Who's using an Intercom System?
 

Who is using an intercom system and if you are, what should we look for in purchasing one? We seem to have communication problems on windy days or in high traffic areas. I'm thinking a intercom system might be the answer.

We use the tandem-com and really like it. It does struggle under high airspeeds (42+), but for $140 we're happy.

We use something called a "scala cardo" which is aimed at motorcycle, but works fine adapted for bicycle helmets. It is bluetooth technology and pretty idiot proof I'd guess, though sometimes seems to have issues "pairing up" they are always resolved quickly, sometimes without any intervention on our part.

Was a little pricey I think around the £130 mark. Seems to give very good battery life, small and light and survived a few really wet rides, so no issues with weatherproofing either.

Something I might look for in future though is ability to play music or radio through the system without wires (there is a socket for a mini jack, but I believe that will playback only through the one headset). Then again that is a whole new kettle of fish and stoker will likely want me totally listening to the road, traffic, and her sweet self!

Have you checked out the Bluetooth-Intercom thread on this forum, good info. We still need one and are sorta waiting on something better. I wear aids and have no trouble hearing, but my wife in the stoker position, never can hear me in those traffic conditions
R&J

We bought a very inexpensive (<$20) intercom system marketed to motorcyclists on Amazon ... and have actually been quite happy with it. The price has gone up and down but is $18.99 right now. Search for "GSI Super Quality Waterproof, Rider to Rider/Passenger 2 Way Radio, Intercom System." The battery life has been great, we have been able to adjust the volume to hear each other but minimize wind noise. The reviews aren't very positive, but we thought for $20 it has been well worth it.

sounds a great inexpensive solution, but for us wireless was a must, so had to spend more it seems :(

Wireless would be nice, but the inexpensive wired unit might be the way to go to see if it something we would use before investing in a wireless system. I can definitely see forgetting to unplug when dismounting and getting the thing ripped off my head. LOL

We looked at the wireless units but the short battery life was a deal breaker for us. We ride brevets, starting distance of 200k, and are slow enough that we don't want to spend extra time at controls changing batteries.

It's my job as stoker to unplug from the unit as we are slowing to dismount. The captain keeps the small unit in his rear jersey pocket. Yes, I have forgotten once or twice. It's also easy to get the wires wrapped around a seat post or handlebar. And you need to use caution not to speak loudly to a fellow cyclists in the pace line while speaking directly into the microphone (ouch!)

I'd suggest anyone considering an intercom to buy it when it's priced under $20 to see if they like it before paying more. We haven't tried using it to listen to music or audio books (and I think it would even allow us to have a shared phone call on my iPhone). We use it just to communicate with each other. The earbud / mic arrangement is pretty inconspicuous - some people haven't noticed we are using it.

I'd be interested in hearing other people's experience with it.

We've got a wireless Tandem-Com that we use occasionally. When we use it, I love it. Makes the stoker much more chatty because you can hear so much better. We only use it when we ride alone, so that seems to limit it's use for us quite a bit. Trying talk to other cyclists get's kinda loud for the other person. Another factor is the speed that the rechargeable batteries drain. I'm guessing we can only get about 4 hours out of them.

We have ours set just loud enough for vocal clarity - if either of us should yell, it's not so loud that it hurts.

My stokers are trained to dismount, unplug, then tell me I'm free to move about the country. ;)

Yes; see: http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...iew?highlight=

I bought the GSI Super Quality Waterproof, Rider to Rider/Passenger 2 Way Radio, Intercom System from Amazon, the the weather finally turned cold enough here to put the bikes up for the winter. We will have to wait until Spring to try them out.

Well we finally were able to try the intercom and loved using it. I did have to McGiever something to use them with our bicycle helmets, but it worked perfect! Saturdays ride was our first ride of the season and it had us out on a windy day. We really had a hard time communicating, that's when the wife reminded me that we bought the intercom. I don't think we will ever ride without it!

We have a Simultalk 24G wireless (1st gen. digital?) and have used it for 4-5 yrs. We used to use it on both our singles as well as the tandem. They're pretty nice in windy conditions and they allow you private conversations when riding in groups. The only time we use them now is on longer-, charity-, and tandem rallys these days. Intercomms are great for directional calls from my stoker-navigator-wife. The only real drawbacks are battery life (6-7 hrs steady-on), forgetting to cover the mike when talking real loud/yelling to other cyclists, and outside feedback (powerlines and the like). Corded is certainly a cheaper route and may have fewer issues than we have, but you have to remember to unplug. BTW, if you use our particular system riding single bikes, the line-of-sight range is about .3 miles. I'd expect similar performance for the other wireless set ups.

Noticed that cardo has a scala system out for bikes now. See http://www.cardosystems.com/us/cardo-bk. No experience with it and found it via slowtwitch.com pictures of Sea Otter. I have the Blueant F4 but it may need work to fit some helmets.

We never run out of battery power, never forget to unplug . . .
Seriously,we do not use any communication device; we just talk and if traffic gets heavy/noisy, we just talk louder!

One nice thing about this forum is the different types of riders that post. I just finished reading a thread about shaving weight off the bike and now one about carrying extra electronics and batteries used to talk. It's all good.

It's funny, but sometimes we have a hard time hearing each other in our quiet living room! LOL

After trying the intercom for a while, we find ourselves talking to each other more on rides. We don't have to shout or repeat ourselves anymore. We just talk normal and can hear each other very well. I can even hear her breathing heavy and times, so I know she's working back there (or she could be faking it). At this point, I think we would miss it if we had to ride without it.

How true!
R&J

We've been trying different intercom systems: the new Cardo BK-1 Duo at $480, the Tandem-Com at $158 and the GSI Super Quality Waterproof, Rider to Rider/Passenger 2 Way Radio at $33.

A little background. We like to listen to music or the radio as background when my wife and I ride. We often end up chatting about whatever we are listening to. We have a battery operated speaker we can plug an ipod or radio into which is mounted on the stokers handlebar. So the intercom system we are looking for is one that would allow an MP3 or radio to plug into and play while allowing us to talk at the same time.

The Cardo BK-1
The BK-1 is a bluetooth based wireless system. No wires! You can pair your bluetooth enabled phone which allows you to play music and receive calls.
What we liked:

• Very high quality in terms of build
• Install into the bike helmets is excellent
• System worked well in the wind
• This is a well engineered system which promises to have software definable features that the user can set on a computer via USB

What we did not like:

• The price
• The intercom engagement - the intercom is not always on - it turns on by speaking or pushing a button. It always takes a second or two to engage so you can’t just start talking or your partner won’t hear the first part of your sentence. This is annoying. Sometime you nearly have to yell to get the intercom to turn on.
• Radio / Music turns totally muted instead of faded into the background when the intercom turns on
• Unfortunately both riders can not listen to the same source of music / radio at the same time
• The intercom stays on for 30 seconds after the final word is detected. This is not software programmable (yet). 5 seconds would have been much better.

Tandem-Com
This is a wired system which allows you to plug in an audio source via a wire. It has a headset with one earphone and microphone attached to a formed wire which is intended to fit around your head.
What we liked:

• The intercom is always on
• The music source plays in the background
• There is one music source for both riders

What we did not like:

• the price of $158 compared to the GSI system’s $33. Because the GSI is stereo, you would think the Tandem-com would cost less.
• the headsets are very uncomfortable
• the system is mono not stereo
• Audio quality – this is not a highly engineered system. It’s a couple of reostat switches and a couple of ampifiers. The box itself is probably manufactured for $5.
• we did not test this system on a ride as we found the headsets to be to uncomfortable / awkward
• Shipping and handling is $18. It cost me $3 from USPS to send it back.
• There is a 15% restocking fee if you return it.

GSI Super Quality Waterproof, Rider to Rider/Passenger 2 Way Radio:
This is a wired intercom system. The electronic box for this system looks almost identical to that of the Tandem-com box. The system differs in three important ways: 1) it is stereo, not mono 2) the earpieces and mic are intended to be attached to a motorcycle helmet via velcro and 3) the price - at $33 from Amazon it is a bargain
What we like:
* The price
* The intercom is always on
* The music source plays in the background
* There is one music source for both riders
* The system is stereo - two earpieces
What could be improved:

• you have to figure out your own method for attaching the earphones and mic to the helmet. It took me about an hour using a couple of coat hangers and some zip ties.
• The wires – The intercom box is mounted under the captain’s seat to the stoker’s handlebar. I’ve bought and strung a headphone wire extension from the intercom box at the stoker’s handle bar back along the top tube to the stoker’s seat. We’ll play around with this to find the best location. But every time you hop on or off the bike you have to plug into the system.
• Wind noise – with no noise cancellation, you start to hear wind noise at 30 MPH but it is tolerable and better than without the system. The well engineered, 15x the price BK-1 system was better here.

The winner (for the time being)
At this point the GSI system is the winner. It beats the Tandem-com on features (stereo vs. mono, reasonably comfortable earpieces) and is about 5x cheaper. I’m hoping the price of the BK-1 Duo comes down considerably. For our use, the BK-1 Duo system also needs a couple of changes 1)Let both riders listen to the same source of audio background and 2) ideally keep the intercom on at all times with the audio source playing in the background.

Same here. I'd like to think this wasn't related to my age, but my stoker disagrees.

Indeed. Thanks to this thread I've just placed an order for a GSI unit. What I've realized from my shopping is that there are actually two GSI units. The stereo one is 33.00 and is designed to mount inside a full face helmet (motorcycle). I cannot imagine getting that to work with a bicycle helmet and my stoker (blind) would probably not be happy with both her ears covered. So I've gone for the mono unit. The mike and earpiece are mounted on a solid shaft that I probably have some hope of velcroing to the bottom of our helmets. Price from Amazon certified retailer is 16.99 but I went for another seller that had new units for 12.95 + 6.95 shipping. We've been riding for 5 years rain or shine, W/S/SF, 'J' can hear the proverbial "gnat p*ss*ng on cotton (in a laundry hamper)" and my hearing is pretty above average and since she is behind me speaking almost directly in my ears an intercom isn't exactly something we need right now. I do plan to make us a euro-style, back-to-back recumbent and I suspect we will need it then. So thanks in advance... ...

H

We use the Wireless Tandem Talk Headsets,(got them at Precision Tandems online) love them and preffer to ride with them, pricey but worth it. From a safety standpoint there the way to go, in traffic we can communicate quickly. We had a front flat on a down hill curve and we were able to communicate through to hole ordeal and hear each other clearly. I told the wife we have a front flat then we were able to communicate with no hesitations or saying what did you say through the process of getting the tandem stopped without going down. The wife is a little hard of hearing anyway but in this emergency situation she was able to hear me clearly and followed my commands without an issue or hesitation.

I have heard some say why would I want to chat on the bike or tandem with my wife I talk to her enough as it is. I say then why would you want to ride a tandem in the first place if you think like this!!!!!!!

++++1 for a good communication system on a Tandem..

Ride Safe All,
Bill G

With respect I know you guys have ridden for years but in my experiance quick communication to the stoker may be the diffrence in haveing something go wrong or promply dealing with a situation.. Before we got headsets my wife would hesitate sometimes causing issues and by the time I repeated what I had said such as bump in the road for example we were right on top of it. She is a little hard of hearing anyway so the communication system was worth it for us. I just feel it is a lot easier to communicate with them, less issues. We did OK the way you guys do it and there is nothing at all wrong with that at all. I can say now after a ride my voice box is no where a sore now He He... I don't have to repeat things now she get's it the first time, for us it's the way to go..

The system I have is wireless and will drop right in your jersy pocket or it will fit in a camelback pocket or were ever. They fits in the palm of your hand and the battery life on the set we have is longer than I want to be on a tandem in a day. I think they have a 12 to 16 hr talk time when comepletly charged depending on how much you talk I have never even come close to running out of power in a day with them.. The headsets are light, comfortable and very easy to use. They will communicate up to a 1/4 to 1/2 mile apart from each other, nice on a century ride when the wife wonders off at a break stop to a bathroom and all of a sudden I look around and she is gone He He...

Ride Safe,
Bill G

Cardo BK-1 mounting
 

Is there any other place to mount the unit other that the top of the helmet? It looks dorky. I wish it could be mounted in the back somewhere to be less conspicuous.