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Great Deal - Helmet

CorEnFa

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I've been looking at the Bilt Modular Techno helmet for a bit now. Currently, I use a Scorpion 900 and I don't care for it. It's heavy, noisy, and foggy. I have a make-shift bluetooth setup in there, but it doesn't do well for calls, only for listening to tunes.

So, after checking it out in person and reading the reviews, I figured I'd go in and see it at my local Cycle Gear shop. But, it turns out, the $199 sale price expired at the end of October. Argh.

When I told the guy working there - "Hey, could you give me a call when this thing goes back on sale from $400 to $199 again?" He said, "I'll just sell it to you now for $199!"

What's not to love. It's DOT certified, has a flip down tinted visor, a fog-resistant screen, modular, built in bluetooth and boom and it looks pretty nice!

I haven't checked to see if it would fit in the frunk or not, but I will soon.

Cheers!
 
Scorpion to a Bilt? How does the quality compare? I have been enjoying Scorpion helmets for a while now as they are my favorite brand.
 
Can we get a short review of the headset? I've tried earbuds, and I still can't hear very well with a helmet on.
It's a great helmet... especially at 1/2 price!
 
I went to cyclegear with the intent to buy the same helmet and ended up with with a Shoei Gt Air with a Scala Rider Q3 comm set. Helmet is very quiet and can easily hear my music and answer/make calls when needed.
 
For all you BlueTooth/speaker in helmet dudes (and dudettes ;)) how well do the speakers really work for music?

About 34 years ago, I took apart some headphones and installed them in my Bell Star helmet, complete with earphone jack out the lower side, just above the rubber edge trim. (I was ahead of my time, lol)

This helmet was big enough and had rather giant ear indent pockets, tons of room for good speakers. The helmets I have had for the past few years have been a lot more of a snug fit, and I almost mangle my ears getting them on and off, let alone if I have earbuds in-a real pain literally, sometimes.

I would really like to go back to speakers versus earbuds for music, do the more modern, slimmer, in-helmet speakers have good sound? Decent bass? Compared to the good bass in earbuds?
 
A review is definitely coming, but I haven't had a chance to ride with it yet.

I did mess around with the bluetooth functionality of it last night. Looking at the buttons (or lack thereof), I was concerned I wouldn't have much functionality. It turns out, that single, multi-function knob is pretty functional. Twist it quickly in one direction and move the track forwards or backwards. Twist it and hold it for a second and move the volume up and down. Press the center button to either put music on pause or play or to answer/hangup calls. Press and hold for a second for instant redial (accidentally dialed my wife who is out of town at 2AM her time. Oops).

Mine didn't come with instructions, so I'm playing around with it. It is rather intuitive though.

The Scorpion was an XL and I got an XL in the Bilt. I don't have a big head, so I'm always curious as to why I get an XL?! I'm a small guy and I've seen folks with WAY bigger heads than me. But whatever. The helmet fits a little tighter than the Scorpion, but not in a bad way. There are obviously some new hotspots. I'll have to decide if that's something I'll get used to or if I have to modify.

The headphones sound pretty nice over all. I'm very picky, but these do a respectable job. They're a little lax in the bass department, but I've found that to be the case on all of the purpose-built helmet cans.

The mechanisms for the chin lift and the tinted inner visor feel solid as does the helmet overall. Strangely, it's a tad lighter than my Scorpion. But you do have to make sure the chin bar fully engages. Once it does, it's solid. If it doesn't, it will pop up with a little force (possibly some strong wind).

The real test is the noise. I get back on the pavement next week. I'll report then.
 
For all you BlueTooth/speaker in helmet dudes (and dudettes ;)) how well do the speakers really work for music?

About 34 years ago, I took apart some headphones and installed them in my Bell Star helmet, complete with earphone jack out the lower side, just above the rubber edge trim. (I was ahead of my time, lol)

This helmet was big enough and had rather giant ear indent pockets, tons of room for good speakers. The helmets I have had for the past few years have been a lot more of a snug fit, and I almost mangle my ears getting them on and off, let alone if I have earbuds in-a real pain literally, sometimes.

I would really like to go back to speakers versus earbuds for music, do the more modern, slimmer, in-helmet speakers have good sound? Decent bass? Compared to the good bass in earbuds?

I've have spent a good deal of time and perhaps a little money trying to get the optimum sound in my helmet. I had all but given up on in-helmet speakers and moved to the earbuds connected to my Sena Bluetooth. They worked very well except it was a pain to put them in and have them stay in place while donning the helmet and occasionally they would dislodge during riding which was very annoying. So then I went with custom molded earbuds and they stayed in place no problem but hurt my ears after several hours of riding and were still a pain to put in/take out every time I put on or took off my helmet.

So I went back to the in-helmet speakers and realized that how well they work is very much reliant on how they are positioned in the helmet in relation to one's ears. Many helmets have indentations where one would presume the speakers should go but these don't necessarily line up with one's ears precisely. Through, trial and error attaching the speakers with velcro and also using various thicknesses of foam to bring them closer to my ears I finally achieved speaker placement utopia and they work every bit as well as the earbuds but without the hassle.

I can now ride and listen to music (bass is decent but I have to say maybe a little better with the earbuds) or hear my wife through the intercom or hear my GPS prompts without having the volume turned all the way up. This description is limited to the Sena SMH10 unit as that is what I am using currently and am quite pleased.
 
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For all you BlueTooth/speaker in helmet dudes (and dudettes ;)) how well do the speakers really work for music?

L.B.S. -
I've tried a few different means. I've tried the Scalas and similar and have made my own using a Bluetooth module and my own headphones, and recently (and most successfully) an LG neckband bluetooth unit with retractable ear buds.

The moto specific ones have always left me underwhelmed. The quality of the headphones has always been unimpressive. The flipside is, while I can make my own and the headphones always sound better, they're more difficult to integrate into the helmet or gear up when getting ready to ride. That's why the LG unit has been a positive thing. Throw it around my neck, put the headphones in and ride. It's not without its frustrations though. For one, there's NO chance of taking/making calls with it since the mic is exposed to the wind.

I do not and will not use my phone on my bike except under extreme circumstances. When those circumstances arise though, it's helpful.

My experience so far with this helmet is that it's painless on the head, the headphones sound decent (low bass as you indicate) but unless they're really bass heavy, you kind of lose that on the road anyway. Most importantly, the headphones don't shift around and it saves me a lot of time "gearing up."
 
I have absolutely no complaints with my Shoei GT Air and Scala rider Q3 combination. Music plays plenty loud enough with good sound clarity. My wife is actually surprised how clear it is when she calls me on the phone.
 
I thought I would give a quick update.

I've ridden with and used the lid a couple times now. Here are my impressions broken down by functional category -

Helmet itself -
Noise is okay. It's not the loudest or the quietest I've heard. The overall level is about the same as my scorpion, just higher pitched. On a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being so quiet you can hear a gnat fart outside your helmet and 1 being so loud you go deaf just placing the lid on your head, I'd rank it a 5.5 to a 6.

Comfort - the cheek pads are quite padded and overall comfortable. I came from an XL Scorpion to an XL Bilt. I don't have a big head, so I'm confused as to the XL rating, but I'll accept it. The Bilt feels more comfortable to me. The padding is less obtrusive and has more of a conforming feel to it.

Visor - This has an internal smoke visor and an external clear visor. There isn't any part of this helmet that makes me wish I could see more. When both visors are down, it's a tad harder to read road signs, but that's to be expected putting two pieces of plastic in front of your eyes.

Fog - this is the achilles heel of this thing. It fogs up like mad. I'm trying different fog sprays and we'll see how well they work. Otherwise, I'm looking at a pinlock universal screen.

Modularity. The modular mechanism works quite well. It's sturdy and confidence inspiring once you realize how to lock it in place.

Bluetooth - highly functional. I can hear it rolling down the road and that's the goal. I called my wife going 50 and she said she could clearly hear me. This coming from the person who constantly yells at me for having too much road noise in my CAR, much less any bike. In a pinch, you could easily take calls at highway speeds with this thing.

Looks - I got the matte black one. It looks quite nice. At least for now. Once the matte starts getting marked up, I'll probably wish I had gone a different route.

Helmet hair - not as bad as my Scorpion. I've ridden 4 solid rides today and merely a tussle of my hair gets it back into place. Knowing my head, that's an accomplishment.

Cheers-
 
Here is a comparison of the various helmet intercom systems.

Top 5 Motorcycle Communication Headset Systems-Freedom Cycle Las Vegas

I have an old interphone F4 that I use in 4 different helmets. It does work great in all 4 helmets, even the half shell Scorpion. The sound is great. Works great with Iphone Siri also. Because of Siri, I now use just voice commands. Iphone Siri was not around when I purchased the Interphone, but it does work great with the Interphone.

Basic commands:

Phone Joe Doe, home.

Phone Joe Doe, Mobile

Incoming calls, just say "hello"

Directions 1234 anywhere street, anywhere town, state.

Stop directions.

Play music, shuffle.

Stop music.7.jpg

smileyHeadset.jpg

00.jpg
 
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