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Expert road cycling advice, since 2001

Slipstreamz Slips

By Gary Coyne

Price:  $23 for pair
Source:  Company website
Weight:  9.7 grams (pair), not including ear buds
How Obtained:  Purchased
RBR Sponsor:  No
Tested:  Over a year

HOT!

  • Let you safely listen to music while riding
  • Great protection against cold air
  • Assist in noise prevention

NOT!

  • Do not totally eliminate noise
  • Tricky to install
    Inconvenient to remove from your helmet 
  • Need to be washed occasionally

Music or Safety?

I don’t think I’ve ever been on an organized ride where I haven’t seen someone place ear buds or earphones in their ears before starting the ride. Occasionally, I’ve passed (or been passed) by someone with a sound system on their handlebars blasting away so loud that I could not converse with my riding partner. I do not believe that any of these options is wise. 

The most dangerous among listening-while-riding devices are earphones. Earphones are the little ear speakers that go into the ear canal and cut about 30-40 db of outside noise. While absolutely wonderful when listening to music on the couch or other safe haven, these simply block out too much aural information when used while walking, running, or biking.
 
Ear buds are safer in that they do not cut outside noise, but since they are placed right against your ear canal, they are the predominant source of the sounds coming into your ears. It’s hard to find that volume “sweet-spot” where you can comfortably listen to the music AND hear the necessary outside sounds.
 
My biggest issue with handlebar sound systems is that to raise the volume sufficiently to hear the music, you drown out peripheral noises. In addition, at those volumes the sound quality takes a major dive. (Of course, the other issue with your handlebar sound system is that I have to listen to your music as we pass each other.)
 
Full disclosure: I’ve been listening to my iPod for years while I ride, but I do it using what I believe to be the safest device possible — Slips.  

Ear Covers Do The Trick 

Invented and manufactured in South Africa, these “ear covers” attach to your helmet straps and cover your ears with a combination of plastic, fabric, and a bit of foam rubber. In the molded contours of the foam rubber, you can add an ear bud. The thing that makes them safer for listening to your music while riding is that the ear bud’s speaker is placed near the top of your ear, not against the ear canal. Thus, it is easy to listen to your music, hear road noises, hear your phone ring, and/or converse with friends.

One of the maker’s claims about Slips is that they help block wind noise. While the Slips do help, I have found that they do not completely eliminate wind noise, which does have an effect on the sound quality of your preferred tunes. The greater the head wind (based on your speed and the wind speed), the more competition your music will have. Of course, blasting the music through your ear buds both distorts the sound AND defeats the purpose of listening safely.
 
However, if you play your music at a reasonable level and the ambient noise is nominal, the sound quality is pleasant — and listening is safe. In fact, I can even hear an electric car’s tire noise coming up from behind me over the music.
 
Slips weigh only 9.7 grams for the pair. My preferred Apple ear buds add another 12.5 grams. So the total weight is less than an ounce. 

Added Benefits

Slips provide a couple of unintended benefits, as well. Foremost among them is that for the Slips to fit properly, your helmet must fit properly. Using them provides great motivation to get your helmet straps properly adjusted, something that many cyclists never really take the time to do. 

Even with a dialed-in helmet, however, getting the Slips to fit properly onto the straps also takes some time and effort. Because of this, once They’re on, you are not likely to remove them on a whim. Likewise, for any ear buds you use, once everything is attached, consider these as part of your helmet. Thus, if you don’t always want to use the Slips, you will need two helmets: one with them installed, and one without them.
 
[Helmet tip: the strap in front of the ear can vary depending on the helmet design — from close to the ear to some distance in front of the ear. When using Slips, you’llwant this strap to fit closer to the ear. If you look at the photo of me, above, you can see the edge of my ear past the edge of the Slip. This is not the optimum fit, and it provided a lesson for me regarding future helmets that work well with Slips.]
 
Another side benefit I’ve found is that I do not need to wear any special coverings over my ears in cold weather: with the wind not contacting my ears, I do not get the ear pain that I used to get. I also have not found them to be any bother during warm weather. However, washing them occasionally is wise, as they can get the same odor that your helmet tends to display after a certain amount of time. 

Additional Considerations

I do not listen to music all the time on the bike. Especially when riding with friends, I want to join in on the conversation without music in the background. I’ve had a variety of iPods and iPhones over the years and have found that the ability to easily turn the music on or off (besides setting the volume) is very important in their safe use while riding. 

As such, I’ve found the simple, inexpensive iPod Shuffle (12 grams) to be my player of choice. The iPhone and iPod Touch cannot be easily turned on or off. I’ve not had any experience with other MP3 players, but when choosing your player, this is one issue that should be considered.
 
Finally, at the risk of repeating the obvious, using Slips to safely listen to music on a bike is predicated on not BLASTING your music. If you want to blast your music, wait till you are off the bike. It should, after all, be a bike ride with music, not music with a bike ride.

Gary Coyne is an avid road rider and regular commuter who enjoys solo and group rides in his hometown of South Pasadena, California.
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