Wind-Blox Review

There are a couple of products on the market that help reduce wind noise when you’re on the bike, and we’ll look at one of them in this Windblox review.

You can watch my video Windblox review below, or here on YouTube.

Wind. It’s a fact of life on the bike. Its presence causes grown mean to cry when prevailing in a “Blox head wind” direction. (Ha-ha – see what I did there?)

It is also extremely adept at masking the sound of traffic, attacking magpies and the (sometimes mindless) babble of your riding companions. You might be good at nodding and smiling at their chit-chat, but if all I can hear is wind, I end up snappily dismissing their banter as a distraction. No wonder everyone is always too busy to ride with me.

If, like me, you ride alone a lot, and like to listen to music, wind is an unwelcome riding companion.

And if you ride in the hills a lot, you probably want to block the wind out too.

And that’s where Windblox come in.

So, do Windblox work?

In a word, yes.

Below is an image from Windblox that illustrates how much they dampen noise. I obviously can’t verify this as I am not a scientific laboratory, so we have to take this data at face value. Windblox has done some comparative testing

From a subjective point of view, wearing Windblox makes an immediate and noticeable difference.

Wind-blox Review: points of interest

Sunglasses arms

As I mention in my video review, Windblox—or at least the version I reviewed (Classic)—tend to get in the way of your sunglasses arms.

I wear my sunglasses over my helmet straps (this is the correct way, don't argue) which means the Windblox need to slip down. This allows wind to flow over the top of the Windblox and create some noise.

Alternatively, you can wear your sunglasses under your helmet straps and lift the Windblox up.

Slippage

The Windblox Classics that I reviewed (version 1) don't have anti slip strips inside them, so did tend to slip down the straps a little. Bear in mind that I wear my straps a little loose. So if you wear your straps snug/tight, they shouldn't slip that much.

Fit

The Windblox are a little bulk but I suppose they need to be to really block the wind.

They're not too long (~6cm) so should fit most helmet straps.

They're also really easy to put on and take off.

Should you buy Windblox

It depends.

For me, I ride mainly alone, so don't need to reduce wind noise to hear riding companions.

On the odd occasion I ride in groups, we barely ride fast enough for wind to mask people’s talking, and in case I miss a comment, I just smile and nod…”hahah yeah” or say “pardon?”.

I also ride on a lot of up and down hills. Uphill there’s no wind, so I can hear cars. Downhill, I’m going as fast as cars on our regional roads, so again, no worries.

And for magpies, I know where the buggers nest each year, so I am always prepared.

So for me, I don’t need, or use these.

But for those who do group rides, and want to be able to hear conversations; or those who ride down hills and want to block wind noise; and for those who want to clearly hear traffic behind them, Windblox worth a look.

They’re cheap, they’re easy to put on your helmet, and do the job.

Note: after publishing this Windblox review, Windblox sent me two of their newest lines to review: the updated Classics (non-slip) and new Pro models.

Where to Buy

You can buy Windblox at [easyazon_link keywords=”wind-blox” locale=”US” tag=”velonomad2-20″]Amazon[/easyazon_link] or on the Wind-blox website.