Odd Audio - Speakers for Biking, Underwater MP3 for Swimming

[MrHat]

Well.

That was a pretty informative title.  I know we have some active outdoorsy people here and I have some friends that are really getting into doing stuff outdoors.  Biking for more than 15-20 miles bores the shit out of me, and I want to take up swimming this summer, maybe an hour every other day.  But other than counting laps...well you get the picture.

So basically, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with:

1) some sort of outdoor speakers for rigging to a cycle/camelback/helmet that would put out decent enough sound to hear what's being played (audio book for instance) that can be used for cycling

2) some sort of underwater MP3 headphone system that can be used for swimming in a pool

I've been told in no uncertain terms that earphones + biking = bad news.

Also, I'd like to note that I would like to listen to music/audio books in spite of the incredible pain and exhaution I feel going even 10 miles on a bike right now and swimming for more than 15 mins.  I'm trying to be forward thinking!

[K9]

I wasn't even aware that underwater headphones were an option; then google proves me wrong.

Do you even get good sound quality with those, and how does it affect pressure/balance and the like? I'm intrigued.

[MrHat]

I wasn't even aware that underwater headphones were an option; then google proves me wrong.

Do you even get good sound quality with those, and how does it affect pressure/balance and the like? I'm intrigued.

First time I've seen that.  When I went searching a couple months ago, I found some bone conducting headphones that coupled with a samsung mp3 underwater player IIRC.

[Merusk]

Oh nifty, someone finally came out with waterproof ipod stuff.  The headphones they've had for years, if you remember the "walkman sport" at all.  Swimming with a walkman was about fucking impossible, however.  With an iPod it'd be cake, so long as it's strapped in the small of your back.

But then I also think it's silly.  I'd miss the sloshing of water in my ears while I swam.

Here's some bike speakers for you.  I imagine you could find comments on how good they work just googling the model number around.

[Tebonas]

Why not in-ear headphones on the bike? I do all my podcast hearing that way, just jank on one cable once police gets nearby and you can argue you still can hear the
traffic. Better than with speakers anyway.

[Merusk]

Why not in-ear headphones on the bike? I do all my podcast hearing that way, just jank on one cable once police gets nearby and you can argue you still can hear the
traffic. Better than with speakers anyway.

It's more about hearing the traffic than the police, I'd imagine.  Lane discipline is unheard of over here (hell the only reason I even heard of it is a special on the Autobahn) and American drivers aren't exactly attentive to anything smaller than a car.  Fuck, they aren't exactly attentive to SEMI-sized objects sometimes. It's one of the reasons I won't just buy a scooter so I don't have to worry so much about gas prices and cut the family back to one car.