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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Bluetooth earbuds?

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Old 09-28-13 | 07:28 AM
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Bluetooth earbuds?

Any one here ride with Bluetooth earbuds and if so how do you like them and what brand?
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Old 09-28-13 | 09:11 AM
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I tried the Denon Exercise Freak bluetooth headphones - I returned them due to connection problems. They'd find my iPhone just fine, but the music would crackle and break up while I was riding. There was a clear line of sight between the phone and the earphones as I ride with the phone on a holder mounted to my stem. The head phones had a supposed range of 30 feet, but the 2.5 feet between my phone and ear thwarted them. They were about $150 new, so I expected them to be perform better than they did.

That was in February - not sure how blue tooth headphones have devloped / improved since then.
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Old 09-28-13 | 09:22 AM
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I'll be getting a pair of Jaybird Bluebuds X Sport headphones before the end of the year (though not to ride with). I don't have experience with them, but reviews are overwhelmingly positive. They appear to be some of the best on the market.
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Old 09-28-13 | 09:23 AM
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I also had connection issues with bluetooth earbuds. (Not for cycling, just regular use). It bothered me to have the music cut out every once in a while. It wasn't a consistent issue, but enough to annoy me. I'm telling you, if you want amazing earbuds to ride with, buy the Bose IE2 sports. They are amazing. Never come out of your ear, no matter how much you sweat or how much it rains. They do not seal your ear so you can still hear, but they cover the entire ear opening so it is just the right amount of music and ambient sound for riding. 2 years of riding with them now and I am most certainly pleased. Dont see myself using anything else really.
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Old 09-28-13 | 10:03 AM
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I have the Jaybird Freedom and love them. Pairs to my Nano or phone with no issues and sound is fine. Good luck in your search.
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Old 09-29-13 | 12:52 AM
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Sennheiser makes some fabulous wireless earbuds.
I wouldn't bike with them though because in the event you lose one replacements are closer to $1000 than $100
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Old 09-29-13 | 02:38 AM
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LG HBS700 work very well, you can take the earbuds out when you're not using them, and the whole contraption sits on your neck through pretty much any imaginable conditions. They were ~$50 last I checked.
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Old 09-29-13 | 04:46 AM
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Thanks to all for replying. And I will also look into the Bose bianchi. I have no issue with my el-cheapo's I use now that came with my Samsung Galaxy I just want to see if wireless may be an option.
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Old 09-29-13 | 04:55 AM
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I run and ride using the Jaybird Freedom and they work great. To ensure there is no cutting out is the device has to be on the right arm as high as possible.
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Old 09-29-13 | 07:33 AM
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I have 2 pair of Motorola wireless bluetooth headsets, and one of the Monster isport Strive wired ear buds with a microphone. I like the Motorola sets better because I don't like the wires.
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Old 09-29-13 | 12:39 PM
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I have a set of the Plantronics BackBeat 903+ and would highly recommend them. I've never had any issues with them and they stand up to sweat really well.
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Old 09-29-13 | 05:55 PM
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I haven't used my phone as a music player. Are there any issues with battery life using blue tooth and music with your phones? And, how long do the wireless device batteries tend to last?
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Old 09-29-13 | 08:26 PM
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Plantronics M55 has an 11-hour battery. also has a nifty earbud that stays put without requiring an ear hook.

if your phone has low-power Bluetooth 4.0 you shouldn't really notice.

as for me, I want a Droid Maxx so I can run Google Cycling Directions, Strava, and the music all day long...
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Old 09-29-13 | 11:10 PM
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My headset lasts ~8 hours on a charge. I think it lowers the phone battery life somewhat but I can't say how much.

If you have to put the phone on your arm to avoid dropping out, something's wrong either with your phone or with your headset. I get uninterrupted streaming even if I'm on the first floor of my house and the phone is on the second floor.
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Old 09-30-13 | 07:12 AM
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Are any of you able to maintain a BT connection with your phone in your saddle bag?
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Old 09-30-13 | 08:21 AM
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I've had a pair of the Motorola S9 BT headphones for a couple of years. Pretty good, but I really only use them on the turbo.
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Old 09-30-13 | 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by hamster
My headset lasts ~8 hours on a charge. I think it lowers the phone battery life somewhat but I can't say how much.

If you have to put the phone on your arm to avoid dropping out, something's wrong either with your phone or with your headset. I get uninterrupted streaming even if I'm on the first floor of my house and the phone is on the second floor.
You know, I was able to do this too with my Jaybirds X. Walk all arond my 2 story home with the player in the 2nd floor. However, as soon as I started to workout with the phone on my left arm, drop outs.

Back on topic, the Jaybirds didn't work out for me. They kept falling out, or getting loose; which severely dropped the music quality, the only thing their customer service could suggest to me was to buy after market foampieces for $14.
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