Music on the bike
 

Has anyone used the iHome iH85B Bike-to-Beach Speaker System for iPod? I was woundering if it is loud enough to use on a road bike. I have read many posative reviews but it dosent say what they are riding. Any input would be great thanks.

The sound of my rivals ragged, desperate breathing is music to my ears. The peace and quiet that follows is better still.

Yeah, but can I download it from iTunes?

Bad idea. On the road your ears are life.

:popcorn:

Dude, if you want to listen to your music through headphones that's your business. Nothing is more irritating than when I can hear what's playing inside your car from a mile away...let's not let this carry over to bikes as well. Keep your gd music to yourself. Thanks.

^^That^^

Precisely the reason I did not get one, but I would not recommend using headphones either.

Does that include singing (a capella)?

Saitek a-100:

Find one on ebay or CL for 20-30 bucks. Either ride with an eclectic group or alone. If someone is around you long enough to get annoyed... well, its just a manifestation of their internal annoyance to not being fast enough to pull away :D

If you have to listen to music, please keep it to yourself.

No, they'd be annoyed because its obnoxious.

The random groups I ride with are not serious riders. Hence the suggestion to ride with "eclectic" folks or just ride alone. People have often hung around me to hear what I have playing.

I wouldn't even attempt to have that playing in a more serious training ride. Which is why if you are in one... you should only really be hearing my music for half a minute at the very most as you pass me by. Its loud for a small speaker... its not a friggin 200 watt car stereo.

For those of you that draw no line from serious ride to casual ride.... how do you exist in society in places like the beach where people have stereos playing?

I sync my music to my Blackberry and use a handlebar mount with the screen *face down* so I'm not tempted to read emails.

Mounting it face-down puts the volume buttons right next to my left hand, so I can change the volume or press-and-hold those buttons to skip ahead/back a track.

The speakerphone on the back on the BB, which is facing up when mounted screen-down, is loud enough for me to enjoy the music but not loud enough to bother others.

That said, when riding in densely populated areas I'll pause the music. but most of my commute from the suburbs to Boston is solitary.

I know this won't be that helpful to you as you are trying to use an iPod - Apple seems to dislike buttons - but for BB owners out there maybe it's an option.

With enormous difficulty. Over recent years people have become less and less considerate of the people around them and seem to think that they are entitled to force themselves, through music or loud phone conversations, upon everyone else. To my mind, imposing one's will over a public space through amplified music is a profoundly anti-social behavior.

Your suburban ride is probably not as solitary as you think. How far does your music travel?

:D


On a more serious note... I learned at a young age to be tolerant of others who mean me no harm. I don't like hearing oldies complain, but I let them be.

If you use headphones, that affects you and only you, unless you turn into an oblivious idiot who doesn't pay attention where he's going. People cycling in headphones don't bother me, as I do it on occasion as well. My hearing is rather broken, so I tend to pay more attention with my eyes than my ears anyway.

It's one thing to be on the beach where there are a lot of (loud) people and you aren't trying to negotiate traffic. Completely different when you're trying to concentrate on not getting run over by the oblivious soccer mom in an SUV talking on her cell phone and someone's ridiculously loud stereo is breaking your concentration.

Make this. You should be able to hear it ok:
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http://blog.makezine.com/upload/2009...omBoxBike3.jpg

You do know I'm talking about a speaker that runs on AAA batteries, right?

I am a bad cyclist, I use headphones. I don't think people want to hear my music.

If having music on your bike is that important to you, just wear headphones...?

I guess I learned something different. I learned at a young age that it is disrespectful make a big racket in public places because not everyone is interested in hearing said racket. To my mind it is rude and domineering behavior.

Now, I have heard the argument that asking someone to turn their music down is itself another form of domineering behavior in that the complainer is just as guilty of trying to control a particular space or situation. I cannot disagree with this, actually. There is certainly a conflict. The question at hand is what constitutes acceptable public behavior and the two positions, namely that one should be considerate of others or one need not care about others, are antithetical. Which position should win out? How can there be a compromise? The way I see it, your freedom ends where it begins to impinge on mine and mine ends where it begins to impinge on yours. I am not suggesting that people should not listen to loud music whenever they want. People can listen to whatever music they want at whatever volume. I don't care. However, the freedom to listen to loud music ends at the point of forcing others to listen to it as well, whether they want to or not. This is a fundamental social compact in American society, and many other societies as well. This why I say that blaring music in public spaces without the consent of people in those places is anti-social. It is a violation of a foundational social compact upon which American society has been built.

This is all to say that if you want to listen to music while cycling, you can do so without forcing others to do it with you. If you have an argument as to why having such a sound system on a bike is socially acceptable, especially in view of the conception of freedom and its limitations I have cited above, I am honestly interested in hearing it. I am willing to hear other ideas.

I have an iPad mounted to my handlebars. I watch TV shows, movies, and pornos during my rides.