My 'Handy Mount' and bike stereo setup
 

This is working very well for me. Like I state in the conclusion of my Instructable (that I just uploaded there), I like to have MapMyRun 'speak up' every half mile as I listen to music from my phone, sent to my semi-homemade Bluetooth bike stereo system.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bicy...t-Handy-Mount/


Brian

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=360656

I wouldn't want to ride anywhere near you.

I wouldn't use it in a social riding situation. I don't get your point. If I'm walking along a sidewalk and a car drives past, it has disturbed my peaceful walk. Do I complain? If that same car blasts an air horn directly at me for spite, sure...but do I care what they're listening to on their radio with their windows rolled down? No.....


Brian

:innocent: whistling tunes in my (musician's) head is annoying enough to any one I ride with or past..

I saw that green cage in the pic and new immediately what it was. We have one hanging in the yard with a block suet in it for the birds.

I thought that was a loud horn!

Listening to music while riding bicycle is slightly sacrilegious to me. I ride my bicycle to be closer to nature and hear the birds while I am traveling,

Put suet instead of a speaker in the green cage!

Cute.

no problem here as long as it's not blaring.
riding music: steppenwolf, the who (who's next? record), abba, lady gaga, ac/dc...

I was at Bike Virginia one year, and we were in a really rural area. Quiet and peaceful with minimal traffic. And then all of a sudden this person comes riding along blasting his stereo on the bike. Ruined the whole moment and from that point on, it seemed we could never get away from it.

Yeah. I hate blasting stereos...unless it's my stereo.

I'd rather have the natural sounds of the outdoors. It's just more relaxing.

Brian, there are no sounds sweeter (to a rider) than the sound of his wheels rolling on the pavement, the sound of the chain as it spools around the gears, the sound of a coasting freewheel and the sound of a chain as it shifts from one chain ring to the other.

Loud music, especially if it is not music of your choosing, can be distracting and annoying.

There is a guy who sometimes rides with our group. He is a nice guy, but he listens to a radio, through speakers, while on a group ride.

It is really annoying and it distracts from the riding experience.

Your set-up looks pretty interesting and clever; as long as you don't use while on a group ride then I guess it is OK.

Ride often...ride safely.

I'd love to get away from the headphones with this. Most people seem to think it takes away from the ride. I see it as theme music, whic sets the pave for the ride.
A fast some by a day to remember comes on, I ride hard for three minutes. If I feel like going leisurely through a park nature path, I play bob dylan, or edward sharp or something else relaxing and ride with no handlebars for a bit.
It gets tricky when the song is like 120bpm... because I like to match my cadence to the beat. And then every beat would feel too fast and every other is too slow. I have to start doing like every third 5th 16th or something crazy. It becomes a game that goes.
One and a two left a three and a right and a one and left two and a three right a four...
I usually quit worrying about match cadence to the beat really quick at that point. :p
The mind of a musician works a little different I guess.

Went off on a little tangent there lol. Anyways, id love a blue tooth speaker on my bike. Esoecially durring the winter who will I bother? Everyones got their car window up and few people walk. Of course I would make sure to only play non offensive music on it. Theres nothing that bugs me more than when someone pulls up beside you in a POS FWD coupe, blasting some rap song and all I can hear is the N word inbetween his license plate rattling. Its like dude don't force your bad taste in music on everyone else. We dont wanna hear it.

That is kind of the way I see it, too. I used to ride a motorscooter, and I had put a stereo of sorts on that, too.

Picture driving in a convertible on a beautiful day, along the shore on Highway 1. Is it sacrilige to consider that there might be some surf music playing on the radio and that might enhance the experience? I know it would do so for me.

I recognize that some riders...especially those with very nice machines, clothing, accessories and participants in cycling clubs or other organizations...prefer the zen-like integration of themselves and their machines while keeping a cadence that tests their abilities and gives them the stamina to keep up with other areas of a demanding life. But hopefully there is room in the umbrella term 'rider' to include those that approach being on a bicycle from a different direction. Transportation. Play. One of many varied approaches to cross-training and exercise. Rebellion against Peak Oil. Economy. Neighborhood awareness. Tinkering. Nostalgia.

I'll add that my bike is a big-box sports store hybrid, bought about 15 years ago. It's an Iron Horse, and I've added the big WALD baskets (from my LBS) to the back after doing my first and probably only century ride. I've advocated for a bike rack at my place of employment and have just seen that implemented and am looking forward to commuting in addition to the grocery shopping that I occassionally use as an excuse to ride. I jog (yes, at 58 I'm old enough to use that term...) for fitness on the local greenbelt trail in my suburb, but I use my bicycle almost exclusively to go places. There have been very, very few times that I've loaded my bike onto my car to go to somewhere to 'ride', but I do like riding my bike. Having grown up in a small town in southern Illinois, in farmland dotted with small towns spaced 5-10 miles apart in every direction, a bicycle was a great way to go places. It still is, even without butterfly handlebars and a banana seat.

Brian

I've discovered that speakers that are loud enough to be audible require a lot of power. Carrying a lot of power means carrying a lot of weight. Has anyone solved this?

I guess it depends on the setting. My speaker wouldn't be very useful in traffic, but it's fine for residential streets that I take on my commute to work at 6:15 AM. Here's a link to something I would have bought if I weren't so averse to built-in batteries. At just over 8 ounces, that's not a lot of weight....especially of you clip it to your belt instead of mounting it to your bike somehow. You can get an idea of the volume it can produce in the video that's part of the first review.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SBT30-...etooth+speaker

Builtin batteries are usually lithium-ion, which are a heck of a lot better than the other rechargeable types. Usually when they're not meant to be replaced, they can be replaced anyway. You just need to do a little research.

I've been looking at bluetooth boomboxes. They come in various shapes, as you note. I might buy one.