Bluetooth Speakers on Your Klunker: Yes or No?

It’s time to answer the question that’s been dividing us for too long.

A while back, on a certain forum for Klunkers, I posted about my Haro Klunkerson. To some praise, I should say… including a note that I need to “get the Bluetooth speaker charged-up” for my next cruise.

It was a good idea. I have an attachment that allows me to strap my lil’ JBL to the crossbar. Put in some Wu Tang and I’m gonna slip into a vibe real quick…

Or am I? There are people out there with some strong opinions on this matter.

We all know folks who talk on speakerphone in public are persona non grata. And hikers who pump tunes from their backpacks might just end up thrown from a viewpoint. (Explore Magazine wrote about this.)

But are bikes different?

Yes. I believe bikes are subject to different rules. Personally, I am unbothered when some tunes roll by me on the seawall or urban streets. (Mountain bikers should follow the same etiquette as hikers though. It’s a natural thing.)

For me, the noise of music—even something I don’t enjoy, like jazz—is no more obtrusive than the constant drum of traffic; the ticking of tires over bridge joints; diesel engines; or fart-can Honda Civics.

All of which pollutes our cities incessantly.

But ultimately, a bike-mounted bluetooth is less offensive than chatting on a speakerphone or trail-music for one simple reason: the bike is in rapid motion. Unlike the dude at Starbucks yapping about Crypto right behind your head, or the tourists hiking 10 paces behind you blaring some lame European EDM—a bike rolls on by quickly. And just as quickly, the music comes and goes.

So it’s more like a vignette than a nuisance, says I.

Which brings me to the two key elements of considerate bluetoothing:

1. Keep the volume reasonable. Yes, of course it needs to be loud enough for you to hear—but if your system looks like the picture above, you’re probably taking it a bit too far. Think Beats Pill, not one of these.
2. Keep moving. This is the main point—if you stop, and your music doesn’t, you’re going to be annoying. So as long as your crank keeps turning, your music can keep cranking.

Charge up those bluetooth speakers, Klunkers. Music makes the city feel alive.

At least that’s what I think. What do you think?