Best Headphones for Cycling 2026 (Including AirPods)

By Dave Briggs · Published 2026-10-30 · Last updated 2026-10-30

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If you're looking for a good pair of headphones for cycling, this guide shows which cycling earphones are best and how to safely use them.

Can Cyclists Wear Headphones? What are the best cycling headphones? What do you need to know before buying headphones for cycling?

In this article, we take a look at the pros and cons of wearing headphones when cycling outdoors. We've also got a selection of the best wireless headphones to wear when riding your bike.

Any of the above selection would be good headphones for biking in the outdoors or on your bike trainer.

There are some considerations when wearing headphones for mountain biking, road biking, or cycling outdoors though.

Should You Wear Cycling Earphones?

Wearing headphones when cycling is a contentious issue. As with so many things to do with bicycles and bike riding!

It's not my job to be judgmental on the issue of biking headphones. Some people will choose to wear headphones when riding their bikes, others will not.

My own personal experience from bike touring in different parts of the world, is overall I prefer to enjoy the sounds of nature and cycle without them.

On occasion however, the road might be boring, the wind insane, or mountain so steep I need the motivation of something like Slayer to get to the top! In those cases, I wear headphones when cycling to listen to music or perhaps a podcast.

I've never bought into the 'you can't hear traffic coming behind you' argument. That type of thinking must also mean that deaf or hard of hearing people shouldn't be riding bicycles. I hope no one is genuinely suggesting that!

That said, it's probably not a smart idea to wear cycling earbuds with noise cancellation on! The same for listening to something at max volume of course.

I still remember that time a road cyclist passed with a snarky comment about me wearing headphones while cycling, only to nearly get splatted by a truck 5 minutes later after he deliberately ran a red light. So what was more dangerous? Me using earbuds for cycling and listening to a low-key podcast, or him ignoring traffic signals?

Exercise a little common sense. Wear them, don't wear them... It's really up to you.

Read more here: Things to think about before buying headphones for bike riding

Types of Headphones for Cycling

The best headphones for cycling fall into a few broad categories: bone conduction, open-ear earbuds, and in-ear earbuds, wired or wireless. I would not recommend Over Ear Headphones for cycling for obvious reasons.

Here's a closer look at the cycling headphones mentioned earlier in the article, grouped by type with the ones that leave your ears most open first.

Bone Conduction Headphones

Shokz OpenRun Pro 2 is the best bone conduction pick here.

Shokz OpenMove is the best budget bone conduction option.

Open-Ear Earbuds

Shokz OpenFit 2+ is the best overall pick.

Sony LinkBuds Clip is the best clip-on open-ear option.

In-Ear Earbuds with Transparency Mode

Apple AirPods Pro 3 is the best pick if you already like AirPods.

Beats Powerbeats Pro 2 are the best secure-fit earbuds here.

Budget In-Ear Earbuds

I love Anker products, and I have probably a dozen powerbanks from this company! The Soundcore P20i are the best budget in-ear option.

Things to think about before buying headphones for bike riding

There's a few practical considerations to keep in mind before buying some earphones for cycling:

• Headphone Battery life: If you're using wireless headphones for cycling, the battery life might be an issue, particularly if you are on a bike tour. Not only will the headphones themselves be using power, but so also will your phone or media player.
• Headphone Design: A cycling or sports headphones is more likely to stay in your ear. Choose a design which fits you best.
• Sound Quality - You might as well have the cycling headphones with the best sound quality you can. Keep in mind though, that if you choose to listen at low volumes, the sounds quality may be negated to a certain extent.
• Bone Conduction Cycling Headphones: This style of bicycling headphone has many advantages that it might be worth paying that little bit extra for.
• Water Resistance: If you're cycling any great time wearing headphones, you are going to want them to be as water, and sweat resistant as possible.

Tips for using bicycle earphones

Here's some tips about how to more safely use and wear headphones when biking.

1. Just use one earbud: Sure, it's nice to be fully immersed into a world of stereo Slipknot (?), but when out cycling, you might want to appreciate what's going on around you. Wearing one earbud will enable you to listen to your favourite song or podcast, but also keep you tuned in to what's going on with traffic etc.
2. Turn down the volume: There's a sweet spot between having music loud enough to listen to, but low enough to still be aware of traffic. Find that, and you can more safely wear your headphones when using your bicycle.
3. Wireless headphones for cycling are better: Wired headphones always run the risk of getting tangled around something.

Best Headphones For Cycling

Do you have any comments or questions about biking headphones? Please share them with the cycling community by leaving them in the comments section below.

If you enjoyed this guide to bicycle earphones, please share it on social media. You can find sharing buttons in the bottom right hand corner of your screen.

Now you've read this information about cycling earbuds, you might also want to check out these other articles about cycling gear:

Dave Briggs
Dave is a UK travel writer living in Athens since 2015. With 20 years of firsthand travel experience and over 80,000 km of bicycle touring across six continents, he's been blogging at Dave's Travel Pages since 2005. Every guide is based on places he's actually been.

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