iPod Advice for biking

[Moyank24]

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I have a road bike and am interested in getting some type of speaker or attachment for my iPod.

Anyone have any suggestions on what might be the best (and loudest). The guys at my bike shop said Apple made something that attaches to the bike but I can't find anything about it.

 

[goldndelicious1]

my advice is stick with headphones.
i have a small set of external speakers that i tried to attach to my bike (lots of rubberbands looped around the handlebars). it was pretty secure and nothing bad happened, but whenever i went over bumps, i would instinctively grab my ipod to make sure it didn't fall out. ultimately, it was a big distraction, and i don't think it would be worth risking your ipod tumbling to its death on concrete.

 

[spice weasel]

Are you talking about bicycles or motorcycles?

Either way I would avoid using headphones. You need all your senses when operating on the road, and headphones can be too distracting.

I have a friend who liked to listen to her iPod in the car with headphones rather than being bothered burning mix CDs. One day she was driving along, bopping to the music, when an ambulance with its siren and lights flashing suddenly appeared behind her and then passed her. She was subsequently stopped by the police for failure to yield to an emergency vehicle. Fortunately she quickly yanked the earbuds out of her ears before the cop noticed or she probably would have gotten a ticket for that too.

 

[Cartaphilus]

I use a Motorola S9-HD Bluetooth headset, and it works great with my iPhone in my jersey back pocket when riding. I'm not comfortable listening when I'm in a high-traffic area, but when riding a bike lane, or on country roads with low traffic, the system is fantastic. I also like it that if I get a phone call while riding I can answer it simply by pressing a single button, and when the call is over, the system automatically picks up the music again. On long rides I often find it more interesting to listen to a podcast than to just music.

With the S9 there is just the right balance between a tight enough fit to block out the wind noise and enough slack to allow me to hear approaching cars.

And if your iPod doesn't have Bluetooth built in, the S9 comes with a dongle that fits into the charging slot, so you can use a Bluetooth headset.

 

[sparks9]

Strap a boombox under your saddle.