I use my iPhone in my armband with speaker end up. bump the volume up a bit and it works fine (well it's not stereo but come on it's tunes and you are riding...).

I hear the traffic and the tunes just fine. no problem. Oh and I have also played ipod while the iPhone is in the iPhone bracket on the handlebars and again it's fine. I am hard of hearing (deaf in left ear, not so good on right side either) so I am guessing what is loud for me would be a lot louder for the rest of you hearing unchallenged. YMMV

look ma no earbuds.

I came up with a creative, inexpensive, and tasteful solution to this whole listening to music without earbuds problem. I mounted up an aluminum nashbar front rack for 12.99$. I plan on using this for other things as well. Then I bought an Ihome speaker case which holds the .mp3 player as well. I use a zune 80gb in it and it can be controlled from outside the case. I picked up the case at TJ Maxx for $7.99. It runs on 4 AAA batteries and is pretty loud.



I also attached some small black bungie cords with zip ties(made loops around the rack) to the rack for an aesthetically pleasing way to keep it in one spot.

My ears are screwed through tinnitus, so I don't use earphones, instead I have a small ipod speaker, sucks in the wind but there you go. Keep the volume down guys I would not wish tinnitus on anyone.

I seriously doubt a speaker like that would be hearable by anyone other than the cyclist, over the ambient noise of other traffic. Something like "if you can hear my music, you're following too close!"

Any state that outlaws headphones while operating a vehicle but doesn't outlaw cell phones is just messed up, IMO.

What are you 15-20? The law predates cell phones.

+1
I listen to podcasts with a single earbud. I believe that I am riding safely and am always aware of what is going on around me.

I am certainly more aware than someone in an SUV, with tinted windows rolled up, and music loud enough to hear the thump-thump from a block away.

Agree - although I wonder why earbuds are banned, but there is no proscription on loud sound systems inside a car.

OK I've been avoiding posting on this thread because this debate just goes round and round, but it keeps popping up at the top of the forum so ...

I haven't ridden with earphones/buds for many, many years. I consider it a compromise in safety, however slight. I almost always run with my iPod, often on streets (though against traffic). I also sometimes ski with my iPod, on busy slopes where it could drown out a warning cry. Point is maybe I'm not being consistent. But still, I want to hear as much as I can when I'm road riding. I often hear a vehicle coming before I see it in my mirror, and to me that's important. Since I've never made a habit of it, I generally don't miss it. Rarely have I thought to myself on a ride that I wished I had music.

You're not checking your mirror enough.

*edit* Joking aside, I'd say that you need to be checking the mirror when you don't hear anything. You should be able to see as far to the rear as you can to the front, at least well enough to see whether there's a vehicle back there.

by the time i hear the car it's already to late... oh and i can hear their horn through my head phones anyway!

What! Not devoting 100% of your concentration to steely eared listening to tweeting birds, noisy exhaust systems and tire roar?

It is astounding that you have survived such recklessness!

Even though I have already admitted to listening while riding one of my biggest fears I question is; if I get hit by a car while on my bike, with earbuds in, how much of my legal rights am I going to lose? If a cop shows up to the scene and I'm laying there in the street with my earbuds in I would think that could effect the outcome legally. "Oh well here's the problem. He had earbuds in and didn't hear you. You're free to go John Q. Cager. This is obviously the biker's fault.".

If you are that fearful of losing your "legal rights" after being hit by a car while on your bike that you spend an iota of time worrying about it, I suggest you give up bicycling.

BTW I listen to audio books or R&B music on my 2 GB Cowan U3, a great little mp3 player I bought on Amazon.

I guess I'm old school or cerebral or something because i sort of enjoy the sounds, rhythms of breathing, gears shifting etc along with the other sensations of riding. I get a lot of thinking done on the bike. I'm comfortable in silence and comfortable with my own thoughts.
I love music too, but I often wonder why some people have to have something filling their heads every moment of the day.

I agree with this. You'd better spend your time picking out a casket then worrying about your legal rights for when you get creamed from behind.

I ride with headphones all the time. I cannot hear the cars over the wind noise anyways, and if they are going to hit me I'll get my real warning from having watched their approach in my mirror. Does a car really sound different as it approaches if it is three feet further to the right than it should be?

Plus, without music I would enjoy my ride significantly less and I might even stop commuting.

Plenty in this forum have said and will say yes. Then they'll go on to describe how only thanks to the extra split-second of awareness they were afforded thanks to their hypersensitive spidey-sense were they able to execute evasive maneuvers and avoid being creamed, usually involving some kind of cycling acrobatics.

I think the sooth-sayers claim that their steely eared listening to traffic noise ENABLES them to have sufficient warning to execute evasive maneuvers and avoid being creamed; don't believe any of them actually had the gumption to make the claim that their hypersensitive spidey-sense actually has served any real-world-in-traffic useful purpose.

My thinking is that so long as you are riding in a lawful, sane manner- maintaining your line in the lane (bike specific or not), then it's the driver's fault. If you were whipping in and out of traffic, or blasting through stop signs/lights, then it would be a different story.

You have a legal right to share the road. Ride in a predictable manner. You still get tagged from behind, and you live, then you have the legal right to nail their hide to the wall, both in criminal court and civil court.

It's not something that burn a lot of calories worrying about but at the same time I want to make sure I'm aware of my own personal responsibilities.

I seem to recall stories along the lines of "I heard the car coming and was able to ditch onto the shoulder rather than get creamed. If I couldn't hear I might have been dead!" in one of these threads but yeah I see your point.

too funny, I do the exact same thing... podcasts are the greatest!!

Joe Satriani's 'Summer Song' is worth 2 mph.

I like what thenomad said. I do ride with the ipod earbuds in, on occasion, but more often will just stay silently with my thoughts and prayers (eyes open of course).

Here in California it's illegal to wear headphones while cycling:

So, the law does specifically point out bicyclists as well, at least here in CA (and generally, bicycles are considered vehicles anyway under California Law, with some exceptions). One ear is okay, speakers are fine...

As far as practically, I usually don't use them at all, but sometimes I'll pop one in my right ear. In my experience, you use your ears far more than you realize. It's not something you really concentrate on, it's simply another source of information to have at your disposal. I'm sure there are probably studies out there (not related to cycling) that basically shows this.

That said, the point made that people drive cars without being able to hear much is certainly valid. You certainly can drive with loud music... but if I'm operating a vehicle that I'm far more likely to die in in the event of an accident, I'm going to make as few tradeoffs for safety as is practical. That's just my view, though. Different strokes...

EDIT: I guess some people have been cited... https://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=9513516

EDIT EDIT: I originally posted this in the necro thread linked here... deleted it. My bad.