Sometimes listen on bike paths. Not when on the street.

have a nomad zen jukebox (ipods are evil) that i use most afternoons (17 mi ride) and some mornings - not many cars to dodge at 5 am. also, since my commute leaves me stuck on a subway for almost an hour each way it gives me something to use to avoid talking to mormon missionaries looking for a quick convert . haven't had any trouble hearing cars when on the road and since i can reach the player to adjust the volume as needed (some songs are louder) i dont see it as much of a problem

*golf clap*

Some headphones offer more noise attenuation than most dedicated hearing protection.

I have and love those headphones, and they would definitely work great as hearing protection. Putting those headhpones on for the first time is a little bit surreal. Everything goes deathly quiet. Of course those aren't the headphones I ride with. The headphones I ride with don't really block any outside sound.

I commute with headphones. I see no difference in the number of close calls between riding with and without music.

I don't listen while I ride, only at the gym-- but I'm so high on this player I wanted to share with you:



40 gig hard drive, capable of playing a wide variety of audio codecs, can play videos, has an fm tuner, picture viewer, browser-- it rocks.

I've never ridden a motorcycle or bicycle with headphones. I want all my senses available.

Something that hasn't been addressed here:it may not be legal to ride with headphones on. If bikes are vehicles in your jurisdiction,there may be a law against operating a vehicle while wearing headphones. Also,if anyone here is military,I'm pretty sure it's against regs to ride bikes with headphones. Of course,I see lots of people riding illegally(not using bells,no lights) so whether or not it's enforced is a different story.

Minidiscs rock! They sound way better than MP3's,especially live music or strings. Just wish Sony would've marketed them better.

I do,however,have a Rio Karma. I needed to take a good portion of my CD collection(2k+ discs) with me on an 'extended business trip'. I picked the Rio because it was cheaper and had better battery life.

I-Pod = Evil
Rio Carbon! Just don't drop it on the sidewalk

Riding with music rocks! Nothing like a little Rage to get you up that hill.

Who cares if its legal? Just be familiar with local escape routes!

Riding with music, you have to me more attuned to visual cues. Would you deny a deaf person the opportunity to ride a bike?

This thread cracks me up. The anti-IPOD group is fighting the never-stick anything smaller than your elbow in your ear croud.

I used to be afraid of "walkman" style devices while biking, even though I almost always had one when doing almost anything else. (yeah, I'm dating myself).

I finally took the plunge and tried using one such device on my longer highway rides (pausing at intersections where I turn (as do highway speed vehicles) and in the city.

The result is my rides have never been better. The device is never so loud that I can't hear what's going on around me, except that tri-geek who always sneeks up and tries to pass me!!!

Yes, wind is a problem at higher speeds, so I have to resist the temptation to turn up the music and risk killing my eardrums and losing sense of what is around me.

I don't think I could ever use these in mass rides, or for heavy traffic commuting, or on bike paths. Ears give sensory perspective that eyes can't.

I think they are a bit like cold water in your bottle making the stuff easier to drink, music (even Kenny G. and John Tesh duets) can make a long ride more enjoyable - especially when the scenery really sucks.

That's really interesting. I never wear mine out in the country. There it's actually meaningful for me to be able to hear because traffic is light enough that I can glean some information from hearing a car coming up on me.

In the city, on the other hand, I'm usually surrounded by cars and going almost as fast or faster than them besides, so there's not really any point in being able to hear them.

the iRiver is a good device, but it is the "apple computer" of the MP3 world.

The Apple Ipod created a standard of MP3 universe, and iRonically became the 800 pound gorilla - the "microsoft" of that everybody loves to bash.

I love my ipod. Along with itunes, it is the best package availbale on the market. I'm almost going to bet that the next generation will have some sort of video capabilities, as well as FM and/or Satellite radio options.

Steve Jobs does not want the iPod to become the Sony Walkman of the portable music player world, and is fully aware of the competitors knocking at the door. But Apple has a pretty good track record of being the innovator

I believe Florida law states that wearing headphones while driving (riding a bike) on a public road is illegal. My guess is some of the other states have a similar law. Just from a safety perspective, I wouldn't wear them - I depend a lot on hearing cars/dogs/motorcycles, etc. and regardless of the volume, the music would drown out SOME of the vehicle noise. Besides, part of the pleasure of riding is listening to what's around you as you ride. I can always listen to music at home and in the car.

Heh, recently I was caught in rain on the way home, but I felt so good riding in the rain that I felt compelled to whistle a tune which I did at full volume, earning me some odd looks from cagers.

MP3 players? I have a general beef about music addiction, ppl can't seem to live without some tune droning in their ears for even a minute, making life for those who prefer quiet or nature's sounds miserable.

Pretty soon I have to have music going at all times, we have to listen to our music and think about what can be improved as a whole and as a person.

^^^^ Why I ride with my left earphone out Oh, and minidisc player here too, but I just ordered an mp3 player. NOT an iPod. I wanted something lighter and could hold more songs.

I basically listen to music as much as I possibly can. I could live without a tune, and generally the ones I listen to wouldn't be considered droning, but I choose not to. Anyway, whose life am I making miserable? I don't want to do that, so if you tell me whose life I'm making miserable, I will do what I can to prevent that.

OK, I gotta ask...who's crotch is that in the pic? (...and do I really want to know? )

Ipod mini strapped to my stem. volume up/down or flipping through songs is as easy as shifting gears. I run the cord down the inside of my shirt, out the bottom and it reaches nicely. I can sit up ride with no hands or lean down and it doesn't dangle too far.

I love the ease of using an Ipod. It works like the volume knob on an in-dash but is more like a touch screen.

BTW: I really hated to support Apple but after shopping around I had to go with the mp3 player that was the easiest to use.





Works for me!!!!
You can Love it or Hate it.
If you feel to flame it because it is an Ipod, or becaue I use tunes on a Bike
the DOPE - Die M'Fr Die song on the screen is dedicated to YOU!!

I was using an iPod for a while. It was nice in the winter because the bigger headphones kept my ears a little warmer. (interesting aside for the "I need my ears at full operating threshold" crowd... are earmuffs a bad thing? Do you just not ride in the winter?)

When riding I would always take off one or both phones/buds when riding in traffic. I mean... sure, deaf people can ride in traffic too (tho I'd be scared to do so, I should ask my deaf neighbor with the nice cervelo bike what he does), but I'd rather have some hearing there. That being said, I don't think most people will blast music while riding in heavy traffic.

But, alas, my iPod is broken. Too many drops made the hard disk die. It's a really expensive paperweight now. I wish they sold replacement hard disks.

Where can I find one of those?

OMG you sound like a classic addict! "I can stop whenever I want but I choose not to stop." And please, get over yourself! The guy was probably talking about too-loud, too-frequent "music" in public / semipublic places. You peacefully wearing your headphones likely has little to do with making anyone miserable.

I, too, have issues with "setting life to music". It's terribly overdone, IMO, and I'm a musician! (decent amateur) Too much TV / movies? Who knows?

Well, I never claimed I could stop. Not sure about that one actually. My comment was simply a response to his sweeping disapproval of those who listen to a lot of music. I get some vibes from some people that not listening to music, and appreciating the sounds of nature or traffic or whatever is morally superior or something, so I'm responding to that. As far as setting life to music is concerned, if I were in charge of it, there would be music all the time. For me. Tasteful of course.

And I'm a musician too. Piano/Keyboard for 18 years, though my skill level doesn't indicate that many years. I'm more interested in pushing buttons and turning knobs it seems.

Have you ever tried to listen to a stereo recording w/ only one earphone? It sounds like *****. You may be able to recognize the song but it's not much like music.
I'm a headphone snob and love my iPod (yeah, whatever). The Shuffle is small, light and reasonably priced so it gets my vote for a bike player. Use your Livestrong bracelet to fasten it to the bars!
I like to listen to tunes on long rides in secluded areas but only lose paranoia with the addition of a helmet mirror (used to do this years ago on my touring bike). Tunes can really help you through a tough climb or long slog but I don't think I'd do it for a commute.
Ear buds tend to offer better isolation which helps w/ wind noise but also blocks out traffic sound. Instead, check out Koss KSC55:
https://www.headphone.com/products/he...oss-ksc-55.php
But probably the best are the Koss KSC75:
https://www.headphone.com/products/he...oss-ksc-75.php
These are both inexpensive (so go ahead & sweat on 'em), they allow you to keep situational awareness and they actually sound pretty darn good (high praise from a guy who has over $5K in dedicated headphone gear).
Give 'em a go & watch out for the "cagers"; THEY DON'T SEE SO GOOD!
CPW

Ditto on the KSC75. Those are what I use.

Most "mp3" players have the same storage space. Its how you format your music that allows you to put more on your drive. Alot of those devices that claim the hold more music are simply formatting music at a smaller bitrate and then saving it into the inferior WMA format (which really isn't MP3) Since you ride with one earbud out, you obviously don't care about sound quality

At this point in time I wouldn't buy an iPod untilafter the Apple Expo in september when they announce new products. Liike I said, I bet the next generations of ipods will have video capability, as well as some sort of FM/Satellite Radio features. Remember Apple didn't invent the MP3 player, they just made it better