Didn’t ride ST yesterday, how many decibels doing other things.

sirbike

sirbike

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Cleveland OH
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2006 ST1300A
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I have a decibel app that I pull up now and then. Even if it is not absolutely accurate, it does show the relative noise level between activities.
BTW I wear ear plugs on airliners, when I vacuum, or hammer anything that needs fixing.

Yesterday rode BART train in San Francisco I didn’t have my ear plugs. The average level was 86db peaking at 99.5db.
Can you imagine that everyday commuting to work for 25 years. That ain’t good.

The Shinkansen I rode in December was around 68db.

Anyway yesterday I rented a Chevy Malibu. Driving around town, nice car. Got on the highway for 200 miles. 3 miles down the road, good grief this thing is loud.
Average 96db steady fluctuating 94-98db. I want to measure my Camry again and post that for comparison but I remember that it is no where near this level.

Just a reminder hearing damage is accumulative so block loud sound wherever whenever you can. Save it for your favorite activity.
 
Those indicated levels seem awfully high to be accurate. Fine maybe for measuring deltas. But if the numbers don't accurately represent the levels your hearing the data is questionable at best.

My own experience is using the Noise app on my watch when at theatre. On time the watch was consistently showing in excess of 86dB and warned that was LOUD and the blood from my ears confirmed it. I sent an email to the corporate offices and it seemed to go some good. Maybe on its on or may there were other complaints.

Subsequently watching Maverick there were a few moment that just hit 86dB and triggered a warning. But they didn't last long. All this is to the point that I've never experienced that level of sound (regardless of whatever a dB level would indicate) near that in a car or BART which have ridden frequently in the past.

I don't take my watch numbers as gospel and if I was really concerned I'd look for an accurate meter. I'd also take notes as to how I took the measurements if I needed to offer them in support of something I was trying to accomplish.
 
Driving the wife’s V70R today at 70 mph. 70db.
That makes the Malibu awfully loud by comparison. Also the Malibu registered a consistent 2db lower on a slightly smoother asphalt than the rougher asphalt.

This is interesting.
BART
Either my app is close or their “meter” is an app.

Flying home last night.
737 Max 8, row 4, 73db.
 
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Most of the time it's hard to realize how loud, oppressive and stressing is the environment around us.
Our brain is doing a such good job at filtering noise, but our ears are more exposed.
Riding with ear plugs is truly another experience.
 
I don't have decibel meters or scientific analysis, but my sister flies for SouthWest as a flight attendant, getting close to 30 years in that position.
She never wore earplugs in-flight, and in her late 40s was prescribed hearing aids, which she wears to this day.
I have some hearing loss (not quantifiable), as I rode as a teenager some number of years (not quantifiable) before I began wearing ear plugs.
But I wear 'em now while riding; no one has told me I need hearing aids except for my wife, but that's another subject entirely. I just don't feel the need to start a thread about Selective Hearing...
 
Noise pollution is all around us. When I took my Sunday ride with my friends it was the cicada's. Very very loud even with the helmet on;)
 
Speaking of noise:
IMG_3638.png
IMG_3639.png
I couldn’t fit it all as one panel without seeing the full picture, but you get the message…

All joking aside, the Mrs and I just found out today she needs hearing aids (I wear them now at work primarily)- in my case I can blame it on loud music and many ear infections when I was younger, but in the Mrs case, these do not apply- I guess just old(er) age. I wear Plugfones BT earpieces when riding and try to knock down the wind noise as much as possible. Allegedly a 29 dB drop with the earplugs.
 
Erdoc48 said:
I wear Plugfones BT earpieces when riding and try to knock down the wind noise as much as possible.
Click to expand...
I have never worn hearing protection, and it's too late to start bothering with it now. My high-frequency response curve drops off like a cliff in a Roadrunner-Coyote cartoon, starting around 1kHz.

I am fortunate that the V.A. provides hearing aids for veterans. They gave me a pair of Oticon More1 aids which pair flawlessly with my iPhone. They effectively restore all the higher frequencies.

I was told that I shouldn't use them while riding, mainly to avoid amplifying sounds that contributed to my hearing loss, and i don't wear them to avoid losing them putting my helmet on and off.
 
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