BLUEJAYDATA

What type of headphones and mp3 or radio or walkman or whatnot do you listen to on your bike.

Ipod + crappy ipod earplugs

I am thinking of getting some sennheiser headphones but don't know which one would be perfect when riding my bike.

slvoid

Most audiophiles agree the sennheiser mx400-mx500's are the best earbuds for a low budget. Plus they're small enough to fit in your ear and not stick out too much. You don't want something that sticks out cause that causes a lot of air flow around them and increases wind noise.

YATES

not the smartest idea to listen to music while biking haha.... might not be able to hear that big ole' car rumblin up behind you
so i guess my answer is none for me

simplyred

+1

No point having your favourite N'Sync song all mucked up because of the 15kph wind you're generating

BLUEJAYDATA

I want to get a senn hd 580. For home and outdoor entertainment. But I hope it can survive canadian winters.

Elvish Legion

Funny thing, you cant hear that car rumbling up behind you in a head wind either

Geoff326

i personally wouldn't listen to music while riding but i kno ppl who do

i'd like to hear the car coming before it hits me

slvoid

I don't think this is a very portable setup..

slvoid

AMEN! EXACTLY, that's what I keep telling people, if you can hear around you, you're either not going fast enough or you have a tailwind.

BLUEJAYDATA

I don't need an amp for the 580. so its just the headphone and the mp3 player.

slvoid

Aahahahha... if you think you can get quality sound out of an mp3 player with like a measely 20-30mw of output and the 300ohms impedence of the 580's...
Seriously though, why on earth would you want HD580's unamped??

BLUEJAYDATA

cause i'll have an amp at home...Why not amp? cause i don't need it on the road. It sounds amazing without an amp. I know that with an amp it will make anything amazing. But I don't want to purchase a portable amp.

garysol1 

I just get a cheapie set of sony buds from walmart and cut off the left side so one ear remains open. Figured the sound quality is going to suck no matter so why spend the coin for good headphones. I have my Ipod shuffle strapped to my helmet so there are no wires to get tangled.

BLUEJAYDATA

nope the music i listen to demands good quality. I won't spare it. I don't listen to NSYNC garbage. No pop. Ochestra, jazz, electronica, trance. ALL DEMANDS QUALITY.

slvoid

I can just see this guy now, trying to fit a pair of sennheiser 580's over a helmet and crank up the measly output of an unamped MP3 player loud enough to drive those things to a level that you can hear...

Anyway if you're dumb (or gutsy) enough to actually expect good sound quality on the go, get a pair of shure E3's or etymotic's and strap a ray samuels raptor to the ipod.

tinrobot

You're not supposed to wear headphones on the bike for the same reason you can't wear headphones in the car.

It's dangerous and illegal.

slvoid

I don't understand then, how people can be allowed to drive around with 24" subwoofers in their cars loud enough to be heard miles away..
I think if this man wants to block out a certain sensory input while on his bicycle, we have no choice but to help him.

BLUEJAYDATA

really? tom hanks in one of his movies wore headphones throughout everytime he went out for a bike ride.

spinnaker

Yeah I think he should install a DVD player too.

UmneyDurak

I believe the key words here are "in one of his movies".
Anyway dude get the biggest pair of headphones you can find. Oh don't forget to post pictures of you on the road with those headphones with no helmet. It will be halarious.

Elvish Legion

I still debate this, I was riding into a massive head wind today of roughly 15mph. I couldn't hear anything but wind. I really wonder how 'dangerous' it really is. I mean I got surprised by a couple of cars because 1) I couldn't hear and 2) I had a jacket that was to big on.

Way to solve this...bar end mirror, don't wear such loose fitting jacket.

ChrisMartinTX

headphones and no heltmet? who saw me =P

theres a place around here that custom molds some to your ears... still bud style just seal better. my buddy has some and they work well enough for him to listen to the ipod while cruising on his harley.

oboeguy

Wow you guys are such no0bs. You suck at arguing for and against headphones. Head over to Commuting and A&S for some real headphone arguments.

(<-- thinks active headphones while riding == teh stupid)

DamnRock

Here's the ones I use:

https://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=05794653000

They are light enough not to be noticeable... the over the ear part doesn't have any bad pressure points like the older style over-the-ear headphones. They cover the ear well enough to hear the music, but they also let other sounds in... I can still hear cars coming, but I also don't try to prematurely end my hearing ability by playing the headphones so loud they are all I can hear. I just use them to have some music to distract me from thinking only about the riding.

I don't think there's anything at all wrong with riding with headphones WHEN NOT RIDING IN A GROUP... there's a difference between needing to hear something like a car coming and needing to hear something someone says... you don't have to interpret what kind of car is coming, just that there is one coming (i.e. noise getting louder), but headphones at any volume can distract you from or keep you from interpreting what someone in your group says.

Just my 2 cents. These headphones also don't conflict with sunglasses or my helmet. I hav ethe cable bundled up under an arm-band where I wear my mp3 player.

Rock

MSD

My whole theroy on headphone thing is that I don't use my ears for listening to cars, rather I make sure I'm seen and I do frequent head checks. As others mentioned, listening to music is no different than listening to the wind rush by your ears. In both instances I generally hear approaching vehicles when they are ~ a car length behind me.

Should someone who is deaf not ride, since they can't hear approaching vehicles?