This morning's commute and other commuting stories

I have a Sony srs-x11 in my rear Jersey pocket. You don't have to have it so loud it annoys everyone around you. I just prefer it that way.

I saw a courier with some headphones where the earpieces sat in front of the ear rather than inside. That would work also. Didn't catch the brand unfortunately.

I know people who have listened to audio versions of text books while cycling so extra language info should be doable

I've got a pair of Aftershokz Bluez2S bone conduction headphones. In short, they're great.

Music is fine, but doesn't sound incredible. Podcasts sound perfect and still let you hear everything else going on.

I wore them all through summer and sweated into them so much that the volume control stopped working and they stopped charging. A bit of contact cleaner sorted the charging out. I bought mine for £40ish off aliexpress so have no warranty. From what I've read they're pretty good with warranty, so probably worth buying them from somewhere in the UK.

If/when they finally die, I'll definitely buy another pair.

.already getting bored on very dark commute (80K) - wondering about playing some of this popular music" ... so :

a) phone holder on bike music from the phone's speaker (its waterproof)
b) bone conductor headphones (allows background noise)
c) single earpiece headphone (right ear free for cars)
?

Just get open backed headphones. You'll still be able to hear what's around you with sensible listening levels, and the sound quality won't be tinny and awful not all everyone else have to listen to your peculiar musical interests.

I have these:

http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/bluetooth-stereo-headset-mm-100

They are pretty decent quality and can be worn with a helmet.

Ignore the listed price btw, they usually go for half that.