Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)And i might even do a video review. but for now.
Talking points - Aerodynamics : It was awesome compared to my last lid, an Icon Mainframe. They've done their homework in the windtunnel, virtually no drag. was very suprising when I took er out on the highway for the first time. at around 80mph or so, no push, pull or lift. very neutral, light feeling on the head. slight whistling noise from the vents in a heavy crosswind but completely understandable. other than that, its a very lightweight unit that cuts thru the wind with almost no effort.
Fit: Well, I wear a large, and it fit my head like a glove. about 23.5" around at the eyebrows, right in the range for the large (23.25-23.75") . I could feel it sorta just cupping my skull perfectly, very comfy fit w/ no really hard points. the headphones are built into the shell so they don't interfere w/ the chinstrap or even touch your ears. They have 3 different shell sizes, grouped into xs/s, m/l, and xl/xxl. so being a large, the outer shell seems a bit small but fit-wise, couldn't be better. i'm talking about the distance from your chin to the chinbar. the helmet sits a bit higher on the back of the head as well, vs the Icon i used to wear, but when you're in a full race tuck, looking up, this gives a few more degrees of clearance, so the back of the helmet doesn't contact the top of the jacket. field of view is pretty standard, and a pair of cheap sunglasses fits nicely. the windblock on the chin is removable, and when installed can make a tight squeeze on your face when putting it on, but once you put it on properly it doesn't come off when donning and doffing the helmet.
Ventalation: Works just fine. the first notch is a bit high so its a choice between visor shut or a good 1/2 inch gap which channels the air straight in there. okay maybe not quite a 1/2 inch but its huge. The Icon has a half step position compared to this. Vents work fine, could feel the top of my head getting slightly cool (sweat + wind thru the top of the shell). leaving the shield cracked on those cold mornings avoids the fog up at the lights and once you get moving, everything works fine. New shield and hasn't been abused w/ windex so it is relatively fog free, a bit better than my Icon, but that shield is old and takes a weekly application of anti-fog (its called Magic).
and now for the one everyone's waiting for... Bluetooth functions. Works great. phone call to the wife at 45mph thru downtown San Francisco and she thought i was still in the office. They've definitly accomplished this very well. at 65-70 mph she can hear some noise, but mainly its road noise from the cars around me on the highway. no variance when being buffetted around going over the bridge. so talking is 5 stars. well done. Speakers are built in. fairly good quality tweeters. don't kid yourself, there is no bass response at all, so I'd say midrange and up? music still sounds good. at speeds >50mph the wind noise from riding starts to drown out the speakers tho. although my wife was still intelligible (capable of being understood or comphrehended) at 60mph, the wind/road/highway noise of doing 65mph is about louder than the speakers. if she was shouting or talking louder than it may be better. and I still need to investigate a volume feature on my phone while in a call. (probably can turn it up some).
FM Radio - who listens to fm radio anyways? based on signal strength, it works. when you're in a good coverage area, then it works fine. stereo sound. kinda annoying when you lose reception, but it works, and the feature is easy to get to while riding. same story when at speed.
Streaming Bluetooth audio off my phone's mp3 player - OMFG i think i lost my hearing. sound quality is awesome (duh its digital), and the volume on the phone bumps it up then you still have the volume know on the helmet. it works better than the FM radio just because of the fact that its an MP3 being played. so if you have a song that was recorded kinda soft it'll be kinda soft, etc. love it. and using the voice command function on the phone, easy to switch. "play next track" and it does!
Same thing, its just gonna be loud at speed, but it works great. I think i'm gonna try some earplugs to filter out the wind noise and see if the music will come in good.
Syncd w/ an Iphone 3gs (borrowed my friend's phone) works great. I have a dumbphone. an LG EnV3, by verizon.
Incoming phone calls. piece of cake. the music stops, the helmet rings an incoming call melody, you push the button, it picks up. hang up the phone, and then the music resumes. same for FM, it switches back to the music once the call is done.
Voice command, you have to hold the button down for a 3-4 count. if you didn't hold it long enough it'll play a tone, letting you know that it didn't go down like you hoped. my phone is retarded so when it says "pleas say a command" its super freaking quiet, and i don't hear it at all if the motor is running. something to do w/ the self leveling volume control vs. my phone. the Iphone came in a bit louder but still had some of that crazy computer magic when it came to self leveling volume. it works good tho. you can notice this when you maybe push buttons on the phone and it starts playing the keytones in the helmet when its linked, the first few beeps are quiet then ramp up to desired volume. This also might play into me needing to adjust the bluetooth call volume on the phone while in a call. I played w/ the feature while playing mp3's and it worked, just haven't done it while in a call.
so far I have only one complaint. the charging jack is located on the base of the helmet under the fabric, on the back. so to charge you have to pull back the fabric and lift this tiny rubber dust cover... almost inconvenient. playing audio/fm radio, phone calls, i haven't had to charge the helmet yet, its been like 3 days. I've commuted to work all 3 days and listened to the radio / streamed mp3's for a total of around 3 hours of runtime, and the helmet is still at like 75% charge. So although its hard to get to, i'd expect to charge it maybe on a weekly or biweekly basis. so not too bad. you don't have to plug it in every night.
other than that it looks pretty slick, is light, very aerodynamic (high speed/low drag), and the bluetooth functions better than some would think. its a very nicely refined product vs. the Element Fastrack helmet from last year. (fyi, the speakers on the Element were mounted on the chinstrap so they were kinda annoying and cut into the side of your jaw just below the ear, and there was no OLED status screen)
Pairing the bluetooth with the phone was intuitive and took less than 30 seconds. finding the FM radio and voice command functions took about 10 minutes of learning via the manual and experiementing. *if you hold the knob too long you'll hear a beep and the helmet w/ be in the intercom pairing mode instead of the fm radio mode. you've gone too far!
based on that, pairing helmet to helmet should be fairly seamless, and should work as advertised. I just don't have a second helmet to pair it with. My question for you internet, can you pair this blinc system w/ someone who has a Chatterbox XBi2 Bluetooth unit? i figure bluetooth to bluetooth should be pretty universal.. If i find out i'll let you know. I suppose it would work w/ someone putting the Blinc into Intercom pairing mode, and the Chatterbox user pairing up following his manufacturer's instructions.
The intercom is a full duplex open mic on this helmet. but it works like a phone. once paired w/ a partner helmet, you can be listening to your music and if you wanna speak to the other helmet you manipulate the button to have helmet A call helmet B via bluetooth. the bluetooth 'rings' and then helmet b interrupts the music and 'answers' the call, linking the helmets together. when the conversation is done, you 'hang up'. and while the intercom is operating, it is possible for the paired cell phone to 'ring in' w/ an incoming call. (getting complicated here quick)
Also, I don't have a bluetooth enabled garmin so i couldn't test that out but i'm guessing it should work as advertised in parallel w/ the intercom, mp3 player, and cell phone. so awesome tech in this helmet. well worth the 300$ in terms of functionality, fit, and form.
I give it 2 thumbs up. anyone w/ questions can find me on [...] username 'myblunt'. ride safe!
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