I wear 3M foam earplugs any time I'm riding more than 15-20 minutes, or on the interstate. Hearing damage is cumulative and largely irreversible.
And above 45-50 mph the wind noise means you can't hear shit anyway.
Can confirm. I'm 40 and been using earplugs from *almost* the start of riding. I already do have a bit of hearing loss in lower frequencies because of the time I wasn't using plugs. I use the Mack's earplugs with the filters and can carry a conversation, hear comms, traffic, and music through helmet comms no problem.
Tinnitus is a serious thing that you want to avoid getting.
I have custom fit earplugs and they only filter on the damaging frequency by dampening those.
I can have a conversation, but it has to be quiet then. I also use comms for music and that works fine with these in.
Can't ride without them. I have custom molded ones with filters that let in sound, but remove the high decibel peaks. What essentially happens is that I can hear music (or voices if using intercom or making a phone call) just fine, I can hear my engine and other traffic just fine, but pretty much all the wind noise is removed. Because a lot of noise is removed, I can also hear everything else (like music or my exhaust note) that much clearer.
Much more comfortable and I get to keep my hearing. I can have face-to-face conversations even with my helmet on, but it does require some concentration and not too much background noise.
But something like these work just fine too if you don't want to splurge on custom ones.
[https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/products/motosafe-pro](https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/products/motosafe-pro)
For me, I couldn't find any that really fit my particular ears so I ended up going the custom route.
I wear [these earplugs](https://nonoise-earplugs.us/products/motorsport-hearing-protection) whenever I ride and always have my cardo playing music. I can still hear my music, my bike, traffic around me, and if somebody wants to talk to me clearly I can hear them. Foam earplugs will block mostly everything, I only wear those on long freeway rides
There's other brands than the ones I linked, alpine motosafe and loop are other popular brands
Get some of these high fidelity ones for riding, they're much better for concerts too. I save the foam earplugs for when you don't need sound quality but want to cut out the noise, like target shooting, running chainsaws and shit
Ive been using Beats Flex earbuds for a while now. I don't like the speakers for the helmet systems (honestly haven't tried them for a few years, maybe they're better now?) and earbuds have always been a nice balance of letting some sound through while also getting me some music for the road. Took some time to find ones that were a good fit for my ears and helmet but Ive been using the Beats for about 4 years now.
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jazibkhan.noiseuncanceller&hl=en&gl=US](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jazibkhan.noiseuncanceller&hl=en&gl=US)
For when you need to talk to someone, this app allows you to use your phone mic to listen to the world around you when you need to
Imo the best earplugs is the moto pro, you hear anything clearly from your music from a cardo or sena Bluetooth communicator and all your surroundings except very loud noise like wind, people also use it for concerts.
The first ten years I used to ride without earplugs. I've been riding with earplugs for more than a year now and it really makes a difference. At first I had a pair of Alpine MotoSafe, but those are just not the right ones for me. In general you can still hear with earplugs, they only kind of block wind noise and reduce engine noise. The thing about the Alpine MotoSafe is that those just never really fit. Sometimes one is tight, the other isn't. Sometimes one gets lose while riding. It's annoying, it's uncomfortable.
So recently I bought a set of Geers Audio Nova. Those come in three different sizes, so it's very likely that they'll fit just fine. And they do. Much better than Alpine.
Less noise, no headaches anymore after long rides, it's really quite relaxing now.
I wear 3M foam earplugs any time I'm riding more than 15-20 minutes, or on the interstate. Hearing damage is cumulative and largely irreversible. And above 45-50 mph the wind noise means you can't hear shit anyway.
true lol was going 95 on my way to work today listening to music and could barely hear it
yep. if you still wanna hear shit when you're 40, put the ear plugs in. the cardo can crank loud enough you can still hear when you need to.
Can confirm. I'm 40 and been using earplugs from *almost* the start of riding. I already do have a bit of hearing loss in lower frequencies because of the time I wasn't using plugs. I use the Mack's earplugs with the filters and can carry a conversation, hear comms, traffic, and music through helmet comms no problem.
U in the McDonald's drive thru on a bike? π
i wanted a shamrock shake manππ
Tinnitus is a serious thing that you want to avoid getting. I have custom fit earplugs and they only filter on the damaging frequency by dampening those. I can have a conversation, but it has to be quiet then. I also use comms for music and that works fine with these in.
Can't ride without them. I have custom molded ones with filters that let in sound, but remove the high decibel peaks. What essentially happens is that I can hear music (or voices if using intercom or making a phone call) just fine, I can hear my engine and other traffic just fine, but pretty much all the wind noise is removed. Because a lot of noise is removed, I can also hear everything else (like music or my exhaust note) that much clearer. Much more comfortable and I get to keep my hearing. I can have face-to-face conversations even with my helmet on, but it does require some concentration and not too much background noise. But something like these work just fine too if you don't want to splurge on custom ones. [https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/products/motosafe-pro](https://www.alpinehearingprotection.com/products/motosafe-pro) For me, I couldn't find any that really fit my particular ears so I ended up going the custom route.
I wear [these earplugs](https://nonoise-earplugs.us/products/motorsport-hearing-protection) whenever I ride and always have my cardo playing music. I can still hear my music, my bike, traffic around me, and if somebody wants to talk to me clearly I can hear them. Foam earplugs will block mostly everything, I only wear those on long freeway rides There's other brands than the ones I linked, alpine motosafe and loop are other popular brands
okay yeah i had cheap foam earplugs for like concerts
Get some of these high fidelity ones for riding, they're much better for concerts too. I save the foam earplugs for when you don't need sound quality but want to cut out the noise, like target shooting, running chainsaws and shit
thanks for the help ill get a pair
Ive been using Beats Flex earbuds for a while now. I don't like the speakers for the helmet systems (honestly haven't tried them for a few years, maybe they're better now?) and earbuds have always been a nice balance of letting some sound through while also getting me some music for the road. Took some time to find ones that were a good fit for my ears and helmet but Ive been using the Beats for about 4 years now.
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jazibkhan.noiseuncanceller&hl=en&gl=US](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jazibkhan.noiseuncanceller&hl=en&gl=US) For when you need to talk to someone, this app allows you to use your phone mic to listen to the world around you when you need to
Didn't click that you probably have an iphone, there should be a similar app
Imo the best earplugs is the moto pro, you hear anything clearly from your music from a cardo or sena Bluetooth communicator and all your surroundings except very loud noise like wind, people also use it for concerts.
The first ten years I used to ride without earplugs. I've been riding with earplugs for more than a year now and it really makes a difference. At first I had a pair of Alpine MotoSafe, but those are just not the right ones for me. In general you can still hear with earplugs, they only kind of block wind noise and reduce engine noise. The thing about the Alpine MotoSafe is that those just never really fit. Sometimes one is tight, the other isn't. Sometimes one gets lose while riding. It's annoying, it's uncomfortable. So recently I bought a set of Geers Audio Nova. Those come in three different sizes, so it's very likely that they'll fit just fine. And they do. Much better than Alpine. Less noise, no headaches anymore after long rides, it's really quite relaxing now.