[QUOTE=savage24][QUOTE=yater]Why is everyone stuck on ipod? You can get an mp3 player.... Look at these speakers, $20.00 @ Radio Shack, run on batteries and work really well....

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...shack+speakers

am i the only one who likes the quiet and the wind. i would never listen to crap while i ride.:) :eek: :) :eek: :rolleyes:

Your choice...but music can be a beautiful addition to a ride. Sometimes it flows with the highs and lows. Sometimes I'll play an entire album (the wall is a favorite) and just let it take me along. Sometimes I'll rock out on a downhill...sometimes I'll turn it off for hours at a time...it's an option I like to have

I never listen to my iPod while on the bike, but do love to have it off. As yater said: it's an option I like to have. There's also the option of up loading some books on 'tape' to your ipod, which I tend to enjoy every now and then. I'm mostly a reader though. Another thing, music can dicate my mood and I'm happy to listen to something to get me out of a funk...better than poppin' pills, imo.

I have a mp3 player but it takes aaa batteries. Ipods you need to re-charge.... that is the pisser of them.


Cheers...

You are not alone. The less junk that uses batteries the better. Music would just get in the way of the narrative that runs in my head:D

No one puts crap on their mp3 player or Ipod, that defeats the purpose. After all, the whole point is to bring your favorite music or books.

As for me, I would prefer my own music. My tastes in music are not only narrow, they are also very eclectic and eccentric. I certainly won't find too many local stations specializing in something like Ukrainian neo folk music. :D Also I find djs' blabbing really annoying: half a minute of it is enough to give me a headache.

It doesn't have to be an iPod though. All my mp3 player needs is one AAA battery.

+1. Well-said. :)

I bought a solar powered AM/FM radio from the source and found it very useful. It holds charge so I was able to use it for hours in the evening ! It only cost me $12.00

It's maybe worth noting that the Ipod Nano's will charge up to about 75% in less than an hour if you have access to a computer. When I'm off on my own I enjoy spending an hour at an internet cafe catching up on my emails, news, etc. and maybe have a couple of Latees at the same time. Charging the nano is just a bonus. If you only listen to it for an hour or two each evening you can easily get a week or more out of it and I like to check my email at least once a week.

I think the battery operated MP3 players with a radio are a good idea, but since I already have a Nano, I wouldn't go out and buy another MP3 player just for the battery option on a tour.

I got a small radio from REI before I set off down the PCH. The idea was to pop it in the handlebar bag and listen while moving along. However, on the move, the reception was sketchy (none-existant in the trees) and the ambient noise, traffic & wind noise proved too much to listen to on the move. It was nice to have on in the evenings & mornings in the tent though.

I try to listen to the up-to-date weather every morning and night. I often plan the day's ride around it. Sometimes I'll ride hard at 5 am and try to set camp before afternoon rain, sometimes I hang tight all morning and wait out the rain.

This doesn't always work, however.

I never listen to radio when I ride, somehow it seems against the rules to me. I know, I know, there are no rules to touring. Just personal insanity on my part.

I like the quiet and the wind. I also like to listen to how silently my bike is running, or how noisily - either indicating that it needs lubrication or letting me know that something isn't right.

HOWEVER, there are also long stretches of tedium and monotony on tour. I find the monotony is lessened by listening to good music. Furthermore, sometimes I find that good times are enhanced by good music. I'm flying along on a sunny day with a tailwind and beautiful countryside and just the right music - it's a good thing. And, as someone else mentioned, there are times in camp when listening to music is pleasant.

My seat-of-the-pants feeling is that I listen to music around 50% of the time I'm riding on a long tour, and maybe 10% of the time I'm in camp.

Sansa
 

I've considered this as well. I presently have a Sony MiniDisc player, which is wonderful technology. I can get 3 or 4 CD's on a minidisc (which is pretty cheap and can be re-recorded indefinitely). It runs something like 35 hours on on AA battery. On my last tour I brough 13 minidiscs (2 "sixpacks" plus the one in the player). 6 discs fit into a holder a little bigger than a deck of cards. It was cheap - about $30 for the player on Ebay and less than a dollar per disc.

NOW, for my next tour I'm considering an MP3 player. The one I'm looking at is a Sandisk Sansa E280 ($187.99)that holds 8GB.

The features I like:
1) 8GB is a lot!
2) It accepts small flash cards, so the storage is really unlimited (and those cards are really small and light.)
3) It has an FM radio - I'm curious as to how reception will be on tour, but I'm hoping there will be times when I can get a good station and have some variety in what I listen to.
4) It has a voice recorder. I was thinking this will be good for keeping a journal. I really like to keep a journal while touring, but it's often a struggle to force myself to sit down with a pen and paper to record the day's events when I'm tired and just want to lay down. I thought I could dictate it and make it easier. I also thought it would be nice to be able to record my thoughts during the day while riding - not just at the end of the day's ride. You know how your mind wanders while pedaling - sometimes I get what I think are brilliant, off-the-wall ideas, but then I can't remember them later. Imagine riding along listening to music when all of a sudden a brilliant (?) idea pops into your head. Press a button on the MP3 player and dictate your brilliance into the little gizmo. Cool!
5) It records off of FM - When I hear something good I can record it and get some new music.
6) It's really small and light - even with a few flash cards, it will still be much smaller and much lighter than the Minidisc player and the discs.

What I don't like: 1) It has a rechargeable battery that you have to recharge through a USB cable.

I'm thinking I'll get around the battery problem in one of two ways (or both). 1) I'll bring a travel charger. These aren't too big, and if they're like my phone chargers, they won't be heavy either. I'm thinking that every time I stop at a restaurant I'll look for a plugin. It's supposed to hold a charge for 30 hours, which, the way I listen, will be several days of use. I can also charge it in campgroun laundry rooms, bathrooms (there are usually plugins for guys to use their electric razors), etc. 2) You can buy an adapter that accepts AA batteries, and plugs into a USB port to charge the internal battery.

Recharging an IPOD while bike touring is no big deal unless you aren't going to be passing civilization for quite a while. Just simply recharge it daily at a local park, conv store, fast food joint, laundromat, or x-mart, for just a few minutes a day and it will always be charged. I use a MP3/FM radio player which takes 1 AAA battery. I also carry a police scanner which doubles as my NOAA weather radio.

I use a 15-minute battery recharger for recharge batteries now. By the time I am done drinking a diet-pepsi and eating a Little Debbie, I've got 4 freshly charged AA or AAA batteries. It's worth the extra weight to save oodles of money on batteries while touring.

Part way into last years trip I bought a small am/fm/sw radio. I am a bit of a news junkie, I like to know what is going on even when I am away. I thought this little radio would be ideal. Trouble was am/fm was often not available where i was and I havent really been able to figure out sw. So I didnt use it that much.

Does anyone know if there is a stand alone sattelite radio out there, ie a small built in speaker rather than ear buds, which I dont like (thats why an Ipod will never be for me). If there is such a beast, what are your experiences with it?

I'm all for quiet and wind ... and birds and other animals, etc. etc. while I ride, and I really thought I'd never, ever use anything that made music ....... despite the fact that most of my rides were in Manitoba.


And then I did a 1200K in eastern Colorado and Kansas. Have you ever had the feeling like your brain was trying to crawl out your ear and go screaming off across the barren and empty prairie???? :eek:

I would have KILLED for a radio, an mp3 player, an ipod, some guy in going by in a truck blasting his music everywhere ... anything!! :eek: :eek:

Since then, I often carry some sort of music making device. I may not touch it at all during a ride ... I've done several long ones through the mountains where the nature was enough to entertain me. But it is there, just in case!

Try taking that crappy little radio you already got to Radio Shack and get an antenna-- just a 10ft chunk of wire really. You might have to take the radio apart and drill a hole to hook the antenna up, but it's not that hard.

I also use the antenna as a clothes line to dry stuff. I even tied up my ripped pannier with it once


I'm a big NPR guy-- I like stuff to think about all day as I ride. I also try to stop a local, non-chain diner every day and read a local paper for my daily fix of local flavor and brain food.

I was going to ask basically the same question, ie anyone have positive experience with a shortwave or xm portable radio? How about a sw/xm/mp3 player?

seriously, classic rock and country music are only the two most popular genres in the country...

i use a sirius stilleto 10-$249.00-6.50 a month for sevice-reception almost to panama

Originally Posted by ernok1923do you really think thst you will have trouble find radio stations that specialize in classic rock, country, or classical music?


seriously, classic rock and country music are only the two most popular genres in the country...

I think I may have trouble finding a station that does not have some annoying syndicated programing. I live in a large metro area and only have two classic rock stations to choose from. One of them has 'Bob & Tom' in the morning and the other has 'Nights with Alice Cooper' in the evening....Blech.

My luxury items would come down to a portable XM radio or a SLR camera I would probably pick the XM radio

I have an xm roady 2 in the truck but haven't gone portable with it. Do you ride with one? What kind of setup do you use for batteries and antenae? I'm really considering this