How bad can cheap intercoms be?
Discussion
i've gone through absolutely loads of intercoms over the years - can't remember them all - first ever - Oxford "Bike Mike" thing with wires on my 125 with GF on the back, in the 80s. A bit crap.
Autocom Eurocom with very expensive walkie talkies (I forget now) and all the adapter leads for vox. All came to about 800 quid (1996 or so). Utter s
te and very unwieldy. I've got this in the top three things I've wasted money on in my entire life.
Original Scala rider - just massive and stuck on the side of my lid. Not very good.
Not had any for a few years and the latest I had were BlueAnt Interphones (the original "lozenge" shaped ones) and they have been the best yet. Do what they say on the tin up to a certain speed, range limited (though better than expected), bit of a faff if they drop out of range or the phone rings, don't work with satnavs/music. However at least they worked. The new ones are meant to address all these issues.
What pisses me off with all these (up until the BlueAnt) is that they all suffer from the hyper-price-markup that anything motorcycle "lifestyle" related seems to suffer from (eg. motorbike satnavs being the perfect other example).
Autocom Eurocom with very expensive walkie talkies (I forget now) and all the adapter leads for vox. All came to about 800 quid (1996 or so). Utter s
te and very unwieldy. I've got this in the top three things I've wasted money on in my entire life. Original Scala rider - just massive and stuck on the side of my lid. Not very good.
Not had any for a few years and the latest I had were BlueAnt Interphones (the original "lozenge" shaped ones) and they have been the best yet. Do what they say on the tin up to a certain speed, range limited (though better than expected), bit of a faff if they drop out of range or the phone rings, don't work with satnavs/music. However at least they worked. The new ones are meant to address all these issues.
What pisses me off with all these (up until the BlueAnt) is that they all suffer from the hyper-price-markup that anything motorcycle "lifestyle" related seems to suffer from (eg. motorbike satnavs being the perfect other example).
- in fact if I'm already on the move when it starts raining, the screen keeps the water off the satnav altogether.Tomtom survived heavy rain in a plastic bag hidden behind the screen. Did really well. I would have been lost without it, the maps on Tomtom give a very good indication of the bends coming up too.
Headsets on the other hand, not so good!
I bought a set of Interphone F3MCs. They are absolutely rubbish, well they started out being okay but got worse as the trip progressed from sounding like a really bad sound man recording someone throwing furniture down the stairs to the point where it sounded like a cage of canaries being eaten by a cage of lions. Add to that the twin charge cable doesn't work if you push the connectors home fully and if you partly insert them they keep popping back out and the socks fore the microphones dropped off first time out. I glued them back on but one fell of and has been lost.
I tried downloading the software to update them but the program wont install so I email them only to be sent an automated reply saying we can not reply to questions but try watching some Youtube videos or call us in Italy. We had ridden past their place it turns out.
So in short, unless the updates are dam good don't buy the Interphone F£MC. Unless you want to buy mine that is
Headsets on the other hand, not so good!
I bought a set of Interphone F3MCs. They are absolutely rubbish, well they started out being okay but got worse as the trip progressed from sounding like a really bad sound man recording someone throwing furniture down the stairs to the point where it sounded like a cage of canaries being eaten by a cage of lions. Add to that the twin charge cable doesn't work if you push the connectors home fully and if you partly insert them they keep popping back out and the socks fore the microphones dropped off first time out. I glued them back on but one fell of and has been lost.
I tried downloading the software to update them but the program wont install so I email them only to be sent an automated reply saying we can not reply to questions but try watching some Youtube videos or call us in Italy. We had ridden past their place it turns out.
So in short, unless the updates are dam good don't buy the Interphone F£MC. Unless you want to buy mine that is
crossy67 said:
Tomtom survived heavy rain in a plastic bag hidden behind the screen. Did really well. I would have been lost without it, the maps on Tomtom give a very good indication of the bends coming up too.
Headsets on the other hand, not so good!
I bought a set of Interphone F3MCs. They are absolutely rubbish, well they started out being okay but got worse as the trip progressed from sounding like a really bad sound man recording someone throwing furniture down the stairs to the point where it sounded like a cage of canaries being eaten by a cage of lions. Add to that the twin charge cable doesn't work if you push the connectors home fully and if you partly insert them they keep popping back out and the socks fore the microphones dropped off first time out. I glued them back on but one fell of and has been lost.
I tried downloading the software to update them but the program wont install so I email them only to be sent an automated reply saying we can not reply to questions but try watching some Youtube videos or call us in Italy. We had ridden past their place it turns out.
So in short, unless the updates are dam good don't buy the Interphone F£MC. Unless you want to buy mine that is
i'm not the only one then on my second set of f5, sent the first set back under warranty when the wire solder broke in the speakers hence no soundHeadsets on the other hand, not so good!
I bought a set of Interphone F3MCs. They are absolutely rubbish, well they started out being okay but got worse as the trip progressed from sounding like a really bad sound man recording someone throwing furniture down the stairs to the point where it sounded like a cage of canaries being eaten by a cage of lions. Add to that the twin charge cable doesn't work if you push the connectors home fully and if you partly insert them they keep popping back out and the socks fore the microphones dropped off first time out. I glued them back on but one fell of and has been lost.
I tried downloading the software to update them but the program wont install so I email them only to be sent an automated reply saying we can not reply to questions but try watching some Youtube videos or call us in Italy. We had ridden past their place it turns out.
So in short, unless the updates are dam good don't buy the Interphone F£MC. Unless you want to buy mine that is
crossy67 said:
Thanks a lot for all your in put chaps. I have just ordered the Interphone F3MC for £160 delivered to France. \We went into Daffy Motot today and their cheapest set was 260€ for a Scala Rider. Bit over what I wanted to pay to be moaned at lol.
Just got to wait for it to arrive now. Ooooh excited.
How are you getting on with the F3MC? Any good?Just got to wait for it to arrive now. Ooooh excited.
I bought 3 sets of the Sena SMH10R for myself and my friends to use when offroading. The reason I bought this was because it was sealed against the fine dust we get (in Cambodia) and because the profile is very low so if we have an off when off roading it is less likely to get damaged.
Having used it extensively (for 10 months now) it has worked flawlessly and perfectly. The voice is clear as day, phone calls are great, and I use it to listen to my music on my daily commute.
The most unanticipated thing is how it has changed riding for us. Instead of being a semi solitary affair punctuated by hand signals and the occasional rest stop, it has become a social thing, with ongoing commentary and jokes. It also means that the person with the GPS (me) doesn't always have to be in front, and we can warn each other of hazards (watch out for the cows, did I just run over a dog?, etc)
Battery life is quoted at 7 hours and we have used them longer than this and they were ok. Very discrete so you hardly notice they are on the helmet, although I wouldn't want to be swapping it between helmets. range on a straight open road is good - probably 0.5-1km but if you go round a corner and are blocked it drops off quickly.
Best of all I paid $160 for each set in 2014 from Revzilla as I was visiting NY and had them delivered to the hotel. I am assuming the rest of the Sena products are just as good as the technology is pretty similar. Overall highly recommended
Having used it extensively (for 10 months now) it has worked flawlessly and perfectly. The voice is clear as day, phone calls are great, and I use it to listen to my music on my daily commute.
The most unanticipated thing is how it has changed riding for us. Instead of being a semi solitary affair punctuated by hand signals and the occasional rest stop, it has become a social thing, with ongoing commentary and jokes. It also means that the person with the GPS (me) doesn't always have to be in front, and we can warn each other of hazards (watch out for the cows, did I just run over a dog?, etc)
Battery life is quoted at 7 hours and we have used them longer than this and they were ok. Very discrete so you hardly notice they are on the helmet, although I wouldn't want to be swapping it between helmets. range on a straight open road is good - probably 0.5-1km but if you go round a corner and are blocked it drops off quickly.
Best of all I paid $160 for each set in 2014 from Revzilla as I was visiting NY and had them delivered to the hotel. I am assuming the rest of the Sena products are just as good as the technology is pretty similar. Overall highly recommended
I had my eye on the all-singing-dancing Sena 20S, but even the state of the art systems have had their teething troubles, plus UK prices are just a rip off.
Found out that J&S did a cheap O-Com branded system for a fraction of the price (£90). When I did a search for reviews I found it was available direct from the Orient for just £27, including postage! Impeccable service from the dealer, and it all works well in my Shoei helmet. I'll report back on the durability after a full season, but it's certainly well built and great value.
Found out that J&S did a cheap O-Com branded system for a fraction of the price (£90). When I did a search for reviews I found it was available direct from the Orient for just £27, including postage! Impeccable service from the dealer, and it all works well in my Shoei helmet. I'll report back on the durability after a full season, but it's certainly well built and great value.
ccr32 said:
How apt - i'd just popped into Maplins on my lunch as I remember seeing some cheapo ones in there, which I thought could do the job for an upcoming trip.
How bad could they be for £17.99?
(judging by the quality of other products they have in there, TERRIBLE)
Possibly slightly worse than this...How bad could they be for £17.99?
(judging by the quality of other products they have in there, TERRIBLE)
Jonjo91 said:
I've been using a 30 quid headset for over a month now and it's great. Mate has one too, rider-rider comms is fine until about 80mph but then my helmet isn't the quietest.
Great for music, phone calls, sat nav etc.
Ebay link
I have this one too, and for the price it ain't bad. People can hear me up to about 60mph (in a noisy Aari helmet) and music below the same speed is loud enough with earplugs in. Does the job pretty well. I may upgrade to something better at a alater date but this will do for now.Great for music, phone calls, sat nav etc.
Ebay link
We got some of these a year or so ago.... Look very similar to the eBay ones, but you get a pair.
They seem absolutely fine to us!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/bike-intercom-rider-pillio...
They seem absolutely fine to us!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/bike-intercom-rider-pillio...
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