Helmets with speakers (opinions on the dangers of listening to music while cycling)

Been looking for a new helmet recently and came across this:

Really excited by the built in speakers, but I know my GF would kill me if she knew I was listening to my iPod and cycling. (Unless a car gets me first)

What's people's opinions of listening to music while cycling? I have done in the past (there is nothing quite like cycling along Brighton seafront at 4 in the morning, jumping curbs on a BMX while listening to Boards of Canada) but I fear more for my life now I'm a bit older and back in London.

Don't worry about listening to music if you're using that helmet. Your brain will be cooked within 5 miles resulting in seizures.

Seriously don't listen to music if your not comfy doing it. Do listen to music if you are.

hmmmmm.....

I approve of listening to music whilst cycling but then I fully expect that one day I won't reach my destination.

I agree with Tommy on that helmet though, you'll melt in minutes.

Don't worry about listening to music if you're using that helmet. Your brain will be cooked within 5 miles resulting in seizures.

Yeah - it's more of a winter helmet isn't it.

Well I like to be able to hear traffic and my surroundings, but also like tunes, so I have one of these clipped to my bag, doubles as a portable disco - can go loud enough for others to hear, or quiet enough for you to hear and still be able to hear traffic. I love it. £30 from play.com (not including shuffle) also has a built in 15 hour battery.

I approve of listening to music whilst cycling but then I fully expect that one day I won't reach my destination.

It's not the destination but the journey that's important

Well I like to be able to hear traffic and my surroundings, but also like tunes, so I have one of these clipped to my bag, doubles as a portable disco - can go loud enough for others to hear, or quiet enough for you to hear and still be able to hear traffic. I love it. £30 from play.com (not including shuffle) also has a built in 15 hour battery.

Thats really nice Clefty - I may have to get me one of them. Do you know if they work with normal sized iPods?

It's not the destination but the journey that's important

Kudos.

Phobos

I sold my bern baker after snowboarding with it for 1 day, cause it was too hot, even for snowboarding in.

Cycling in that, you must be mad!

I sold my bern baker after snowboarding with it for 1 day, cause it was too hot, even for snowboarding in.

Cycling in that, you must be mad!

So I guess there was no way of removing the inner lining for summer riding... oh well.

So I guess there was no way of removing the inner lining for summer riding... oh well.

Vents.

Thats really nice Clefty - I may have to get me one of them. Do you know if they work with normal sized iPods?

Yes they do, although it doesnt have a dock connector, all you need is a 3.5mm jack lead with a plug on one end and a socket on the other, I tried it on my 80gb the other week and it worked fine, obviously you dont get the built in charging facility you do when you stick a shuffle on it. Its worth buying a shuffle just for it to be honest - another 30quid, I just have riding tunes on it and can easily flick through them, it also survives the rain amazingly well, there was this one downpour where I thought i killed the shuffle but after a day of drying out it was fine! Also if you have a stack you havent just totalled your nice 80gb ipod that cost you an arm and a leg.

The liner can be taken out of the Bern Helmets.

I'd suggest the bern Watts if you want that style, but it has the nicety of vents

Also if you have a stack you havent just totalled your nice 80gb ipod that cost you an arm and a leg.

That is true. Although my old 20gb was surprisingly resilient. Once while bombing it down Trafalgar St, (anyone from Brighton will know its a nice long hill) it bounced out of my pocket and overtook me down the street. Still worked fine, although saying that - it doesn't anymore...

The liner can be taken out of the Bern Helmets.

I'd suggest the bern Watts if you want that style, but it has the nicety of vents

Cheers Motoko

Any idea where to get them in the UK?

just ordered mine, but I'm now in the states.

I got it for $33, so might be worth shipping it over.
http://www.surfsidemailorder.com/p-31143-bern-watts-gloss-white-l-helmet.aspx

A quick google-aro shows this UK based site with resonable prices
http://www.bargainboards.co.uk/ProductList.aspx?SubCat=427&Brand=206

thanks!

I listen to my ipod whilst cycling and the volume is perfect for the music and hearing anything else you need to hear - not a problem. Certainly no worse than listening to music in a car....

Judging by this, wearing a helmet may save you from being killed by mountain bears - handy.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/01/usa.cycling

A 14-year-old girl taking part in an all-night mountain bike race is in a critical condition after a mauling by a grizzly bear in Anchorage, Alaska. "She was cut up and bit pretty good," a police officer, Jean Mills, told the Anchorage Daily News.

The girl was bitten on her head, torso and thigh, and also had a "sucking chest wound", caused by a puncture to the lung cavity, said a state biologist, Rick Sinnott.He said the bear had probably tried to bite her head off. Her cycling helmet was found chewed in nearby woods.

The article doesn't state whether wearing a helmet makes bears overtake more closely.

^^ just seen that. next years giro will say "bear approved" all we have to worry about round is is crazy fisher man who sit on the banks at 4 in the morning watching porn on there portable DVD player and rubbing one out.

I listen to my ipod whilst cycling and the volume is perfect for the music and hearing anything else you need to hear - not a problem. Certainly no worse than listening to music in a car....

if someone hits you and you're in a car, you'll be fine. not true on a bike.

i do listen to my ipod sometimes but it is definately more dangerous. i tend to look over my shoulders a lot more when i am..