As previously mentioned, I've now had a chance to road and off-road test the above headphones. I have to say that they are a big improvement over both the iPod and Sony alternatives.
As you can see from the picture, they fit around the back of the head, using a light clamping action that holds the earbuds in place. And they do stay in place, even when jumping over off-road obstacles like cycle barriers and stiles. Sound quality is good too - better than the iPod standard headphones in my opinion. I find I need less volume too, which is good as for safety I like to retain some ambient sound rather than blocking out all of the traffic noise.
They're also very light with a rubberised cable that is long enough to accommodate most iPod or media player location preferences (although I prefer to clip my Shuffle to my collar area), but not so long that it flails around and hits you in the face or catches your clothing.
I've also used them in some pretty heavy rain for over an hour on two occasions, which I know from experience would have rendered my iPod headphones temporarily inoperable until they dried out. No problem here for the PMX80's.
Two tiny annoyances. Firstly, that in-ear security comes at a price. Which means that they are a slightly tight fit, clamping on to the side of your head. You get used to this after a while, but initially they are slightly uncomfortable. Secondly, the bit that goes around the back of your head/neck does tend to catch occasionally on the collar of my running jacket. This won't be a problem in the warmer months, but the sound this contact makes is conducted right in to your ears. Not a big deal, but a little strange at first as it sounded like some kind of electrical problem!
Clearly, I'm not a hi-fi expert, so I'm not going to provide detailed feedback on the merits of the sound reproduction that this bit of kit can provide. However, if you need a set of rugged, water resistant headphones that sound good and won't fall out of your ears when you're running, give the PMX80's a go.
This bloke trying to work it all out.
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