Listening to music on the bike

[ophic]

I invested in a waterproof inline volume knob. It works great except I haven't found the right place for it yet. I find the earphone wires occasionally snag on stuff so I can't move my head - not the greatest of things to happen on a bike.

Most of the time I just find it too much hassle. There's all the palava getting the bike out, getting kitted up, and it's just another thing to remember and get in the right place. My phone has to go in the inside pocket to stay dry, so this needs to be in the right place and playing before I do up my jacket. Headphones obviously have to go on before the helmet, and I prefer them on the inside of my neck buff thingy. But I prefer the neck buff thingy on the inside of my jacket collar, so has to be there before my jacket is put on.... gah! I prefer an extra 5 mins in bed

[ophic]

Originally Posted by speedplay

Mp3 player on the mobile and I use the remote from an old nokia so I can turn it down and skip tracks as and when I want to .

Does the remote work in the rain? and can you work it ok with gloved hands?

I listen to music on a long ride, but generally not on a short ride tis not worth the effort of sorting it all out. The only problem i have is that my helmet presses my headphones into my ears n get bit painful after a while. The music keeps me focussed on the long Mway rides i find.

i do and have 2 play lists
bimble and twisties
1st just chilled tunes that i know all the music and words too so i can play it at low volume and my brain fills in whats missing, so still road aware
2nd hard as ****, bouncing, right wrist twisting tunes just to make the expeceriance than little bit more satisfying ( also when i here a tune while im in the pub or wherever it reminds me of cracking days on the bike)

I have some custom made earplug, which I got done at the Birmingham bike show.
On the plus side they cut road noise right down, the audio quality from the Sony "drive unit" is good and niether too tinny nor too basee. They don't fall out like the normal Sony ones either.
On the negative side, they are akward to get it (I find it easiest to do this in front of mirror) and to get out. Although I suspect that this will get better the more I use them. The "drive unit" Sony part kept falling out too when putting them in and pulling them out, until I glued them in with superglue gel. So far so good.
Comfort wise, they are more noticable than I would expect and the plastic is harder than other "in ear" phones. Also the right one brushes my helmet inside which is currently a bit annoying.
Having tried alot of in-ear units, the only exception is the Bose ones (given the cost); these are definately number one, but at double (if not triple) the cost of basic Sony in-ear ones - value for money is definately three stars.
If you are thinking about these custom ones, try a cheap under a tenner in-ear ones and see how you get on. Personally, I find that I can hear just about as well as normal when I'm driving, although I can't hear converstions really once stopped (when getting petrol for example).
I normally plug in my ipod, unless the battery is flat, then the backup is to plug into my phone. My music collection is somewhat eclectic. Pop works better and classical, as the dynamic range is so much less.
My collegues at work, however, find it very disconcerting that everytime I arrive at work on my bike, I'm listening to Brittany Spear - they think this is so wrong on so many levels. I do have Motorhead in there somewhere, but I don't think my ipod likes hard rock as it never plays any on random shuffle

Yes, I use a mini Ipod in an h20 waterproof case with speakers in the helmet, fits around my wrist, controls are easy, volume is low, I use earplus which gets rif of wind noise but allows traffic and music through.. works great

Too distracting and dangerous for me, Can always sing to myself if i want music, guaranteed to keep me awake.

Daryl.

[Sir Trev]

Back in the 80's when we all started buying tape Walkmans (stop sniggering you younger ones) I proudly wore my headphones about the town centre, probably humming along to Dire Straits or the Quo... Switching it off before I walked into a shop to ask for something. For whatever reason I did not turn it on again unti I was home and in the quiet of my bedroom. I could not believe how loud it had been, just to block out the noise in the town centre. No wonder my ears were hurting.

I'm much more aware of potential damage to my ears now and will avoid music or other noises that are too loud. My dear wife is getting hard of hearing and we have battles about how loud the TV should be. A volume good for her actually hurts my ears. Same with the radio/music in the car.

Folks - you only get one set of ears and when they're damaged that's permanent. Don't put that at risk by playing music loud enough to block out road/helmet noise as you're asking for trouble, and not just in old age!!

[Mej]

have been thinking that recently, im only 22 and i swear im going a bit deaf. my music is always too loud, and the raves dont help, sometimes i come home and i cant hear properly for a few days. just a constant ringing.

Originally Posted by Amanda

Use to when on the Honda CBR 125 and had a cheap (not well fitting) lid. Found it drowned out the screaming from walkers and drivers lol

I don't listen to anything now as I find I need to concentrate on the stupidity of some drivers.

What have we told you about riding on the pavement!

For me longer rides and I will listen to it as I find it helps me focus, No music and i tend to get distracted and then corners sneak up on me nasty corners!

Used to use it daily on the commute but found that, the time I'd ride with no music I'd hear loads of new noises coming from the bike and find I'd been riding with low oil/**** chain for a while so decided to pay more attention to the bike on the commute.
Bike and wind noise is too loud anyway so its not a question of not been able to hear traffic noise even with the earphones in. Similarly with sirens the frequency of those will drown out an ipod any day unless you have it on ear bleedingly loud lol.

I wouldnt do it all if I didnt have some of the noise reducing in ear earphones though, even at speed the volume doesnt need to be too loud as they cut out almost all external noise. Its as good as wearing earplugs anyway so why not add a little tuneage