How I Almost Lost My iPod - Page 11 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

06-16-2004, 05:13 AM

listening to music while riding?

and Darwin rolled over in his grave and smiled :-)

"K-Man" <k-man@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:k-man-B893FF.10194514062004@news.supernews.com...
> A cautionary tale for those of you who have and iPod or are thinking
> about buying one and using it with your bike.
>
> Back when I first got my iPod a couple of years ago, I purchased a third
> party case with a belt clip. When I got my bike last Christmas, I
> started looking for iPod mounts for bikes, and found one at Marware:
>
> <http://www.marware.com/ClipAccessories.html>
>
> Yes, I saw the notice in red letters at the top of the page: "IMPORTANT
> NOTE: THESE ACCESSORIES ARE DESIGNED FOR USE WITH MARWARE CASES ONLY."
> But it sure looked like the case I had would work with the Marware bike
> holder, so I ordered one. I received it, installed in on my bike, and
> tried it with my iPod case. It slipped right in and seemed to be secure.
> Then I took my first ride with it.
>
> I was on our Greenway and was just getting ready to go over one of the
> bridges that spans a creek that runs along most of the greenway. When my
> front tire hit the bump at the edge of the bridge, my iPod shot right
> out of the bike holder. Things started moving in slow motion then. It
> was like time slowed to 1/20th speed. The iPod slowly arced upward
> directly toward the rail on the side of the bridge. I just knew it was
> going over the rail and into the drink. Instead, it hit one of the steel
> supports under the rail with a loud KA-THONG, bounced back on to the
> bridge, and rolled for a few feet. I picked it up, and it was still
> playing, no worse for wear. I stuck it in my saddlebag and finished my
> ride.
>
> When I got back to my office, I immediately went back to the Marware
> page and ordered one of their cases:
>
> <http://www.marware.com/BASIC.html>
>
> Now I had a case that was supposed to work with the Marware bike holder.
> The case snapped into the holder with a reassuring click and seemed to
> be secure. While I was riding that day on a, fortunately, low traffic
> road, and hit a bump, and the iPod again jumped right out of the bike
> holder and landed in the middle of the road. I retrieved it quickly,
> and it was still playing. Those little suckers are tough.
>
> When I got back to my office, I examined the bike holder and case and
> saw what the problem was. The bike holder holds the case via a spring
> clip, and a good vertical jar will make the clip open, giving the case
> an opportunity to slide out. I took a rubber band, doubled it up, and
> put it around the iPod and the bike holder. I bounced the front end of
> the bike up and down, and couldn't jar it loose. I've been riding with
> it for a month or so like that, and have not had any problems with the
> iPod even coming loose from the bike holder, much less popping out.
>
> Hope my experience helps prevent someone from making the same mistakes
> that I did and almost losing an iPod.

>
> Ken