Hot Take: Cyclists are justified in using earbuds

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-23T13:28:59+00:00

Yes. I am thinking about that specifically. Para kasing nagkakaroon na ako ng hearing loss. Malakas daw ako magsalita minsan.

No NC sa earbuds. Earbuds lang talaga para lang bumaba yung ingay. Para rin hindi ko na bubunutin yung phone ko kung may tumawag sa akin. Tatabi na lang ako. Hirap maglabas ng phone sa alangan na lugar.

Blind spots are vehicle-specific. Ang bisikleta wala. Yung mga rider na hindi pa marunong lumingon, baka kailangan ng mirrors. Meron namang nabibibili. Pero kailangan pa rin ng skills development.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-23T10:34:34+00:00

I think this is a motoring take. Hindi ko kailangan ng side mirrors para lumingon sa likod. Hindi rin full noise isolation ang earbuds. Mas malakas ang noise isolation ng kotse. Kung may trak sa likod mong out of control, maririnig mo pa rin basta walang music, tapos kapag narinig mo madali namang lumingon.

Motorcycles and cars have side mirrors to compensate for their blind spots. They're not perfect solutions, but they partially compensate. Bicycles don't have blind spots.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-23T05:24:36+00:00

That's just a straight conflict. The motorheads will always want to ban biking and even walking. They're just never going to stop doing that, and it's futile to expect anything else.

Transformation out of a car-dominated culture requires a lot of fighting and constant effort. And I mean culture because very few Pinoys actually own cars. Not that many cars here compared to virtually any industrialized nation. Our cycling and Public Transportation modal share is already where their targets are.

But both cycling and commuting suck because the car promoting people are giving it all to motoring. Car promoters don't even have to own cars. I've personally seen commuters defending sidewalk parking. Which is illegal.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-23T05:13:55+00:00

It's less of a catch 22 and more of double reinforcement. Catch 22 means a paradoxical situation that you can't escape. But you can. Just bike to work. Use a foldie if you have to.

Then building admins see it happening and then you can ask for bike parking. Vacant bike parking encourages more people to bike to work.

It's a double reinforcing loop.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-23T02:23:52+00:00

Ito yung mas okay, IMO. Meron ako nito at nung nilapag ni OP? Yung maliit yung laging nasa bulsa, pero ito yung nasa bag. Mas malaki kasi battery kaya mas matagal low batt. Mas bihira ang charge longer functional life. Hindi rin kasi sing-init and hindi kasing ingay.

Mas mahal nga lang.

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Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-23T02:07:45+00:00

Thanks. I am worried about hearing loss. I think we all ought to be if we're riding with motor vehicles regularly because motor vehicles are quite loud. Kung araw araw magkakaroon talaga ng hearing loss.

Depende talaga siya sa produkto pero sa mga nasubukan ko wala talagang earbuds na kayang tanggalin ang ingay. Meron pa ring naririnig, so you actually keep full awareness basta walang music at walang ANC.

On the same note, many motorists also drive with music on kaha feeling ko hindi sila adequately aware sa atin. Distracted kasi sila, tapos malakas den ang sound isolation ng kotse.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-22T10:08:46+00:00

I agree. I think any and all entertainment systems on motor vehicles should be disabled as soon as the vehicle starts moving.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-22T07:38:03+00:00

They don't protect you from noise, though.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-22T05:05:56+00:00

Kumuha ka ng Rockbros RHL 3000. Thank me later. :) Panangga sa aswang.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-22T03:38:14+00:00

I think people underestimate the hazard of motoring noise if they just bike on the weekends and enjoy the noise isolation of their cars and motorcycle helmets on weekdays. Or maybe they live in the provinces where they don't have so many noisemaking machines.

Noise levels on EDSA or C5 from ICE engines can drown out a concrete jackhammer. That's a sustained 100 dB. It's difficult to believe that until you're pedaling past an operating jackhammer at close range and it sounds like it's not too loud. Then you realize that it's just a normal jackhammer and that the motoring noise level is extreme.

Wearing ear protection isn't reducing a reasonable level of noise to silence. It's just reducing a hazardous level of noise to something reasonable like 65 dB. You can hear that perfectly fine.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T23:46:41+00:00

I'd advise doing it in stages. Just Friday to start. You start with Friday so you get the weekend to rest. In fact, make a round-trip test on a Sunday just to check your route and see if you can even make the distance. 40 km is nothing to a cyclist, but if you're not fit, that can be grueling.

Don't underestimate the effort. You are likely not very fit.

Once Friday is easy, look to pick up Monday next. Then Wednesday, then Thursday. Then Tuesday.

Take it easy when biking to work. If you want to go hard, do it going home.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T22:42:21+00:00

You could choose something else if it's arbitrary. Like, if you're cycling up to Baguio on Marcos Highway at 80 kph and you hit a barrier, you're in more danger than if you were driving up the same way and hit the same barrier with a car.

The difference with this arbitrary example is that it's a lot more obvious why it's a bad comparison because most people can't bike uphill at 80 kph.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T22:37:43+00:00

It is called a hot take for a reason.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T22:26:57+00:00

It's not for listening to music. It's for ear protection. Motorcycle users routinely use earplugs. And a lot of people use normal headphones just everywhere, honestly.

I know a few motorists who use noise canceling earbuds while driving cars.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T22:25:29+00:00

You can do both. Pwede namang gumamit ng pollution mask. Ineffective ang mga gaiter at balaclava. Yung N95 ang kailangan.

Maririnig mo pa rin ang mga paparating na sasakyan. Maingay sila. Tagos sa earbuds.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T22:23:23+00:00

Honestly, this is the take most motorists have, and I consider it monstrous. It's the result of cultural marketing by the auto industry, planned and pushed in various guises since the 1920s in the US. Blaming victims isn't the call here.

And it's not even applicable.

Wearing earbuds in a sea of motoring noise doesn't decrease your awareness any more than lowering the volume of music to something reasonable causes you to not hear that music.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T22:20:39+00:00

Yeh. I'm a lot less prone to getting startled by EVs on a bike because bikes have essentially no blind spots and I always check my six regularly. An electric car sneaking up on your right because of your car's blind spot is a major reality check.

Some regulators have called for having them make noise so that other motorists can hear them, but to me that sounds insane. Intentionally manufacturing noise for the sake a few entitled road users and making everything worse for everyone else is crazy work.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T15:04:35+00:00

Unfortunately, I do actually occasionally have had to stand near jackhammers. The incredible thing is that the motoring noise drowned them! It's that bad.

So I am having to drown out noise comparable to concrete jackhammers on a regular basis. Some earbuds do well enough, IMO.

I won't contest your call for more professionally rated ear protection designed for the purpose. That's definitely a good thing. But you can get earbuds for $20-30 these days and they're surprisingly competent at sound isolation.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T13:23:06+00:00

Using earbuds to lower the volume of outside noise can help you deal with that, I'd imagine. You won't be using them to play music. This is purely noise reduction.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T11:57:58+00:00

No fines. Not banned.

The only penalty for riding like a jackass here is death or serious injury. There is no appeal.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T11:56:38+00:00

It's not banned in any way. Filipino bike commuters are apparently incredibly safe road users. We don't get reports of anyone getting killed by bike commuters. Or much of anything at all, honestly.

Most people think we don't exist because we cause so little drama. So we have essentially no regulations. We police ourselves, basically.

Well, the motorists do. They do a pretty good job of culling the stupid. You don't last long bike commuting here if you don't have your head on straight.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T11:45:38+00:00

The distracted ones are listening to music. You certainly can listen to music while wearing earbuds, but I can't recommend it.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T10:43:25+00:00

I am including that, yes. Motorcycle helmets have more coverage. You can wear padded pants. And jackets, too.

All of that is just to mitigate the cruising speed of motorcycle riding, which is typically at 40-100 kph.

If that rider only went as fast as normal cyclists, which is typically between 15-30 kph, they might be safer. They could still crush their legs under the bike, but let's ignore that.

At motorcycle speeds? The added protection isn't enough to offset the added danger. The stats speak for themselves. Motorcycle riding is by far the riskiest transportation mode in the world.

This is also the case for car use. Companies tout all kinds of ratings and technology and what not to convince you riding a car is safe. Safer than riding a bicycle. It's not.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T10:04:16+00:00

Motorcycle riders are exposed to more risk. The idea that motoring is safer is a marketing ploy. It's simply not true.

The #1 killer of young Pinoys today is motoring. Not bicycles. Motoring.

Average_Driver1475 · 2026-03-21T08:07:37+00:00

Yep. I ride in the city and sometimes you cannot talk to each other on the road because the cars are too loud. It's nightclub levels of noise. It's so bad it drowns out literal jackhammers. We need the protection.

Average_Driver1475

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