Arcanum

Like a couple others have mentioned, I have a BoomBot Rex Bluetooth speaker. I listen to Pandora Radio through it. I mostly listen to it when I'm going somewhere with a purpose: Commuting, shopping, etc. It helps me be awake and alert, and I can still hear what's going on around me since I don't have headphones blocking out my surroundings.

If the BoomBot's battery is dead or it otherwise isn't working, I go without, and am sad.

PatrickGSR94

I listen to The Outspoken Cyclist in my car, but I don't think I would be able to hear what they're saying from my bluetooth speaker. Sometimes I can't even understand the people being interviewed while listening in the car. I don't use headphones on the bike, ever. Maybe if I ever get a speaker that mounts to my bars instead of stuck in the top of my trunk bag, I could hear the sound better.

Papa Tom

Nah. I've tried listening to podcasts through my bike speaker. Too much ambient noise to decipher any of the words. Same with music. At max volume, it's just loud enough to produce the "suggestion" of a song. The rest is in my head, which is why I'm not concerned with music drowning out important sounds around me.

alathIN

I'm half with you, half not.
When I'm in a car, I'm surrounded by metal and airbags.

I do sometimes listen to an iPod during my morning commute - but only on the part that is a rails-trails MUP and basically deserted in the early am. When it gets busy or trafficky, I turn it off.

bmthom.gis

Oh goody, another music thread! yep, I sure do listen to music while commuting 95% of the time. It's the one thing I REALLY missed about driving was listening to music or NPR. I have a set of bluetooth headphones that work nicely. I use both sides, as it really dampens the big dump trucks and other diesel engines that hurt the ears. Saying that compromising your hearing sets you up for tragedy is saying deaf people shouldn't be on a bike.

As to what I listen to...depends on how I feel. Sometimes I shuffle all of my pandora stations, sometimes I have a particular artist in mind. If I need something fast paced, I'll listen to Combichrist, Rammstein, The 69 Eyes, Muse, or something that will keep me pepped up. Sometimes it's a Jimmy Buffett kind of day. I also like this french singer called Zaz.

DrIsotope

Y'all need a better speaker. With the Boombot, I'm generally at about 1/3 volume-- it goes plenty loud enough to hear podcasts/spoken word/etc. I got through the first 5 episodes of season one of Serial in a single metric century. Today was 20-30mph winds right in the face, and the Boombot is more than up to overcoming the wind noise. If I didn't have it, it would just be the thrumming of the wind for 2 hours. PASS.

I have a little Anker 3000mah battery (the round one about 3" long) that I keep stowed on the bike with a 6" micro-USB cable for just those instances. The battery in the Boombot is usually good for 8+ hours at my volume levels, but I am certainly one to forget to charge it now and again. I was about 90 minutes from home one day when the Boombot ran out of juice, and the sadness sent me to Amazon the very next day. Worth every penny.

Papa Tom

As an audio guy, I've got LOTS of better speakers, but I'm only willing to carry a certain amount of weight and financial risk on the bike. The speaker and the mp3, together, are worth next to nothing, weigh next to nothing, and put out just enough sound to keep me sharp and happy.

MMACH 5

I do love my Buckshot. Most of the text messages I send are in reply to someone who is trying to contact me while I'm on my bike. The text they always receive back is, "Hold on. I'm on my bike. Let me stop and call you."

The calls on the speaker can get distorted by the wind in the microphone, so when I get a call, it's kind of the same thing. I tell them to hold on while I find a place to stop.

DanPLC

Yeah I wouldn't talk to someone too long on a busy, noisy road. But while riding around neighborhoods it works fine.

spokenfour

I really dig my bagpipes album on the way in to work in the morning, marches with drums, upbeat for cadence. None of that depressing slow stuff like Skye Boat Song or Pirouge. Im not sure if I want to blare it into the neighborhood with speakers, though.

grolby

This topic always causes some excitement. Provided you use unsealed headphones, I don't see a problem with it and don't think it's really any different from listening to a speaker. There's a peculiar notion that music from a speaker at the same volume as from unsealed headphones is somehow less distracting. I don't think so.

Personally I usually don't listen while riding because I tend to listen to podcasts more than music and you really need to crank the volume up to be sure you hear every word. I'm not worried about drowning out traffic noise so much as damage to my hearing. In general people vastly overestimate the importance of perfect hearing acuity to safety. Your ears aren't as useful as you think they are.

Phil_gretz

^ this. I do listen to classical music all day, every day, though. So there's plenty of music rattling around in my head for bike riding...

megalowmatt

I started a thread on this a while back. Here's what I use...

jamisFan

I always ride listening to music when riding through a bluetooth bike speaker. I have it attached to the headset.

BluTunes - Extras - Gear | Schwinn Bicycles

In fact, when the battery dies the ride instantly becomes more boring and tiresome. I have also found that having loud music along with the distinctive sound from the cassette when not pedaling let others know that you're approaching and prepare for that.

Speaking of others... I do not want to cause an uproar or insult anyone, but those who are riding on open roads while wearing headphones, earbuds or anything that goes in/over the ear are not only putting themselves at risk but also other riders. I have almost crashed twice with people that are riding in front of me while passing them because they had headphones and never heard me coming. The last time it was just this past Saturday on very busy highway, a crash there would have probably been fatal. To me doing that is akin to texting and driving.

So, don't take this as an insult, but if you're one of those people, then you're an idiot.

jamisFan

Not to mention riding with headphones is illegal, at least in my city.

jamisFan

They shouldn't.

HBxRider

I like the current gen Apple Earpods. They dont completely block out sound like the earbuds that have a tight earplug like fit. So i can hear cars, horns, and sirens.

Papa Tom

Does this gadget have an internal mp3 player, too?

PatrickGSR94

wow, discriminate much? Are you joking?

Leebo

Not for me, I try to quiet the voices in my head. The conversation gets LOUD sometimes. I listen to the music of bike. Tires, pedals, breathing. Wind, leaves, birds and other critters. Dogs, cars other bikers too. My commute time is my time. I would say almost meditative like. For me, the commute is a time to focus on the task at hand, without extraneous stuff. If music works for you great. Between tv, car radio and phone stuff during daily life, no electronics on the bike for me. Some of my rides don't even have a bike computer. Same goes for my mt bike rides. I think some of the younger crowd( say under 30) have a hard time being singularly focused on a specific task without phone/music as a constant interruption. I like being present and focused some of the time. Mountain biking as well as commuting, forces one to be very present. On the bike, many times I am just thinking about the next turn and 30 ft of trail, nothing else. Home, bills, work, daily clutter get left all behind the last turn.

jamisFan

I'm not joking nor discriminating. It has nothing to do with that.
My grandfather on my dad's side was deaf, on my mom's he was blind. They were perfectly aware there were things they couldn't do because of their condition, but every once in a while the one that was deaf would assume things he could do things that he really couldn't such as driving (mind you he had perfect sight); he almost got himself killed once because he didn't hear a bus honking like crazy trying to make him not to invade his lane. His car was almost totaled and the bus sustained some serious damage. Luckily no one was hurt.

That day he finally accepted that driving being deaf is not an option. I don't see how it's different from riding a bike when you are far more exposed on a bike than on a car.

PatrickGSR94

There are deaf people who do great at cycling. When on a bike one is more exposed to surroundings, and so a deaf person's heightened remaining senses will fare better than when being isolated in a car. I rely on both sight and sound when cycling. However plenty of things work to muffle or drown out sounds, like wind. Sometimes I cannot hear cars around me, but I'm still plenty aware of what's around me because of my sight and helmet mirror.

I-Like-To-Bike

See https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/...l#post18551664

zonatandem

never.

jamisFan

Not the one I own, but i've seen a similar one on amazon that takes microSD cards. It looks exactly the same but the brand and color are different.