Hearing protection on your bicycle?
With the arrival of e-bikes and speed pedelecs, biking becomes easier, more comfortable and faster. You start riding and before you know it, you’re 20km further! The electrical bike is growing in popularity, also for commuting. And it’s good for your health, too!
Speed
The average speed of a normal city bike lies around 15 km/h. With an e-bike, pedal assistance goes as far as 25 km/h and with a speed pedelec even to 45 km/h (you do have to have a driver’s license for a speed pedelec).
Hearing damage through cycling?
Your first thought probably doesn’t go out to cycling when it comes to hearing damage. With a normal bike you will not experience much problems with wind noise. With e-bikes and speed pedelecs it’s a different story. In an American study* it was found that even with 16 km/h the sound levels can reach up to 85 dB in windy situations. A few kilometres faster (24 km/h) and the sound level reached around 90 dB. When you go the maximum speed on a speed pedelec, it’s possible to get slammed with a whopping 100+ dB. For reference: with 100 dB you are at risk of getting hearing damage in under 4 minutes!
Of course this is all depending on the circumstances you ride your bike in, such as wind and surrounding noise. When you cycle against strong winds, the sound levels will be higher than without wind. Your surroundings can also be a contributing factor to lower or higher sound levels. Trees and houses can stop some of the wind reaching you, for instance.
Electrical bikes are not the only type of bikes with this problem. Cycle racers, recumbent bikes and velomobiles are capable of reaching high speeds and therefore high sound levels.
Hearing protection
Cycling at high speeds can actually give you hearing damage. And while wearing hearing protection on motorcycles and even mopeds has become standard practice, people don’t often think about wearing hearing protection on a bicycle. It is also important to stay safe in traffic, so you have to be able to hear enough of your surroundings.
Pluggerz earplugs Road are made to protect you from wind noise. The Uni-Fit version is reusable over 100 times and comes in two sizes for the best fit. The Custom-Fit version is custom made for your ears, 100% leak proof and is also available with a Premium (DM) filter for the most natural sound experience.
*https://scholarlycommons.henryford.com/otolaryngology_articles/65/