[AZClydesdale]

I've increased my riding frequency and find myself riding by myself more lately. I like being left to my thoughts most of the time, but sometimes I wish I had a sport headphone set to use with my PocketPC which plays MP3's.

Question:
Do you ride while listening to headphones? (There is risk involved when I do not hear warnings from other hikers, bikers, or animals, but I figure I'll kick it down a notch and watch for blind corners.)

If you do, can you give a suggestion to which headphone set (brand/model) holds up best under a helmet?

Thanks,

Steven

 

[Ken in KC]

iPod...

I use an iPod and the standard earbuds that come with it.

I like it a lot, and it seems to be durable. 3-4 hours of battery life, which is more than I can ride right now at one time.

Ken

 

[Zonic Man]

Best earbuds for the price are unanimously (over on the ipod forums) the sony es-71 earbuds.

I have them with my ipod and they are OUTSTANDING.

I picked them up for just under $40, shipped online, new in the box. They can be found at your local retailers for $50 (or from your nearest apple store)

 

[Mr Magoo]

Ear buds fall out

Most earbuds fall out intermittantly, annoying me. I use Koss buds which have a loop arount the ear. These don't pinch when you pull the helmet straps over them, either. $20. My kids keep stealing them.

 

[Fuelish]

I suggest none...

[ If you need music to ride, get on a trainer and ride indoors.....riding with headphones/music is akin to driving while on a cell phone - unneeded and dangerous ...but, it's your decision (I prefer actual headphones that have the metal band over the head as opposed to the "buds" in the ears - they fall out and become a distraction - not something you'd want happening whist ridin' !!!)

...just my worthless opinion

 

[Zonic Man]

Most earbuds fall out intermittantly, annoying me. I use Koss buds which have a loop arount the ear. These don't pinch when you pull the helmet straps over them, either. $20. My kids keep stealing them.

Uh, no, they won't.

Not good ones.

 

[Mr Magoo]

you haven't seen my ears

nor would you be happy if I tried yours on. I might buy the sonys again, but I'm sticking with my story

 

[Zonic Man]

nor would you be happy if I tried yours on. I might buy the sonys again, but I'm sticking with my story

The sonys have 4 different types of inserts to custom-fit your ear.

 

[G-reg]

Bud's

Ifound a Mono ear bud in a junk pile in my basement a while ago. I don't know it's original use, but it works great for getting some tunes while riding. It's a single bud and I wear it in my right ear to help make ND roads bearable, while still being able to hear the beet truck about to run me off the road . It's far from the best sound, but the music is at low volume and not from the best source anyway. Any recommendations on Mp3 players, I'm looking at the low end.....Is it worth it, or do I really need to cough up more than a C note.

 

[AZClydesdale]

MP3 < $100

My HP iPAQ 2255 Pocket PC plays MP3's so between this and my desktop are the only exposure to MP3 Players. I would use www.epinions.com to research players by price. The cheapest I saw was $110: http://www.epinions.com/pr-Portable_Audio_SONICblue_Rio_S50_Radio_Digital_Player_90260383

(or check out www.epinions.com if link not working)....

Steve

Ifound a Mono ear bud in a junk pile in my basement a while ago. I don't know it's original use, but it works great for getting some tunes while riding. It's a single bud and I wear it in my right ear to help make ND roads bearable, while still being able to hear the beet truck about to run me off the road . It's far from the best sound, but the music is at low volume and not from the best source anyway. Any recommendations on Mp3 players, I'm looking at the low end.....Is it worth it, or do I really need to cough up more than a C note.

 

[Zonic Man]

Ifound a Mono ear bud in a junk pile in my basement a while ago. I don't know it's original use, but it works great for getting some tunes while riding. It's a single bud and I wear it in my right ear to help make ND roads bearable, while still being able to hear the beet truck about to run me off the road . It's far from the best sound, but the music is at low volume and not from the best source anyway. Any recommendations on Mp3 players, I'm looking at the low end.....Is it worth it, or do I really need to cough up more than a C note.

Spend the money and get an ipod. Anything else and you're not doing it right. Seriously.

FWIW, it took $30 at radio shack to get adapters to use it in my home (on the home stereo) and in the car.

You can find new 10gb ipods at apple stores for $249, or 15gb ones for $300.

 

[Hollywood]

I don't like anyting IN my ear...

so earbuds are out. Tried the $50 Sony buds and returned them. They also block out too many peripheral sounds, for me. I don't like that muffled sensation. Plus if one dropped out while riding it was a pain to look down for it and wiggle it back in. But that's all IMO, YMMV.

I've tried some Aiwa wrap-arounds, and some Sony ones too, both of which I liked; doesn't interfere w/helmet and sounds good. I can easily drop one ear quickly if need be. And the foam on the Sonys makes for a nice ear warmer on the cold morning commutes. Really.

Both priced @ $20-25

Sony

HW

I've increased my riding frequency and find myself riding by myself more lately. I like being left to my thoughts most of the time, but sometimes I wish I had a sport headphone set to use with my PocketPC which plays MP3's.

Question:
Do you ride while listening to headphones? (There is risk involved when I do not hear warnings from other hikers, bikers, or animals, but I figure I'll kick it down a notch and watch for blind corners.)

If you do, can you give a suggestion to which headphone set (brand/model) holds up best under a helmet?

Thanks,

Steven

 

[Pete]

Spend the money and get an ipod. Anything else and you're not doing it right. Seriously.

Or look at Archos if you can use something that is more than just an MP3 player.

 

[Zonic Man]

so earbuds are out. Tried the $50 Sony buds and returned them. They also block out too many peripheral sounds, for me. I don't like that muffled sensation. Plus if one dropped out while riding it was a pain to look down for it and wiggle it back in. But that's all IMO, YMMV.

I've tried some Aiwa wrap-arounds, and some Sony ones too, both of which I liked; doesn't interfere w/helmet and sounds good. I can easily drop one ear quickly if need be. And the foam on the Sonys makes for a nice ear warmer on the cold morning commutes. Really.

Both priced @ $20-25

Sony

HW

Yeah, when you have the sony ones in you can't hear anything else.

Pete, I'm concerned with the size/reliability of the archos. Plus, you CAN use the ipod as a slave hard drive if you want....

 

[Retro]

No headphones

If you need music to ride, maybe you need a sport that's more interesting to you. I'm an emergency responder near a ski area, and we see a load of accidents that are caused by people with the volume cranked up. It's worse on the road than off, but why take away one of the senses that keeps you (and others) safe?

 

[Pete]

Pete, I'm concerned with the size/reliability of the archos. Plus, you CAN use the ipod as a slave hard drive if you want....

Size isn't an issue and reliabilty hasn't been an issue yet (these are just glorified laptop hard drives after all).

Is there a CF card reader for ipods?

 

[Zonic Man]

Size isn't an issue and reliabilty hasn't been an issue yet (these are just glorified laptop hard drives after all).

Is there a CF card reader for ipods?

Nope, not yet, or there may be via attachment, dunno.

 

[seely]

I've increased my riding frequency and find myself riding by myself more lately. I like being left to my thoughts most of the time, but sometimes I wish I had a sport headphone set to use with my PocketPC which plays MP3's.

Question:
Do you ride while listening to headphones? (There is risk involved when I do not hear warnings from other hikers, bikers, or animals, but I figure I'll kick it down a notch and watch for blind corners.)

If you do, can you give a suggestion to which headphone set (brand/model) holds up best under a helmet?

Thanks,

Steven

The only thing that works is the Sony "over the ear" earbuds that have a C shaped piece that fits behind your ear. You can still wear your helmet and they won't budge, and they are like $9.

 

[80z28s6]

I was also looking into an mp3 player while riding cause while I was riding by myself quite a bit especially on the road ( acually the sidewalk) it was getting boring. Also for those solo rides when the buds can't make it. I looked into the internal plus expandable media mp3's cause with an Ipod which is basically a harddrive the dangers of hitting some rough stuff and killing the harddrive. Even if one has an accident. On the internal memory there is no moving parts so bumps and the like don't jolt nothing around. As for ear buds or headphones, earbuds kept falling out (tried like 3 pair) went with a set of sony mdr-35 headphones. There foldable if you get caught in the rain and need to put them in the pack. Also look for one thats a sports model. Most lightly sealed for miosture like sweat but can't take a downpour.

 

[T 3]

Flash/Internal Memory Sensible For Riding

The dirty little secret about I-pods is that the L ion battery it runs on is sealed inside and has a limited number of recharge cycles and battery life---The deterioration starts to show in less battery life between recharges and consumers find out in the first year of ownership.An MP3 player such as this http://www.iriveramerica.com/products/ifp-380t.asp
gets 24 hrs of battery life from a single AA battery and is much more resilient when it comes to being bounced around.The I-Pods are nice,I like them but they're not practical enough for me,when an I=Pod's battery tanks,all you're left with a is an expensive paper weight with a well known logo.PDA ? I wouldn't take an HP on the trail or a Palm device.Tough to beat a resonable priced dedicated MP3 player with no internal moving parts and superior battery life....

Spend the money and get an ipod. Anything else and you're not doing it right. Seriously.

FWIW, it took $30 at radio shack to get adapters to use it in my home (on the home stereo) and in the car.

You can find new 10gb ipods at apple stores for $249, or 15gb ones for $300.