Do u peeps make use of technology and listen to portable radios/mp3 players while riding? If so then wot models do u people recommend?
Let there be music!!!!!!!!
- Thread starter rossoreduk
- Start date
I find that such devices distract from the cycling experience. I like to suck it all in...the sounds of nature..the wind..the sun etc. Also..I want to hear everything around me..including cars and the barking of dogs. Your ears will help keep you safe while riding. Also..I like to think and clear my mind while riding and training. It's my time to be alone for a short period of time...so the music is not welcome on my rides. I don't mind it when I'm running though.
I love the technology BUT, I dont feel safe using it while cycling. Ride down here in Houston and you will see what I mean!
I'd love to take an MP3 player along with me... unlike Oneradtec, my cycling experiences tend to involve lots of lush sensations but interesting sounds are rarely part of them.
I'd love to have the Pixies cheering me up those hills (Tony's Song has got to be the best cycling workout song around), but like Soonercyclist, the safety risk bothers me. It can be hard enough to hear cars approaching.
Safety first, right? I sing to myself when I ride (if my lungs permit me... often, I've got to sing in thought only).
I'd love to have the Pixies cheering me up those hills (Tony's Song has got to be the best cycling workout song around), but like Soonercyclist, the safety risk bothers me. It can be hard enough to hear cars approaching.
Safety first, right? I sing to myself when I ride (if my lungs permit me... often, I've got to sing in thought only).
Alone out in the country it's all about the sounds of nature (cows, birds, crickets, hunters). In a group ride you want to be able to chat with your mates. Safety is the number one issue. You need to be able to "feel" a vehicle as it comes upon you and sound is a huge sensory plus. Now on a trainer inside give me some AC/DC or Seven Nations any day!
I would never use any of it on a bike. I take my life in my hands everytime I get on my bike here in Houston. In fact, some idiot almost ran me over yesterday!! Glad I could hear him coming...
Plus, I like to hear the wind, makes me feel like I'm going fast !!
Plus, I like to hear the wind, makes me feel like I'm going fast
!!
To each his own, but I gotta' agree... Not only do I think it would be dangerous to ride around here with music covering up sounds I need to be alert to, but I actually savor the silence... Whizzing along and hearing the clickclickclick when I'm free-wheeling. Love it. Just the music in my head, and that there's plenty of, especially goin uphill, just for inspiration...
Originally posted by ccorrick
I would never use any of it on a bike. I take my life in my hands everytime I get on my bike here in Houston. In fact, some idiot almost ran me over yesterday!! Glad I could hear him coming...
Plus, I like to hear the wind, makes me feel like I'm going fast
I have to wonder if any of those touting the dangers of not being able to hear traffic have ever tried to listen to music that was loud enough to cover traffic sounds. People underestimate how loud traffic is. Just the sound of a car's tires on the pavement will easily drown out music through earbuds at a comfortable listening level.
I'd heard for years about the dangers of listening to music while riding, about the fact that you can't hear cars coming. I'm not sure where this information comes from and I'm sure that under some circumstances, it could make the difference. I find that if I were to turn the music up loudly enough to drown out traffic sounds, my ears would be ringing when I turn the music off. Traffic is l-o-u-d!
I do wear one of those small geek-mirrors on my sunglasses while riding. It took a while to get used to it but now I couldn't imagine trying to ride without it. I find I can see and hear the traffic around me with little, if any, trouble. Based on my own experience, I think the dangers of listening to music while riding a bike are highly exaggerated. Under just the right circumstances it could make the difference between knowing that a car is closing on you and not knowing, but then so could having your mind on something else. Granted, when traffic starts to get tight, I forget the music is there. My focus is on the traffic around me.
I use an iRiver iFP-180T MP3 player. It's very small, plays for about 20 hours on a single AA battery and the memory holds about 30 songs at 128kbp. If I don't feel like listening to the songs I loaded into it, I can switch to the FM tuner and listen to radio. They cost about $180 U.S. but iRiver has recently released a newer model, the iFP-390T, I believe. It's about $200, has some additional features and 256MB of memory.
Well, traffic can definitely be loud, but the kinds of traffic noise we all experience and the level of awareness we're comfortable with are bound to be different. I typically ride on small, relatively narrow roads with low-to-moderate levels of cars... one or two coming by every few minutes, for example. My concern isn't tight or messy traffic -- it's that lone Camry a quarter mile back zipping up the hill at 40mph.
I don't doubt that it takes a boatload of music to drown out a car or truck right on your flank, or at the heart of downtown, but sensing a car quickly approaching in the distance, from the rear, can be tricky even without music -- particularly if you don't wear a geek mirror.
I like being aware of those babies as they close in on me, and for me, at least, that requires undivided ears. Music is absolutely, physically bound to shorten your ears' leadtime.
It really depends on the ride. As a rule I never use my MP3 player on the road, concerns about traffic etc. However, when I take my MTB for rides into the desert alone, I often take my MP3 player. There is NO traffic there so no concerns about safety.
I use a Nike/Phillips product PSA 64.
One thing that is a bit annoying is getting the little earpiece to stay in place, especialy if you are drenched in sweat.
Any ideas for solving this problem ??
Leon
1stly the Namibian desert looks awesome! Lucky you! Currently here i sit in my room watchin the snow fall!
2ndly replace ur earpieces with these headphones! Here is the link! http://www.bang-olufsen.com/sw711.asp#
Not cheap though!
i use my mp3 player quite a bit, actually. there's a wonderful 15 mile long trail here in gville-- wide, flat, maybe four places where'd you want to "stop" and check for traffic.
now that i'm kinda gearing up for a tour i also find it useful to record lil 5/6 minute songs at around 80 bpm on my acoustic, and then set my cadence to it out on the trail. great way to train... after a while you don't even need the mp3 player any more. just kinda pull the melody back into your head, and you know exactly where your pace should be.
the pixies are amazing.
i'd also recommend a band called lumen. quite good in its own right, arguably perfect for biking away from traffic.
www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/lumen/man-felt-an-iron-hand.shtml
www.temporaryresidence.com
yummy.
cheers...
matt b.
now that i'm kinda gearing up for a tour i also find it useful to record lil 5/6 minute songs at around 80 bpm on my acoustic, and then set my cadence to it out on the trail. great way to train... after a while you don't even need the mp3 player any more. just kinda pull the melody back into your head, and you know exactly where your pace should be.
the pixies are amazing.
i'd also recommend a band called lumen. quite good in its own right, arguably perfect for biking away from traffic.
www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/l/lumen/man-felt-an-iron-hand.shtml
www.temporaryresidence.com
yummy.
cheers...
matt b.
I've heard some Lumen, and liked what I heard; haven't bought any yet, though. I'm on a particular Pixies kick lately because news of the big reunion is, well, big news. I'm debating whether or not to head to Indio for the 5/1/04 Coachella Festival, featuring (among others)...
the runited Pixies
Radiohead
Air
Kraftwerk
The Flaming Lips
The Cure
...and a few more, I think. Anyways, ride on.
Am I being asked for recommendations? Well, I don't endorse unlicensed downloading, but if you were to stumble upon any of these tracks in your mom's tape stash, they'd be good introductions to these artists:
pixies:
cactus / waves of mutilation / where is my mind? / wild honey pie / tony's song (a must for cyclists)
radiohead:
there there / optimistic / motion picture soundtrack / airbag / fake plastic trees
kraftwerk:
take anything. these goofballs were the original pioneers of electronica. they go way back... i mean, way back. early rap innovators like grandmaster flash and the like count them among their influences. a novelty, but part of modern music history. best summed up by 1974's "autobahn"
air (the great grandchildren of kraftwerk, only french):
kelly watch the stars / all i need / jeanne
the flaming lips:
fight test / yoshimi battles the pink robots pt 1 / in the morning of the magicians / do you realize? / lightning strikes the postman / when you smile
the cure:
i don't really have to name cure tracks for you, do i?
This is a modern music forum, right? Rock on, my friend. Er, I mean, ride on.
I listen to music while doing everything from riding a motorcycle to riding a bicycle. I 'm addicted to it and it's a most on those long rides. As for the iRiver, I bought 3 of those puppies for a great price, and the play button crapped up on all of the within a few months, maybe that's why I got such a good deal. I also used a Nomad MG II, which is nice but the buttons are located in the worse possible places. I would stay away from it unless you get the remote for it. I've also used my fair share of MD players, but they're surpassed by MP3 players now. Check out the mini iPods coming out soon, they look okay.
Similar threads
