Cell phones: Noise isolating headset for music and calling?

Noise isolation and bike riding? Bad combo.

I appreciate how wonderful and even vital having noise isolating headphones can be in today's urban environment, but wearing them while bike riding? Please re-think this notion, ESPECIALLY if you're riding in the inner city. You need to be twice as aware of your surroundings as any pedestrian, given you'll either be traveling faster than pedestrians on the sidewalk, or slower than the much larger cars in the street. You may pose only a minor hazard on the sidewalk, but you could be in MAJOR danger in the street unless you have your full wits about you, including unrestricted hearing.

That said, I'm seriously loving my V-Moda Vibe II's. They can be had for under $100 discounted on-line, the sound is excellent, the noise isolation superb and they do have a mic. It's designed with the iPhone in mind, so the mic's button works to control phone answering and some music playback; no idea if it works with any other phones. In fact, since I've yet to get an iPhone, I can't tell you how good it is as a phone headset, but I CAN say that it works BEAUTIFULLY for music. It *does* emphasize the bass, but that's actually the best part, 'cause most other headphones I've had don't give decent bass, but not at the expense of clarity. It is corded and uses a standard 3.5mm connector. Check the CNET review: the lovely and gracious Jasmine France rated it quite highly.