One decision bike tourists have to make is whether or not to listen to headphones while riding. Safety concerns demand that bicycle riders keep their ears open and listening closely to what is going on around them, especially vehicles coming up behind them. On the other side is fighting the boredom inherent in spending hour after hour in the saddle for days at a time by listening to music or audio books using earbuds while riding, lessening one's awareness of what is happening.

Compromises include using only one earbud (see my review of One Good Earbud) and handlebar mounted speakers. Now, a new technology, bone conduction headphones, provides another option.

Originally created for the military, bone conduction headphones produce sound via vibrations of the bones next to the ear. This keeps your ears "open" to hear any ambient noise.

I had a chance to test the Aftershokz Sport Headphone (www.aftershokz.com) when my niece, who is a buyer for a UK electronics chain, brought them by. Because creating vibrations requires more power, these headphones have their own amplifier, with a separate on/off switch, volume controls, and chargeable battery.Th e headphones go over the ears (they are connected by a plastic "bar" in the back) and sit against your head just in front of your ears, leaving your ears unobstructed.

The Good


I spent a bit of time wearing the headphones on a bike, in a crowd and on a train, though only for a short time on each. The headphones work as advertised. I could hear music and, at the same time, whatever sounds were around me, be it birds, conversations, construction noise, or passing cars. While listening to the headphones (both in a crowd and on the train), I carried on a conversation with ease (without raising my voice, as is common with normal headphones). I rode solo, but could have talked while riding, too. Note, at high volume, the headphones tend to drown out ambient sound.

I originally thought the way the phones hung over the ear would interfere with my sunglasses and helmet. While this could be a problem with some sets of glasses and helmets, it wasn't with the combination I used.

The Bad


While the headphones worked as advertised, they had several shortcomings. All of them can be traced to the separate headphone battery and it's connecting wire.

According to the manufacturer, the headphone battery should last for 17 hours at a "moderate" volume. It then has to be recharged via a computer's USB port. The wall charger for a phone/iPad won't work. Thus, either a touring cyclist carries a computer to charge the headphones or has to find one every couple days. This, alone, is probably a show stopper for most bike tourists. It would be for me.

The headphone battery is housed in a tiny box (1 inch by 3/8 inch?) that has a separate volume control and on/off switch. Turning off the headphones doesn't shut off the player, which means you have to shut them off in the right order or risk missing some of what you are listening to.

The Ugly


This box is designed to clip onto a shirt or jersey while using the headphones. Unfortunately, the connecting wire is not adjustable. I didn't have a convenient place to clip the controller while I rode and ended up having to use my collar. This left a good about 6 inches of cord flapping in the wind. I eventually wrapped the wire around the back of my neck and then clipping the controller on the collar. This not only felt odd, but meant I couldn't see the controller buttons.

The controller has three micro-buttons on a smooth plastic covering. One for on/off, one for increasing volume and one for lowering it. Unless their locations were memorized, there is no way to manipulate them without looking at them while doing so. This was a hassle for me as I had to unclip the controller from my collar before I could use it. I always had to stop the bike to do this. The volume on the headphones can be set and then adjusted on the player itself, but mine was in my back pocket and it was a hassle to dig around and grab it. But, using the headphone controller buttons was so hard that I ended up stopping and grabbing my player whenever I needed to adjust the volume.

The headphones are a bit pricey at $55 a pop. There is also a version that comes with a microphone, should you want to use them to make phone calls. But, the version I tested didn't have a microphone, so I can't comment of how well it works. Also, the manufacturer claims the headphones are water-proof, but I only used them on sunny days.

Recommendations


Being able to listen to music/audio books without blocking my ear(s) is something I'd like to be able to do and these headphones do just that. But, the way they are currently configured would never work for me. Here is what would have to change before I'd use them.

They would have to have a charger that plugs directly into the wall or, even better,an adapter for use with an iPhone/iPad plug.

While having unadjustable wires is a major drag, by itself it wouldn't prevent me from using these, but I wouldn't like it. A much better idea is to make the controller wire adjustable to fit my needs, not the other way around.

I see no reason for any of the buttons on the headphone's battery box. My suggestion is to remove the switches completely and have the headphones turn on whenever there was sound coming into the wire and to turn off when there wasn't (after a short delay) just like all other headphones work. This means the volume would be pre-set but changeable by the player, which is perfectly acceptable.

If these recommendations were implemented, then I'd be very interested in these headphones, especially when riding around town or on busy roads, where maximum vigilance is required.
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Copyright © 2007 by Ray Swartz