UKC

Normally when riding I like to have my ears and mind free, but for longer rides I want to listen to music. I'd prefer not to use my phone, so does anyone have any suggestions on good music storage devices. Years ago I had an iPod Nano, but I assume things have moved on since then. I seem to recall having to upload music from CD's back then, in the days before Spotify. 

Also, earbuds. As a child I had numerous operations on one ear to help resolve deafness, and as a result, normal earbuds don't stay in place (not that I can hear much from one ear, but I can still distinguish sound and rhythm in it) so ideally something which is more secure. 

Buy a cheap small smartphone that has micro SD card slot and just use that over Bluetooth. If you don't put a sim in then it's just a music player for you but you will still be able to transfer music to it via WiFi if you like.

Personally, I wouldn't do it cycling, but for running I use a Sandisk Clip Sport Plus MP3 player, which is water resistant and has FM radio.

Pair with wired or Bluetooth headphones of your choice - think the bone conducting ones are supposed to be better for cycling, as you still get some road sounds.

As far as keeping them in goes, just put a headband over the top.

Climbing tape works a treat too.

Honestly if you use Spotify as your music streaming service your options are either a) your phone, b) your phone, c) a second phone or d) a very expensive watch with music capability (some of the more expensive Garmins, or I guess an Apple Watch or adjacent smartwatch). Really annoys me that garmin can put music capability on a watch but don't/won't on bike computers.

Bone conduction headphones? At least they would leave your ears open for traffic situational awareness, even if they will still mask by volume.

Another vote for bone conduction headphones, used them for a while on my cycling commute and no loss of situational awareness etc., just used my phone as I tend to stream music and radio with the volume of data available on fairly cost effective tariffs these days.

Also handy for pottering around in and out of the house doing jobs without being antisocial in either the volume of a speaker or in being unable to say hi to neighbours.

I still use an iPod Nano - I bought a couple of second hand ones off ebay in recent years after my first one started to not work so well after about a decade of daily use being in my pocket. I just listen to podcasts though, not music, so am quite happy with one ear bud in. 

When I'm on long bike rides I use my phone for navigation, tracking and photos as well as communication! So I'm happy to have a second widget just for podcasts - it can hold many hundreds of hours of audio, and the batteries last really well at least when listening to podcasts at a relatively low volume. I also bought a plastic case for the first one I ever bought and still use that case! I've dropped it loads of times while riding my bike, and in that case totally failed to break one. I might go backpacking for a few days or bikepacking for a similar time, and not need to charge the iPod at all despite listening to it all day, or perhaps give it 20 minutes connected to my charger to fill it back up again.

I imagine sooner or later my current one will pack up and I fail to find a replacement on ebay for a sensible price, and go over to using my phone for podcasts as well, but until then I'm perfectly happy to carry on the mid-noughties legacy!

Want to avoid using my phone as putting in training rides up to 8 hours, in preparation for my first ultra bike race in 12 weeks, so battery conservation is key. 

https://www.mightyaudio.co.uk/

My wife and I have these. WiFi sync of Spotify and then Bluetooth to wireless earphones.

No wires, no phone.

Nice solution.