mp3 player advice for riding - Page 4 - Cycling Mob: Road Cycling, Mountain Biking and More

02-25-2005, 04:56 AM

Mike G <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> I'm in the market for an mp3 player to use while at the gym (on the
> bike there in bad weather) and when riding in general. I've heard that
> hard drive based MP3 players (ipod, rio karma, dell jukebox, etc) are
> a little more sensitive to movement and bumps. Not in terms of
> skipping, but the player actually breaking because it has moveable
> parts.
>
> Flash mp3 players, on the other hand, are very durable, but don't hold
> nearly as many songs (usually about 512 mb as opposed to 30 gigs).
>
> So, I was wondering if anyone has had problems with hard drive based
> mp3 players or if riding is generally smooth enough to keep the hard
> drives safe. I would much rather buy a large player, but if it's too
> vulneralbe when riding I'll go with a smaller one.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> And, yes, I know, riding with headphones can be a safety hazard...

Don't ride a bike while wearing h'phones. It's stupid and deadly.

02-25-2005, 03:29 PM

How else are you going to climb and insane grade without listening to
"Matallica" ?

02-25-2005, 03:29 PM

How else are you going to climb and insane grade without listening to
"Matallica" ?

02-25-2005, 05:23 PM

In article <1109374175.837912.250800@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups .com>,
"Edward" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> How else are you going to climb and insane grade without listening to
> "Matallica" ?

I've got an edetic memory, so I don't need music playback
hardware; the wetware is good enough. Sometimes it's too
good, like when I get annoying tunes like "Rock the Casbah"
stuck in my head.

The Doobie Brothers' "Clear as the Driven Snow" works
pretty good for me, for insane climbs.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

02-25-2005, 05:23 PM

In article <1109374175.837912.250800@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups .com>,
"Edward" <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> writes:

> How else are you going to climb and insane grade without listening to
> "Matallica" ?

I've got an edetic memory, so I don't need music playback
hardware; the wetware is good enough. Sometimes it's too
good, like when I get annoying tunes like "Rock the Casbah"
stuck in my head.

The Doobie Brothers' "Clear as the Driven Snow" works
pretty good for me, for insane climbs.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

02-26-2005, 04:50 AM

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:15:58 GMT, maxo wrote:

>> And, yes, I know, riding with headphones can be a safety hazard...
>
> So don't do it, *******. So you're aware of its dangers and still plan on
> doing it? That makes you an uber-*******.

People who criticize me for doing it have invariably never tried it with
the little non-sealing ear buds that come with players these days. They
don't conceal traffic noises at all when playing music at a comfortable
volume. I suppose they could be cranked up to that point, but anything
can be abused.

I use a 256Mb flash player, which holds about four hours' worth of music.
It's light, small, skip-proof and doesn't seem to mind sweat. I only
use it when riding alone, of course.

--
bpo gallery at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

02-26-2005, 04:50 AM

On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:15:58 GMT, maxo wrote:

>> And, yes, I know, riding with headphones can be a safety hazard...
>
> So don't do it, *******. So you're aware of its dangers and still plan on
> doing it? That makes you an uber-*******.

People who criticize me for doing it have invariably never tried it with
the little non-sealing ear buds that come with players these days. They
don't conceal traffic noises at all when playing music at a comfortable
volume. I suppose they could be cranked up to that point, but anything
can be abused.

I use a 256Mb flash player, which holds about four hours' worth of music.
It's light, small, skip-proof and doesn't seem to mind sweat. I only
use it when riding alone, of course.

--
bpo gallery at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

02-28-2005, 07:02 AM

Chris Neary wrote:
> When I was looking into MP3 players (for use in the gym, not in the bike), I
> went thru the same decision process you are. Although I found many mentions
> of possible problems with hard drive based players, I was never able to find
> any actual documented incidents.
>
> In the end I opted for a flash player as it was significantly lighter than
> any hard drive player.
>
> In my case I bought a 256MB Rio Cali (functionally identical to the Rio
> Chiba) and then added a 1GB SD card. Total cost to go this route these days
> could be as low as $100 for the Cali/Chiba and $50 for the SD card.

I'll second that opinion, although I only use my
Cali at the gym. :-)

--
Scott Johnson / scottjohnson at kc dot rr dot com

02-28-2005, 07:02 AM

Chris Neary wrote:
> When I was looking into MP3 players (for use in the gym, not in the bike), I
> went thru the same decision process you are. Although I found many mentions
> of possible problems with hard drive based players, I was never able to find
> any actual documented incidents.
>
> In the end I opted for a flash player as it was significantly lighter than
> any hard drive player.
>
> In my case I bought a 256MB Rio Cali (functionally identical to the Rio
> Chiba) and then added a 1GB SD card. Total cost to go this route these days
> could be as low as $100 for the Cali/Chiba and $50 for the SD card.

I'll second that opinion, although I only use my
Cali at the gym. :-)

--
Scott Johnson / scottjohnson at kc dot rr dot com

02-28-2005, 08:25 PM

Roger Zoul wrote:
>
>
> Don't ride a bike while wearing h'phones. It's stupid and deadly.

This topic comes up regularly, and draws so many people with such
strong opinions. But based on what facts?

Read this article, by one of the most prominent safety experts in
bicycling - John Allen, the guy who wrote the "Street Smarts" booklets
distributed by some states' DOTs:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I've never seen a cyclist riding with earmuff-style headphones. Those
could be a problem, I suppose - but OTOH, it _is_ legal for a
profoundly deaf person to ride a bike.

And it's certainly possible to ride with earbuds turned to a low
volume. They need have no more effect on your hearing than, say,
whistling a tune while you ride. Is that deadly, too?