I am normally no fan of earphones when riding but have always tried the “in-ear” type, so wanted to try out this off-ear version – I was impressed!

I was concerned the earphones would significantly reduce my awareness of traffic and other important noises when riding, like clunking gears, etc. I rode off with the Aftershokz Sportz 3 headphones listening to a radio news programme and could both hear the spoken words on the radio and all other road noise, perfect. This was with the volume on less than 50%, and the quality of the radio was excellent – very crisp and clear.

Coming to busy road junctions I could easily flick the headset to my neck, just in case, and just as easily return the headset to the correct position above the ears. In fact, the headset design is so much more secure than in-ear, which needs to be squashed into the ear or taped to stay stable. Actually, there was no need to flick the headset up and down as I soon discovered. With the control clipped inside my jersey on the bib brace it is an easy tap of the on/off button to switch off at busy areas.

No problem with the headset interfering with the rider glasses, it was a case of headset over glasses but all worked well.

I tried music and was impressed with the sound quality even at low volume settings; I was probably listening at 25% volume and could clear hear the music and traffic. Nice to have The Jam help me up a hill!

I wanted to be able to occasionally listen to the radio on long rides and a bit of inspirational music for those “dark” moments to lift the spirits. This product does that job far better than expected and still allows you to hear traffic noise. The quality of the sound is fantastic, as is the quality of the product itself, far better than expected.

If you need to or want to wear earphones consider these over the in-ear types, you will be pleasantly surprised! Of course, if you listen to heavy metal music at full volume, you will still be a danger to yourself and others on the road: it all boils down to being responsible and sensible to stay safe.

See the full Aftershokz range here http://www.probikekit.co.uk/brands/aftershokz.list