The Best Headphones For Cycling

Lifestyle, Reviews I By Tom Martin I June 24, 2021
  Editor’s Note: We recently asked two of our editors, one from Winding Road magazine and one from our sister publication The Absolute Sound, to try a variety of headphones for road cycling to see what worked the best. We have since updated our listing with new releases and discoveries.   We are cyclists, racers and audiophiles. We often find that our niche activities are not fully understood in product categories where our use case is not the standard one. Cycling headphones are an example. There are lots of “fitness” or “athletic” models on the market, but the use case pretty typically seems to be the gym. Cycling can be quite different. Let us explain.   In road cycling, the rider is most commonly on the road (pretty insightful, eh?). The rider would like to hear cars, sirens and horns for the sake of safety. The rider would also like to hear the audio content he or she is trying to listen to. And the rider would like to be easily able to talk to other riders, without seriously distracting from the operation of the bike (steering, braking, shifting). These competing demands are tough to satisfy. More on that in a minute.   But that’s not all. The rider is bouncing around, so needs headphones that will stay on the head and not distract. The rider would like to be able to pause/play content easily. The rider might want to answer phone calls. And the rider would like clear audio output at a minimum and high fidelity if possible (so-called ‘good sound quality’).   There are hundreds of headphones on the market and we make no pretense that we’ve tried them all. We picked a sample of different types that seemed suited to riding, in part to see if the underlying technology matters (it does), and in part to see if we could find some recommendable models (we did).   Our test headphones and our results:   Jabra Elite Active 75t True Wireless Earbuds ($179)

Purely as earbuds, these work well enough. That said, we found these to be less than ideal for our cycling-specific needs. As with most earbuds, you jam these in your ear canal and some amount of passive isolation occurs. That’s good for hearing music or podcasts, but not for hearing ambient sounds. With the 75t, active noise cancellation ads almost nothing to the isolation, though for cycling that might be okay. The whole package would work except that Jabra’s “Hear Through mode” is so ineffective. Hear Through does very little to overcome the passive isolation.  And you have to activate it, which almost defeats the purpose. The 75ts do have audio EQ if you want to try to tailor the sound to your ears (individual earbud fit has a huge impact on audio). Fit seemed moderately secure, although once a good seal is acheived these seem to stay in place on normal roads. Soft touch controls are fiddly.   Best Cycling Bud, Cost No Object: Klipsch T5 II True Wireless Sport McLaren Edition ($249)   These have much nicer packaging and some of our testers thought they were unusually comfortable for earbuds and more comfortable than the Jabras. The Klipschs have better baseline audio quality than the Jabras, and for music these seem a solid choice. Still, the Jabra cycling-specific problems carry over to the Klipsch: some passive isolation accompanied by essentially useless pass-through mode. The Klipsch T5s seemed to let a little more sound through though, so you'll probably maintain awareness well enough. The comfy fit seemed slightly more secure than with the Jabras, in part because the T5s have a small hook that nestles in you outer ear for retention. The comfy ear tips still caused concern that the T5 IIs might fall out with heavy road vibration, though in testing that didn't happen. Soft touch controls that are fiddly, though not especially so, it's just that real buttons are better.       Powerbeats Pro Totally Wireless Earphones ($169)   More secure fit than either Jabra or Klipsch because of an over-the-ear hook, but the same conceptual problem of isolation which can’t easily be overcome, though you can simply not go for a good seal and give up some bass. There is no pass-through mode. Realistically, you’d probably need some moderately fancy AI to do pass-through for cycling that was more than just bypassing the passive isolation. In $150-250 earbuds, we’re probably not going to get that any time soon, but technology sometimes moves in unexpected leaps. If we are going to skip passive isolation, see the Aftershokz and and Bose.   Best Sound: Beats Studio Buds   Apple has recently released the Beats Studio Buds. These sound quite good on music, with even mid-range and pretty accurate bass balance (a little warm, but that has some advantages in noisy environments). The fit we acheived was good, though that meant more passive isolation, which is maybe not so good for cycling. But the big thing is that the Studio Buds could easily fall out with anything less than the best seal. If you want regular earbuds and are okay with some passive isolation, we'd take the Klipsch over these simply because of the Klipsch ear hooks and the fact that both sound very good (edge to the Studio Buds).     High Value: Aftershokz OpenMove Wireless Bone Conduction Headphones ($79)   The Aftershokz OpenMoves work quite well for cycling, if your concern is first and foremost being able to hear ambient sounds for safety reasons. The impressive thing is that bone conduction works very well, with clear audio and no fiddly placement on the head. You just put them on and they work. In fact, the ambient sounds and the audio almost seem to be on different channels to your brain which is ideal for the road bike use case. In the ‘not so ideal’ category, we have audio volume, which can only go so high. While we caution against cranking any headphones up at the risk of hearing damage, this is different. Bone conduction can only vibrate so much without being weird and Aftershokz has capped output so that there are times when the audio track gets a bit buried especially as the wind going over your ear gets noisiers. Not a huge deal or a big deal depending on your average speed and listening preferences.  Also, the Aftershokz go over the ear and compete for that space with your cycling goggles. Workable, but a bit clunky. The controls are a mix of soft-touch and real buttons, but some are a bit hard to differentiate without looking (e.g. while you are on the bike).   Best Overall: Bose Frames Tempo Audio Sunglasses ($249)   These did almost everything well. Ambient noise awareness is excellent, as with the Aftershokz, because your ear is completely unobstructed (the speakers are in the frames forward of your ear). Yet the audio was clear and the volume level was more than adequate below 20 mph. Wind noise at 20-35 mph will eventually surpass the audio, though, which is a drawback on podcasts if you are trying to follow the details.  Audio quality is good in the sense that it is clear and articulate, but bass fanatics will not be happy. Bose had the wisdom to come up with a really simple control scheme in which the pause/play button is an actual electro-mechanical button that is easy to find with fingerless gloves. The same button answers calls. Very easy to use while riding. The volume control isn’t as nice, since it is a capacitive touch area on the upper edge of the frames. But at least the touch area is relatively big. You kind of get used to it, but like all capacitive touch buttons it is sensitive to skin dryness. The headphones stay on your head well, but the tension might be considered a bit tight, which is the desirable side. We've worn them for 5-6 hour rides and they didn't bother us. They also look either futuristic or weird depending on your stylistic sensibilities.   Value Champ: Tecno Bravo B1   Depite not being "true wireless" this design has virtues for cycling. First off, they're $30, so if you lose them, well, it isn't a financial tragedy. At the same time, the Bravos have two retention features: a hook on the earbud that engages the inside of your outer ear and an over the neck cable. So, if the Bravos do fall out, the neck strap will retain them. We thought the hook worked well (YMMV). As for sound quality, well, they are quite clear, with okay midrange and treble, but very little bass. For spoken podcasts, they are fine. For music, not so much. But...the lack of bass means getting a good seal isn't that important which means that you can leave them a touch loose for less passive isolation and more situational awareness. The controls on the cord are easy to use, with actual buttons, but the cord moving around could be a small bother (less than tapping on your right bud, however, in quasi-Morse code).   A few notes on pricing. While we are quoting MSRP, often these products have promotional pricing. Also, we should note that the Bose headphone pricing includes goggles with replaceable lenses. We’ve spent $100-$200 just for cycling goggles, so the Bose could be considered the lowest priced headphones here if you squint just right.
Tags:

The Guide to Road Racing: Winding Road Magazine's ultimate guide to getting your start in racing.

Table of Contents

Related Articles

Review: Le Mans 100 Book is a Winner

As a devoted motorsport enthusiast, my anticipation for the Le Mans 100 book by Glen Smale was sky-high following the thrilling and unforgettable 24 Hours…

July 07, 2023
The Mullin Automotive Museum Immortalizes the Grandeur of French Pre-War Car Culture

What’s behind the doors of the Mullin Automotive Museum aren’t just cars, but works of art in every shape and form.

June 01, 2023
Book Review: NASCAR 75 Years

NASCAR 75 Years offers an insightful look into the history of NASCAR, from its humble beginnings as a small family business to its current position as a leader in sports entertainment.

March 14, 2023
Garmin’s New Index BPM – Both Easy & Comprehensive

The good thing is that are no hoses or wires stemming out from the device, which makes it less of a hassle to set up and put away.

December 08, 2022
Another Porsche Book? Yes and We Love It!

Porsche, deservingly if you ask us, has been covered over and over in a series of coffee table books. So, why another one? Can it really add value?

October 21, 2022

EMAIL SIGN UP

Get the latest driving and racing news straight to your inbox.

no thanks

Begin typing your search above and press return to search.