adriano 

clearly, vision being omnidirectional and all.

cobrabyte

i use an iPod shuffle & those white earphones that came with it, but not during commuting, or during busy road conditions. I use them on bike paths, or night rides & still keep the volume down to a level that allows me to hear what's around me.

lanOGiro

I put one stock ipod earbud in. I used to use a better brand, but they cut out the outside noise a little too well, and it makes me want to look over my shoulder constantly.

resetjet

https://www.bernunlimited.com/2008/audio.html

https://www.thenorthface.com/webapp/w...ariationId=001

dcraver

I use the older style iPod headphones from the 4g model. Waiting for those to crap out before I use the ones that came with my new iPod.

dcdude

i do not

mtusz

If you are biking safely, the only time you need to know what is happening behind you is when you change lanes or make turns across where someone can nail you from behind. I'll agree that hearing when cars are coming up behind you is useful, but in the grand scheme of it, you are usually already at the side of the road and if it's a drunk driver driving up behind you about to hit you, you were doomed as soon as the guy turned his car on. Sight may be only ~170˚, but on a bike, you move forward, not backwards, and we have necks. Deny it all you want, everyone primarily uses sight and hearing is just what we think we use.

adriano 

vision is definitely the most important sense, but hearing is a vital for communication between the rider and others and the rider and the environment.

plus, zen, am i right?

vger285

clip on around ear type-XM to go!

jmio

I have two pairs of these, they work amazingly. sound quality not great but they stay in, that's all that matters to me when riding.

generate

I don't usually listen while I ride, especially in the city. I do reccomend the skull candy fmj's (full metal jacket). I have them for my iphone and they have a built in mic for the phone. I think they sell a version without the mic though. I paid like $80 for them, but their worth it imo...

Jason762

Yeah, I use v Moda Vibes, in-the-ear buds. They're awesome.

I'm severely hearing impaired so damn the "safety" factor of being able to hear. I just plug in my Zombie Nation electro music (I hear everything, beats and **** just can't understand the lyrics) and cycle away.

mtusz

A little off topic, but skull candy makes some of the ****tiest headphones out there if you know a thing or two about sound quality. If you want good stuff, go with sennheisers, audiotechnica, bose etc. I'm a big fan of audiotechnica, but they cost a lot and are mainly studio headphones.


Back to headphones useful for biking though...

jmio

rmtusz, really? I've heard they were the next big thing. I've never tried them, but all the college kids are raving about them. how much are the headphones your talking about compared to the skull candies.

stryper

I love listening to music while riding. I do recognize the fact that it isn't the safest thing while mobbing through traffic, but then again I ride a bike with no brakes and no helmet so...

I have some of the etymotic in-ear headphones that I got on ebay for about $100 and they are fantastic. I have had to replace the cord once from normal use and wear about 2 years after I bought them, but just took them apart and soldered a new set on myself. They cancel so much noise which is way healthier than trying to drown it out by turning the volume up.

mtusz

The skull candies are just a step above stock iPod headphones in my opinion. What seems to be making them popular is their packaging with all the different colours etc. For small earbud/in ear phones, I would opt for a pair of bose ones if you take care of your things. They will cost you a penny or three, but they are worth it. Next in line if you break things about once a year, I would get the apple in ear headphones. They provide ample low end and never crackle in my experience. The audiotechnicas and sennheisers are more for a good pair of monitor or studio headphones. I have a really nice pair of audiotechnicas that sound like jesus is spelunking in my ears, but they get used outside of my room, a studio, or if they're plugged into tables.

p120ud213azn

yes, it is how i achieve my zen

adriano 

apple, skullcandy, and bose head and earphones are garbage and not worth spending any appreciable sum of money. if you can get a pair cheaply to flog daily theyd be perfectly fine as fidelity or lack thereof isnt a huge concern for riding usage. advertising is what makes all of them popular. nice audio-technica is really nice, but a lot of it is average and overpriced with a trendy, in-the-know image. if you want to go out and get something other than stock or old gnarled whatevers, go for the sennheiser cx300 or the koss ksc35 to ride with. for the fishermen, yes, theres bass.

devilshaircut

Obviously the sound of Skull Candy headphones are going to blow. You can get them at a mall music store for like 8 bucks. You aren't paying for sound quality. You buy them because you can lose em or break em and it's no loss. And in my case, they fit in my ear while riding. Most earphones just fall right out for me, including the ones that came with my iPhone.

lightningcow

J-Lab earbuds were the best I've ever had, but I broke them. I will be ordering a new set soon.

Meepers

the thing with apple head phones was that it was a status symbol. well at least when i was on college and they got super popular. people wanted to be seen walking around with those all white ear buds. it meant "Hey look at me I'm cool!" i think i had them in my ears for about a minute when i got my first iPod and tossed them in the trash. went over to Best Buy and picked up some pretty good Koss ear buds (they were out of the Sony buds i wanted, great sound quality for an ear bud.). now i think people use them because they are included with their purchase and they don't know that there are more comfortable buds out there. they think they all just hurt your ears. with that said, my girlfriend picked up a cheap pair of skull candy buds, because she lost her good Sony buds and we are still broke from the holidays, and they aren't terrible. i personally would buy them in a pinch, or to ride or work out in so i didn't grime up my good buds (but they are on their way out anyway). i don't want to be sitting on a plane for a 3-5 hour flight with hours and hours worth of sweat and grime in my ears.
i have had a bud fall out while running, and i can imagine if one fell out while riding, it will be done for. spokes will eat them alive. but i try to rock them under my shirt, or under a strap while riding so if they fall out they don't go to far.
with my opinion on ear buds out of the way, i almost got hit a few times while riding with headphones on. i think it was more people didn't see me, because i have almost gotten hit more than a few times with out wearing any listening device. so riding while listening to music isn't necessarily any more dangerous than not wearing any ear devices as long as you're reasonable. just keep you volume down and you can still hear a lot. especially if you are rocking cheap-o ear buds/headphones, they don't seed in your ear that well so there is still a lot of background noise to be heard. everything in life has an inherent risk. i can get killed sitting here at work right now. the roof can cave in and crush me, my computer can explode, a disgruntled employee can gun me down, or the chicken bite i had the other night can give me a heart attack. life is risky, music makes it brighter.

carry on.

cyclezealot

yep. Mother Nature.

adriano 

which raises the question, what is reasonable volume for people these days? fairly outrageous.

dcraver

as loud as possible.

oneeightyone

it works pretty good, i use a camelback on long rides so putting it in place of the waterbottle holder really isnt a big thing. the remote sits up top and there's rubber Gaurds / grips to keep the ipod in place / safe.