would tell us whether cycling *actually *causes hearing loss instead of fearmongering based on questionable theories.