Music for the lonely commute
 

This past week as I rode by the local university I notice every person on a bike has earphones in their ears. This can't be safe... no way could I ride in traffic with music directly in my ears. As an alternative I bought this:

iHome IH85B

Gotta love the wireless on-bar song and volume controller :) It should be delivered later this week, I'll post back here as to sound and build quality.

http://www.ihomeaudio.com/gallery_large/10186_56_2.jpg http://www.ihomeaudio.com/gallery_medium/10186_57_3.jpg
http://www.ihomeaudio.com/gallery_large/10186_73_3.jpg

That's AWESOME!

It looks like a cool gadget, but I really, really disliike it when people decide to share their music with the world.

I don't think that thing's going to be pumping out 800W like the system in a ricer with a spoiler and tinted windows. If you can hear it at all, it'll be for about 2 seconds, which isn't exactly worth worrying about.

Wordbiker's Law:

"The volume of a stereo system is in inverse proportion to the owner's taste in music."


I like that gadget synergy. Let us know how you like it.

Crud. I thought this was going to be another suggestions thread not the usual "ipods+bike=idiot" thread.
Silly me.

Todays selecting included Funker Vogt and Unter Null.

Just wait.

On this morning's bike commute I finished listening to Pegasus Descending and started listening to The Tin Roof Blowdown, both novels by James Lee Burke.

but can you dance to them? Not that you would want to....

Let me tell you, DJ getting down on a bike is quite amusing.

I can assure you I've got the best R&B/Soul playlist available in this town or any other; but for the last year I must have listened to over 50 unabridged books while cycling and have enjoyed them immensely. Makes the commute cycling and weekend utility riding more fun too.

I agree. I use ONE earpiece on my right side (non traffic side) to listen to programs I like. I'm fully aware of everything around me.

I like it. It could play at a conversational level and I'd still hear it. And, since I could use a Nano (jarring a hard disk is never a good idea), I'd actually use it.

I have a hard enough time going jogging with anything in my ears, and I never use earphones on the bike.

I love my new shuffle. Though I need to download some NPR podcasts when I get a chance. You can only listen to the same 1,000 songs until you start going batty.

That's why I need, at present count 6,768 different .mp3 music files available on my hard drive at all time for creating batty free playlists. It also helps to have available at home thousands of Old Time Radio Shows, mucho comedy albums and routines from A-Z (or at least Amos & Andy through Robin Williams) and 20 GB of downloaded blues radio shows; all in .mp3 format.

Even so, for the present time I prefer the audio books while cycling.

I'd worry with the comedy routines as I'm prone to debilitating belly laughs, literally laugh my butt off my bike. Where do you find them in case I want to risk it? I'm guessing the library.

I typically don't do it in any kind of heavy traffic but you could listen to music and be perfectly safe as long as you have a mirror and know how to use it.

One of the main reasons besides traffic that I don't ride with music is so I can hear the wildlife that may attack me. :D

All the music and comedy, and 99% of the Old Time Radio (OTR)fell off the back of the Internet truck right onto my computer mostly in 2003 when I discovered Kazaa and RIAA dingbats hadn't yet started mucking around with available files. I never bothered to rip my own CDs because it was easier to get them off the Internet.

The audio books are free Net Library downloads converted to mp3 format and ripped copies of Audio Book CD's from the Library. I did buy a few compilations of old time radio on CD in mp3 format http://www.otrstreet.com/xxxframes.html to get more complete OTR collections than I already had of the Jack Benny Show, Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Suspense Theater, Fred Allen Show, LuxTheater, and You Bet Your Life (Groucho Marx).

I received the IH85b in the yesterday. Immediately removed it from the package and plugged my Nano in. I got a huge smile on my face because THIS THING ROCKS. Fantastic sound quality considering the size of the speaker, and you can turn it up incredibly loud (not that I would, but it was fun to test the limits of such a unique device). The unit is slightly larger than a water bottle and weighs about the same as a full water bottle.

The wireless handlebar mount works perfectly allowing you to change songs or adjust volume. It has a nice rubberized coating on it that seems like it would be moisture resistant/proof. The bottle is made of sturdy plastic and the speaker has a thick metal grille protecting it. The ipod is well secured with included adaptors for regular iPods down to the Nano (I don't think a shuffle would work with this). To access the pod, you must first twist the bottom section of the bottle then slide it out. The holder that attaches to your bike is made of metal and plastic and features a nice clamp mechanism to further secure the unit to your bike. It takes 4 AA batteries for portability (not sure how long they last) and also features an AC input which charges your iPod when plugged in. The power button on the bottle allows you to easily turn it on and off at your convenience.

Had some friends over last night and they couldn't believe the sound that was coming from it.

Highly suggested for riders that want unplugged sound while riding. Good value for the money ($80).

God help us all.

Please.....

Flush that speaker down the toilet and buy some headphones. The world has enough noise pollution.

Half the reason why I ride a bike is because I hate all the noise that cars make and I dont want to be a part of the problem.

My world will fall apart when I see some goofball riding by with a speaker blaring because he thinks that is somehow safer than wearing headphones.

News Flash - (note this will not be read by those who have already made up their minds)

Noise is noise. Headphones only drown out outside noise IF you have the music turned up really loud.

In order for that speaker to overcome the wind noise it is going to have to be cranking meaning its going to annoy the hell out of people who do not have a 15 mph wind going over their ears.....pedestrians etc.

Please do not annoy other people!!!!! God made lots of great things that modern city life has made us forget about.

#1. The stars.

#2. Insects.

#3. Song birds

#4 silence.

I only get all four of these when I bike at least 10 miles out of this god forsaken concrete crap hole called a city that is full of inconsiderate fat axxes who cruise around in pollution belching killing machines blarring their rap music.

While I totally hear you (no pun intended) on the noise pollution issue, I do not plan on blarring
the music or talk shows that I will be playing. Loud enough for me to hear from about 3 feet away is fine for me. In this town, there are no pedestrians or even other cyclist, unless you go downtown or near the universities (which I don't). I didn't really want this to be a debate about whether or not you should play music out loud, wear headphones, etc but rather let people know of this neat invention that provides an alternative to earphones while biking.

Looks cool. How water resistant is "water resistant"?

I'm not sure if it would survive a downpour or not. I don't ride in the rain so this limit probably won't be tested by me :)

Yeah but its going to have to be louder because of the wind noise.

It will seem louder to other people then it would to you.

MU does suck. My wife has been here for 7 years. I worked here.

Not good.

I prefer headphones tuned low over external speakers. Number one thing I hate on a ride is listening to someone elses idea of music, I have a wide taste in music, but some of it is just plain noise.
With headphones I normally have the volume turned up just enough to hear, they also cut down on the windnoise so I actually hear vehicles easier, the whoosh of the wind easily covers the whoosh of an approaching car, if I don't hear the wind I can hear the car while it's farther away.

ken.

I recently decided to go legit with my music collection, so I started getting free downloads at music.download.com, garageband.com--not the Mac GarageBand, live music archive at Internet Archive, some Irritable Colon--this links to their server, whose URL one of the artists gave me, and Etree (although I've only used their BitTorrent service to get one Dave Matthews Band recording so far).

You can usually find a few big-name artists on these sites (especially the live recording ones, which are totally legit), but it's also fun discovering new stuff.

Happy hunting.