mp3 players

cycling_jedi said:

I know some of you will probably lecture me about road safety but that is okay, I am here for open discussion.

I listen to my mp3 player while I ride, and was wondering how many others do the same and what kind of music do you listen to while riding.

As far as the safety goes... I know wearing them will never be as safe as keeping your ears open, but I always have the volume low enough to hear around me, and when in high traffic areas I take the ear phones out and hang them over my ears.

I listen to mine when rideing, but only have ome ear plug in. I listen to bands like, Offspring, Millencollin, Grinspoon, Bad Religion and the likes cause it's generally faster music and gives me a lift.

yeah... I try to listen to fast upbeat music too...

Music can get you pumped and more motivated to ride.... I like all kinds of music but like to listen to rock and some rap while riding..

On my mp3 right now is AC/DC.... Black Sabbath... Kiss... Rammstein... and Rage Against The Machine

If you listen to music....and ride trails....have the decency to stay to the right and get out of the way......bikes coming from behind are probably trying to get by you while you are jamming to the beat.

oh... i also listen to music while i ride... i actually fell insecure going on long rides without mp3 player. 4-5 hours riding solo without any music... yikes. probably schizophrenia waiting to happen... talking to a imaginary friend on the bike... j/k. 😄

i use one year bud and i never use it when i'm riding with other people for safety reason.

BillM said:

If you listen to music....and ride trails....have the decency to stay to the right and get out of the way......bikes coming from behind are probably trying to get by you while you are jamming to the beat.

Unless you are in Aussie land - please stay on your left...same rules apply

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I ride with an MP3 player, but find it a bit weird riding and listening with just one earbud.. it tends to distort my aural perception of what's around me when one ear is hearing something significantly different to the other.

Instead I ride with both earbuds, but at a fairly quiet volume. (Like others, I take them off when riding with others -- not just for safety, but because I'm usually having a chat instead of listening to music :P )

I've managed to find some reasonable headphones that don't block out the suroundings on low volume. We've got some military road tracks that don't allow cars around my area though. If I'm training there, just crank up the volume. The tracks are wide so there is room for people to pass (if they are listening to something faster/harder😄 ).

I look for tracks from the local gym spinning class. Nothing from my home collection. Scooter, Prodigy whatever for the sprint intervals and something angry like Ramstein for the hills. The music helps blast any thoughts of work etc. out of my head and concentrate on mashing those gears.

Insomnia (extended mix from '96) from Faithless has to be the best cycling track ever for hills. Especially if you up the tempo for a sprint with the music. Your thoughts?

Here is a list of some tracks that spring to mind

Sprints
Scooter - Move your a$$/Hyper Hyper
Prodigy - No good
ACDC - Thunderstruck
Dune - I can't stop raving
Sash - Encore une Fois
Die Artze - Schei nach Liebe
Snap - Exterminate

Hill climbs
Ramstein - Engel/Du Hast
Quicksilver - Free
Red 5 - I love you, stop
Dr Dre - Keep their heads ringing
Der Wolf - Oh [censored] Frau Schmitt (ideal if you're dying at 50rpm)
Die Prinzen - Du muss ein Schwein sein

Between the Intervals
Macy Gray - Do Something

When I run, I listen to the Rocky4 Sountrack sometimes. Talk about motivational music.

BillM said:

If you listen to music....and ride trails....have the decency to stay to the right and get out of the way......bikes coming from behind are probably trying to get by you while you are jamming to the beat.

I always stay to the right... and My volume is low enought that if someone yells out "passing on the left" I can hear them.. problem is that they never yell it out even when I dont have headphones in.

I've tried excersizing to music, but I can't seem to make it work for me with anything other than snowboarding. I'm a musician, which means that I'm ALWAYS tapping the beat with whatever song is playing. If I'm locked into my pedals that translates into keeping my cadence in synch with the music, which just don't work for me sometimes . . . NOT keeping tempo with the music would seem like a simple thing to do, but it just doesn't work. It's hopeless. I'm destined to a life of musicless cycling.

I've been thinking about an Ipod. Half the time I don't hear a car coming anyway. I have a mirror. I got back into cycling to loose weight and it makes me feel good, younger in a way. I resently turned on a modern rock station after a long hultis and I'm liking what I here. 3 Days Grace/"Animal I Have Become" is my current favorite song. I could go nutz cycling with songs like that to listen to.

backtobiking said:

I've been thinking about an Ipod. Half the time I don't hear a car coming anyway. I have a mirror. I got back into cycling to loose weight and it makes me feel good, younger in a way. I resently turned on a modern rock station after a long hultis and I'm liking what I here. 3 Days Grace/"Animal I Have Become" is my current favorite song. I could go nutz cycling with songs like that to listen to.

if i may make a recomendation- get the "ipod shuffle". it is (literally) the size of a pack of gum. maybe 3 x 3/4 x 1/4 inches. its tiny, holds an unimagineable number of songs...

and never plays the same order.

i hate it when you get to know your play list so well, that you can anticipate what's next.

my $.02

cycling_jedi said:

I always stay to the right... and My volume is low enought that if someone yells out "passing on the left" I can hear them.. problem is that they never yell it out even when I dont have headphones in.

ditto. and when i yell "passing on the left," the person i'm passing invariably veers left to get out of the way whether they have headphones on or not.

interesting, i was thinking of posting this same question as a poll while i was just on my ride today.

as far as mp3 players go, i bought a 1 gb ScanDisk Sansa for $56. it's tough to beat that deal. i'd buy another in a heartbeat.

i put new music on it every month or so. right now, i have on it;
2 i mother earth cds
2 mars volta cds
tool 10,000 days
2 porcupine tree cds
2 o.s.i. cds

atomship47 said:

ditto. and when i yell "passing on the left," the person i'm passing invariably veers left to get out of the way whether they have headphones on or not.

interesting, i was thinking of posting this same question as a poll while i was just on my ride today.

as far as mp3 players go, i bought a 1 gb ScanDisk Sansa for $56. it's tough to beat that deal. i'd buy another in a heartbeat.

i put new music on it every month or so. right now, i have on it;
2 i mother earth cds
2 mars volta cds
tool 10,000 days
2 porcupine tree cds
2 o.s.i. cds

I use a ipod shuffle, perfect size and doesn't get in the way what so ever. hold pleanty of music . I put on very low so the music just stays in the background. I can hear everything just fine on the road. I seem to ride by myself more than anyhing so It really helps. to be honest I would prefer a am/fm tuner so I cna listen to my NPR. . . . . . I'd probably fall asleep on the bike tho.

I also got a 1gig Sansa... I dont like Ipod because apple is so ungodly expensive.

The Sandisk Sansa has a random mode which mine is always set on so the order of the songs is never the same.... You are right I dont like listening to the same order over and over again. Besides when you have so many different artists why would you want to listen to the same one twice in a row.

Another thing I like about the sans, which is about the same size as the ipod shuffle, is that the controls are very simple.... I have it strapped to my arm and I can reach up and change songs or volume without even looking at it.

I have the ipod nano and absolutely love it. Ride with a rather eclectic playlist, with everything from Ode to Joy to Madonna, with lots of classic rock in there too.

I try to keep it low, but often ride very early in the morning, before there is a lot of traffic out on the roads.

I've got a Creative MuVo 1GB. It is great because it is light and doesn't require any additional cables for charger, USB etc. It runs on AAA batteries and lasts for ages.

I've upgraded the headphones to ones with small cords to clip around my eyewear.

I have a SanDisk M230 and an RCA Lyra. Haven't taken it for a ride yet though....