Richard Cranium

I know the use of a cell phone is expressly prohibited while riding a bicycle. And I would never ever ever entertain such usage myself.

However, it would be nice if I could have Blue-tooth headset that would allow me to answer a call safely and offer me the opportunity to pull over and talk if necessary.

Currently I miss most calls because by the time I pull over to answer the phone the ringer has quit or the call has gone to v-mail.......

Anybody have their favorite blue tooth head/mic to boast about?

hartphoto 

I have the Jabra STREET2 Bluetooth Stereo Headset and love it. All functions are great with an iP4.

The included headphones aren't all that bad....but I'm also a Head-Fi.org junkie (as they say, sorry about your wallet), and use the Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10 Noise Isolating Earphones along with the Jabra Street 2 and it's an awesome setup, IMHO. Use it almost daily in work/play/etc.

UAYOR (use at your own risk)....and all those other disclaimers....do apply here!

Looigi

By whom?

hartphoto 

The RSA FP who are furiously circling but not typing yet...

lhendrick

Hogwash. They can have my iPhone, "but only if they pry it from my cold dead fingers...."

Richard Cranium

OK - so the jabra control will mimmick a phone's media controls as well as a simple "phone" button for answering? How does the mic work - is it good? is it on the wire?

Oh -yeah _ guess cell usage on bicycles is not unlawful - just a goofy thought. sorry.

hartphoto 

All controls work for me with multiple apps (MOG, Slacker, Music, etc.). RW/FF, vol up/down, Play/Skip, and the answer/end call button. It also has a very nice standby time...about 6 hours in realtime use.

The mic is on the unit itself, not on the headphone cord. This allows you to use any headphones, and still have a mic. It helps to move mic closer to your mouth (like a bluetooth headset would do)

After using for ~3 months....the mic works 'good'. It has noise cancellation built in, so the user on the other end does hear a 'hissy' background IF you are in a windy/noisy environment. Whenever I'm outside (with a wind), callers (usually my wife) report that it's kind of 'hissy' (like white noise). Same thing if I'm driving (in a pickup truck usually, with A/C on blowing at me). Other callers haven't noticed (or said anything) anytime...

Compared to another BT headset I use with my iP4, the Plantronics Voyager Pro+, the Jabra mic is 'good', while the Voyager Pro+ is 'great to awesome'. No one has ever commented on the background noise/hiss from the noise cancellation feature.

One other thing....the Jabra does have a small bass 'hump' that it adds to the music. Not bad at all, just something to be aware of. If I'd not mentioned it, you'd probably not notice it with most headphones. It is just a bit noticeable with my UE TF 10s, versus a direct cable connection to the iP4.

HTH.

McLoki

These work AWESOME They vibrate when you get an incoming call (around your neck) - also work really well to stream music from your phone while it is in your seat bag.

I have been very happy with mine. (I did purchase from Newegg, but they are not an authorized reseller for them. Amazon is though)

Michael

hamster

Most bluetooth headsets are junk in one way or another. 80% are junk because they are earbuds (in other words, forget about sound quality), most of the remaining 20% are still junk for varying reasons.

One bluetooth headset that appears to be less junky than others is Sennheiser MM-400. I had a chance to test the MM-450 version, which was quite good, except for the noise-cancelling feature (main difference between 400 and 450), which did not seem to work very well.

The biggest problem is that I'm not sure whether MM-400 would interfere with the bicycle helmet.

(BTW, the headphones I use at home, which I use as a point of reference to evaluate sound quality, are Sennheiser HD-595.)

LarryCrowne

That's good to know. When I see cell phone drivers or riders I try my best to put them in a ditch. Only selfish people use cell phones on our roads.
People that don't give a darn about anything or anybody.


I try to be nice. I just yell at them"Hey Stupid! Hang up the phone you Idiot!" These things can be handled without making problems.

I hope you find what you are looking for

RitterJD

I use the Plantronics Voyager+ during my commute. Works well enough. The noise cancelling seems to even block quite a bit of the wind noise in the mic.

ks1g

Another vote for the Plantronics Voyager+ series. I approach it from a different perspective - I sometimes carry a VHF/UHF 2-way radio (amateur aka "ham" radio) either to listen during my commute or when providing communications support during an event (century/charity rides). I need to be able to monitor conversations and be able to quickly (and safely!) respond when called or need to report something. After destroying several wired headsets, I purchased a radio with bluetooth support and tried several headsets. The Voyager (I think I have the same model as RJD) has good battery life, fits well on my ear/under helmet, and has some noise cancelling, although I had to add a foam windscreen to deal with wind noise at anything above 12-15 mph.

There are several headsets designed for motorcycles that looked interesting, and there is at least one (very pricy IMO) made for cyclist helmets. I could not get any I tried to work, due to how the radio manufacturer (thank you not, Yaesu-Vertex!) implemented bluetooth in the radio. The Voyager works quite well with my radio and my cell phone, and you can rotate the boom out of the way if you're not using it. It appears to be reasonable resistant to moisture, both from rain and head sweat.

Some of the motorcycle BT systems come with a separate talk/hangup button you could mount on the handlebars near shifters/brake levers, so no one-handed riding required, including the momentary tap of the main button to answer a call.

ItsJustMe

I just bought a Plantronics Voyager Pro HD on positive recommendations; a friend says he has the Pro+ and can talk to people while driving on the interstate in his Miata with the top down and hear and people can hear him just fine.

I plan to mainly use it to listen to podcasts and the like; I probably don't use 10 minutes of talk time a year on my phone.

BTW for absolutely the best noise rejection on the microphone, apparently the brand to look at is Blue Parrot. They make the headsets that are popular with truckers. They have a ridiculous amount of talk time as well. However, they're big, the best one they make has a band that goes over the head to hold it on. Very comfortable in general from what I've heard, though perhaps less so under a helmet.

flipped4bikes

+1 for the Plantronic Voyager Pro. I haven't used it on the bike yet, but check to make sure that your helmet straps don't interfere with the fit.