Interbike communication systems

[Lao Jia Hou]

That charger has a different plug than the one on your unit and the Cardo. Which brings up another question...is the MP3 input jack and headphones in stereo? You would need to test this by finding some trippy music with left and right audio channel effects and trying it out. My Cardo unit is not, which I don't care about as I never listen to music while riding.

Cheers!
ChinaV

You're right! Wow - that is strange. Everything else in the package is identical (except the cover of the User Manual). I wonder why a USB power cord would have a 3 circuit pin?

Yes, the MP3 plays in stereo through the BT unit (using the included cable that attaches your player to the rear of the mounting bracket on the helmet).

[humanbeing]

guys in motorfans.com.cn recommend using this:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=10244389190

[Fred]

I agree with the permanent glue pad being very robust, but I use the flange type mounting on my Shoei Multitec and it's very well mounted. It's never moved even slightly and you would have to bang the helmet pretty hard to get it dislodge. Euphonius, strange that yours can't be tightened as mine can

Cheers!
ChinaV

Just to chime in with a quick remark : I glued the Cardo system on both my Bell Helmet and my gf's helmet. On mine the mount came loose after 2-3 months, it had unglued (if that's a word...) ! I just stuck it back, pressing on it for some minutes, and now it has been ok for 2 weeks, but I'm not really confident it will hold for a long time... Maybe related to the wet weather in Shanghai ?

Did someone experience the same problem ?

[Lao Jia Hou]

Hi Fred - read your post & them went to check my glued mount - mine seems fine, but you've given me something to worry about. It would be a huge bummer if that thing flew off while riding. I doubt it would survive being bounced around the tarmac.

[Fred]

Lao Jia Hou, I need to precise : when it came off, I was pulling the microphone from under my full face helmet so that I could remove the helmet. It's still not supposed to come off so easily after being glued, especially considering I'm always very gentle when bending the microphone to put it under the helmet (near my mouth) or removing it from there, but at least it didn't fall off while riding !

When it unglued, I checked the part still on the helmet, and it was still sticky enough to decide to stick it again. I'm now even more gentle when bending the mike, keeping 1 finger on the base of the system to be sure it doesn't come off, but I don't think I could lose it while riding, except of course if I crash on it ! ;-))

[felix]

If the plate unglued itself while riding i reckon the cables that connect the two ear pieces to the unit would keep it hanging from the helmet, at least long enough for you to stop and deal with it!

[Lao Jia Hou]

If the plate unglued itself while riding i reckon the cables that connect the two ear pieces to the unit would keep it hanging from the helmet, at least long enough for you to stop and deal with it!

Good point - one less thing to worry about ... kinda.

[felix]

Time to give something back to the community.

I finally had the chance to properly test this bluetooth intercom system on a one week ride two-up with my Panda. I bought a pair with 500m range for just under 900 yuan.




The good:
They work.
They both easily installed on our helmets using the screw clamp, no need to glue anything on.

The bad:
The real range is about 20m, even with clear sight between the units. I don't know if i got some bad ones, but communication breaks down very fast at small distances.
Lots of noise in my ears, especially annoying at high speeds. The mic from the other helmet picks up everything and blasts it into my ears, with a slight delay. That means when me and the panda are sitting on the bike and someone is talking to me, i can hear them twice and can't understand what they are saying.
Can't hear each other at high speed (70kph and up)
Battery doesn't last a full day of riding, get about 7 - 8 hours before they die.


There's more bad than good and frankly i don't know if they are worth the money, but here's the thing; it was an absolute pleasure to have them anyway. For the first time i was able to talk to my girlfriend whilst riding and it was just really nice! Even with all the wind noise and other annoyances, without them i would have missed such gems as: (i don't censor my girlfriend, read at your own risk)
'that tree looks like massive vagina'
'those rocks are such dicks, they're like "i'm a big fucking rock and i'm just gonna be here and nobody gonna move me" '
'dragon flies can suck my ass'

Honestly i never want to ride with panda again without hearing what she has to say. For that reason alone i'm happy i bought the intercom.

By the way, there were questions earlier in the thread about charging these things via USB. It can be done. I bought two of these on taobao and used them every night to charge the units off my laptop. Same connection, same output, works just fine and saves lots of space!

[euphonius]

...There's more bad than good and frankly i don't know if they are worth the money, but here's the thing; it was an absolute pleasure to have them anyway. For the first time i was able to talk to my girlfriend whilst riding and it was just really nice! Even with all the wind noise and other annoyances, without them i would have missed such gems as: (i don't censor my girlfriend, read at your own risk)
'that tree looks like massive vagina'
'those rocks are such dicks, they're like "i'm a big fucking rock and i'm just gonna be here and nobody gonna move me" '
'dragon flies can suck my ass'

Honestly i never want to ride with panda again without hearing what she has to say. For that reason alone i'm happy i bought the intercom.
...

Great review, Felix.

I can guess where the panda learned her English. Say, you sure those aren't just your own comments coming back after a particularly long bluetooth delay?

I'll say again, that model you've pictured is a dead ringer copy of the Cardo system I used with ryanjpyle prior to his long ride brotherly ride, so identical in fact that I figured the Cardo is made in China and these are coming from the same factory. But the performance is very different. The Cardos have almost no wind sound, and provide very clear connections up to several hundred meters, even without line of sight. During periods when we were not talking, but had the units on, they were silent, apart from the standard noise inside the helmet, of course. So I was often startled when Ryan's voice would suddenly appear as if from nowhere.

I'm hoping you got a bad set, as I've been wanting to get a pair myself. Is there any chance of warranty service?

Has anyone else tried this Taobao set?

cheers!

[Lao Jia Hou]

Felix - sorry to hear about your experience.

I have the same set and have found them to be reasonably quiet. I tuck the mic under the chin curtain in my full face helmet with the flat part of the mic pointed to my mouth, as does my sweety. When she wears an open faced helmet (with a face shield), I get a lot of wind noise from her set. When she wears a full face, the wind noise is minimal.

Distance? Never really measured it, although we've been separated at different intersections (whatever the distance would be between two major intersections) and the units have worked.

Duration? Again, never measured it, as I don't really use them for more than a few hours at a time.

Frankly, though, you get what you pay for. After owning them for a few months, I find that I rarely use them because most of my riding partners do not have an intercom system.

One annoyance that I haven't quite figured out is the auto-telephone-answer. If I am using bluetooth to listen to tunes (from my Nokia phone) on long stretches, and my phone rings, it automatically answers it. I wish it wouldn't do that - too many cold calls from people trying to sell something. Because I usually have the mic positioned outside the helmet when I am not using it as an intercom, whomever calls undoubtedly gets a blast of wind until I manage to tuck the mic by my mouth.