smasha

A few years ago I worked out on paper that a decent party-bike sound-system would run $200-300. Since then, Bluetooth speakers have been a game changer. For less than $200 I can drop a bluetooth speaker in a water-bottle cage and have a party on two wheels.

So, what are your recommendations? The UE BOOM 2 was recently recommended, and seems good. Anything out there that's better?

Fangowolf

I ride with a scosche boom bottle H20. The price is all the way down to $35. I've put mine through hell and its still ticking.

DrIsotope

Check out the Boombot REX and Boombot Pro. They don't go in a water bottle, but you can mount them most anywhere you'd like, and the sound is significantly better than any other on-bike speaker I've heard. Oh, and you can daisy-chain two of them together if you really want to blast.

smasha

I just got the Boom-2, and out of the box I'm pretty impressed with it.

Divtos

+1 on the UE Boom 2. Its not the clearest sound but 90% of the time that doesn't matter on the bike. There a guy that sells a bag mount for it and others like it on Amazon. I prefer it to losing a bottle cage and having the music blasting more toward my rear end than my ears.

dmhaero

+1for the H2O. Tough and has a great battery

rekmeyata

Just prop this bad boy up on your shoulder and ride in style with the music pounding and not some weak arse wimpy bottle speaker piece of crap, with the below unit you can even throw a party at the park when you arrive.

noglider 

Most speakers get ratings of "good sound!" and "great bass!" but it's hard to know what I'll like. I got a bluetooth speaker which had good reviews on amazon. The comments were along the lines of, "I can't believe how much sound comes out of this little thing." Well, emphasize the little. Maybe it's louder than you expect, but it's shrill and painful to listen to. Maybe the above-recommended speakers would satisfy me, but I wonder how high I have to go before that happens. Maybe I should go on weight, not reviews. The one I don't like weighs about four or six ounces. How much do the speakers you like weigh? (I'm asking anyone here, no one in particular.)

rekmeyata

The ones I have and like very much weigh 75 pounds each. I've tried smaller speakers over the years and those smaller speakers can't even be allowed in a race with a field of 33 other speakers because they're that bad and can't make the cut!

But alas the question is small speakers, and I agree small speakers are painfully bad to listen to, thus you would be far better served with high quality earbuds like Bowers and Wilkins C5 Series 2; or for something a little less money in the mid level arena the JBL Reflect Mini BT; or for a lot less money in the low end arena but not bad sound for being so inexpensive and for being an earbud is the RHA S500I.

However after saying all of that personally I would NEVER wear any type of earplug or headphone while riding a bike, I think it's unsafe because you end up blocking a certain percentage of the outside world which could lead to an accident because it prevented you from hearing potential danger even if you think you can outsmart the problem by either turning down the volume so low you might as well have it off, or just use one earplug and thus keeping the other ear open, either way you still obstruct important sounds that you could have heard earlier and taken evasive action sooner. In addition to that, again personally, I cannot enjoy good quality music listening to it through headphones or earbuds because part of sound is also about feeling it and headphones deprive you of that sensation, which is another reason why I'm not a fan of small speakers.

SMartin

I put my JBL BT speaker in my water bottle cage between my legs within reaching distance and use my smartphone to play the music. My smartwatch controls the phone so I can keep the phone in my trunk bag if I want to but I also use a couple bike apps so, I have it mounted on my accessory mount

smasha

According to specs, the Boom-2 weighs in at 548g or 1.2lbs - Or about half the weight of a 1l/1qt water-bottle.

In my subjective opinion, it sounds a bit better than a low-end car stereo, but on a commuter bike, that's not bad.

Maybe someday Polk or EAW will make all-weather, self-contained, bike-mountable speakers... I want to also say Bose, but from the comparisons I've found, the Boom-2 beats out anything comparable from Bose.

noglider 

@smasha, that sounds like I would like it. It's hard to describe what my standards are. I am decidedly NOT an audiophile. I'm truly content with a lot of second rate stuff and could never justify spending the money on anything with the Bose or a similar name on it.

smasha

Not sure if this helps, but of the types of music I've played on it, the only thing (so far) that I was disappointed with the sound of was My Bloody Valentine's "Loveless" album... And that may just be a lack of stereo separation.

For everything else I've played through it (metal, EDM, rock, bossa nova, shoe-gaze...) I'm not blown away (like, say, walking into a room with well-placed Polk speakers), but considering the size and weight, I'm consistently impressed.

topslop1

Give us the business with a nice lil youtube video of that sucker in action? Would like to hear even if it is through the ole internets.. at least I could potentially get an idea from it?

smasha

Or better, stop by you local electronics big-box store and look for the UE display. If they have them here in NZ, I'm sure they have them there in the US.

Without tremendous effort, and probably even with tremendous effort, a video demonstration of speakers can only make good speakers sound bad, and bad speakers sound worse.

rekmeyata

I can't wait for a speaker and audio system we can mount on a bike, that will be a day made in heaven, then to make heaven a bit better while riding give us a satellite TV system to watch with surround sound to make the experience feel like we never left home, now that would be the way to ride a bike, you could watch your favorite movie, or tune into your favorite sports so that way you don't have to forgo a ride to catch a game. Yippee, I can't wait.

topslop1

Hey, tunes are nice when you work out sometimes bruv. Would I bring tunes for a nice long weekend ride, probably not. But for a quick hour long burner during the week, it's motivational.

smasha

You mean, like, a stationary bike in front of an entertainment system...?

rekmeyata

Sort of like that but instead you can be riding your bike out in nature while watching a miniature version of your home entertainment center thus you can completely ignore nature and people trying to either warn you about something or trying to hit you. Kind of like what people do at home, they got their TV on but are playing computer games on a laptop.

MrWasabi

I'm looking at the UE Boom 2 as well. Who makes the better, stronger cages that fit it well? I'm also looking at the Soundbot SB525. Anyone using it? Amazon has it for $35 shipped.
https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-Hand...=ADMFJEYBD7NHZ

01 CAt Man Do

Thank you. I thought I was going to be the only nay-sayer. As much as I love my own tunes I would never consider listening to my music while riding my bike down the road ( or paved bike path ) because of the very reasons you already stated.

On a bike, you're too vulnerable. Listening to the ambient sounds going on around you is paramount to protecting your a** when you're riding a bike. If you have music blasting away you are going to be sound deaf to the things around you that just might kill you or possibly cause you to hurt someone else. Heck, I wouldn't want music playing on a mountain bike ride either because to me mountain biking is not just about the ride but about being in a special environment where I can enjoy nature ( including the sounds of nature ). Besides, I can listen to music almost any time I want. The time I get to ride my bike is so special to me that if I included music to my rides...well, it wouldn't make it so special anymore. This kind of reminds me of all the people I see in cars riding around with video ( movies ) going. Whenever I see this I just think to myself, "What!, you can't watch enough T.V. when you're home that you have to watch it while driving down the road!

I love music and video but I'm not so addicted to it that I have to watch or listen to it constantly. Sometimes silence is golden. Sadly the person hooked on media entertainment isn't going to know that.

DrIsotope

Too all of the anti-music nannies, while I understand the sentiment, none of us music listeners asked for your concern. I ride solo 80% of the time, and the music is therefore on 80% of the time I ride. It can indeed be done responsibly. Even with my Boombot at the highest possible volume (and my normal riding volume is 3/10,) I can still hear everything around me. At least 90% of the bikes I see out on the road have no taillight or reflectors of any kind. I just shake my head. I'm not going to nanny them. We all take the same risks every time we roll onto the street. I can absolutely guarantee that any incident I'm involved in on the road (knock wood) will have absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm listening to Pandora.

noglider 

I haven't tried that, but I might. If I do, it won't be soon. Please report on what you end up with and how much you like it. I appreciate the recommendations for the more expensive units, but I hope I'll be able to spend less and still be satisfied. I don't know if that's possible.

MrWasabi

Yeah, I agree, I don't want to spend too much on this. I'll post my feedback if I get one. There are some trails around here where I'll be basically on my own, no cars, many other bikers, etc. and can listen to some music while still being alert enough of my surroundings. I wouldn't do headphones as I do like to hear what's going on.

For those using a speaker that's held in a cage, are you having better success with the aluminum cages? Splitting hairs here but if I buy another cage for this purpose (90% of the time), I want something durable, that holds it well.

Thanks for any input.

noglider 

I've used lots of bottle cages, and there isn't much difference in reliability and durability between the aluminum and steel cages. Just be willing to spend at least $6. I went lower as an experiment, and that didn't work out well.