Riding with Hearing Aids

[Stephen Durfee]

I've recently begun wearing hearing aids, and while they have certainly helped my day-to-day life, they are quite frustrating to ride with - even at low speeds, the whooooshing and whining sound in my ear is pretty unbearable. During the cooler months, I was able to compensate for this by wearing a beanie under my helmet, pulled down to cover my ears. Now, as the weather has warmed up, I am looking for other solutions. I'm trying out "Cat-Ears", which do help a bit... I wonder if anyone has found other solutions. 

[Rusty Click]

Same experience here!  I've started using a Buff...it helps with sweat too, and easily pulls down over ears to reduce wind noise.   I also  use a pair of helmet strap wind deflectors that probably work better, even without the Buff pulled down.  My next move will be to go without the hearing helpers and maybe use some noise cancellation ear buds.

Rusty

[Bernard Duhon]

Bernard F. Duhon
I use the Otecon  brand hearing aid and I don't notice the aggravation. It is more difficult to hear a fellow rider. But I can sure hear a car coming from behind. Is any longtime cyclist would know we typically hear a car coming before we see them in our rearview mirror or when  I look back.

 

 

 

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Bernard F. Duhon

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From: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Rusty Click <clic...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, June 20, 2025 7:56 AM
To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [RBW] Re: Riding with Hearing Aids

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[Eric Douglas]

I sometimes use hearing aids.  My hearing loss is just moderate so I can get by without them. I never use them on the bike because hearing aids are expensive and they seem (for me) to have a tendency to get caught by my helmet straps and then fall off.

You also might want to check if you can adjust the hearing aids settings through an app. "Shutting off" the front facing microphones might  lower the wind noise but still alow you to hear traffic, etc. 

Eric

[Andrew Scherer]

Mine are Jabra Enhance, and I don't experience wind noise while cycling. It took a little time to adjust to the particular amplification, and playing with the various settings and profiles through the phone app helped me tune it.

[George Cline]

I have a fairly significant hearing loss, so not wearing aids is not an option for me. I've used both ReSound and Phonak aids. I have found those Cat-Ears helped a little bit and I continue to use them. Also, the ReSound App on my iPhone allows me to apply a noise filter which, combined with the Cat-Ears, gives a reasonable result. I also dial down the amplification a bit. 

The noise has never gone away completely though. Neither ReSound nor Phonak apps allow you to shut of a forward facing microphone. Maybe there are more advanced aids available that offer more options.

To sum up, you can reduce the wind noise somewhat, but you'll probably never be able to eliminate it. In my case, it's preferable to be able to hear drivetrain stuff, (I'm a friction shifter!), than to go without and hear almost nothing!

George in NoCal