Bewildered by plethora of intercom options...can anyone recommend a reliable ,reasonably priced open (mesh) system

Morety

Morety

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As per title, I'm planning a European trip next year with a few mates and it would be helpful if we could communicate. I've looked at all sorts of options from cheap bluetooth to more expensive Mesh2 compatible units but my understanding of what might suit and how reliable they are as well as easy to pair etc is lacking as I'm new to this. I believe two of the group use a fairly simple bluetooth set up and reported that it was ok (when it worked). Is there anything under say £250 that might offer an open comms option so pairing individually is not needed and which offers set up for a private group? Sorry for my ignorance but it seems to be a bit of a minefield. I gather I'll need speakers to fit into my (Shark Spartan) helmet, a mic I can affix to the chin bar and a power/transceiver unit fixed to the outside of the helmet. It'll need a bluetooth option for pairing to my Navi 6 unit. Other than that, I'm a bit lost!
 
I've used SENA for a number of years and have 'graduated' from the SMH10 to a 20 Evo to an Impulse helmet with comms built in. I'd recommend the brand without reservation, particularly MESH which seems to me to be the most simple to use and reliable system yet
 
I have been using one of these for the last 7 years, never let me down will last 2 to 3 days on one charge, no mike to get in the way if you use it for phone calls iit is as good as being sat in your ft room.
uclear amp 2 Go, and under £100.00
 

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…..I’m planning a European trip next year with a few mates and it would be helpful if we could communicate….
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You do the planning and give the task of what communication devices to use (if any) to your mates decide on.

Why do you even need to communicate? I ran years of Wapping’s Wanders, without communications. Nobody missed it. Presumably you have ridden with these mates before, here in the UK, without communication between each of you. Why does it change after crossing from Dover to Calais?
 
Thanks for the feedback guys.

I know what you mean Wapping, as I've never seen the need in 40 years of mororcycling but several of these guys I haven't ridden with previously and the idea was just in case we became split up for any reason in traffic we'd like to be able to communicate so that the lead rider can keep tabs on the one brining up the rear. It also means I can listen to the satnav instructions.
I'm tempted to go with a Senna Bluetooth option
 
Go for the Sena. The Mesh system on my 50C is excellent.

You may know this but when you introduce a satnav into the mix the bluetooth can get buggered up.

1. Pair Sena to Zumo XT (in my case) as a GPS pairing - not phone or second phone.

2. Pair phone to Zumo.

DO NOT pair your phone to the Sena !!!!

If you need to pair your phone to the Sena to change some settings delete the pairing afterwards.

When you do it this way it works great - music, phone calls, gps voice commands and bluetooth intercom pairings are reliable and good :thumb2

Just trying to save you some heartache when you take the plunge.
 
I'll be pairing only to my Nav 6 for voiced directions. If it messes up the comms then I'll do without voiced instructions.

One possibly fly in the ointment is I've been told that in Spain, they have prohibited the attachment of anything on the exterior of the helmet so that may be troublesome unless I opt for the more expensive Shark unit which is made by Sena so should pair to my mates S10U unit. His fits discretely inside his Shoe helmet.
 
I don't have an Arai, I have a Shark Spartan helmet. The helmet has a removable section at the back designed for the Sharktooth battery pack, not the unit of the 10U which is a different shape but the Sharktooth has a very limited range and might be affected by the carbon shell of the helmet . Further studying shows that intercoms using helmet fixed (external) speakers are not prohibited, only using in ear buds is, but fixing cameras on helmets or having any form of radar detector may get you pulled. Juries out on fixing intercom to outside, seen that plenty of people do it in Spain so possibly a non issue! That being the case I'd probably go the affordable 10S Sena unit
 
Nobody is going to pull you over for in-ear earbuds, a camera shoved on your helmet or to check the camera warnings on your phone / gps or the CE markings on your gloves. Stop over thinking the whole affair. You’ll be fine.
 
My friends and I have "standardised" on MESH2. We have a mix of SENA and Interphone. They work seamlessly together with no lock-in (unlike proprietary Cardo, which only works easily with...other Cardo).

I have Interphone UCOM 16. Last time I looked Sportsbikeshop were selling at £149...bargain! Just checked, now £159 https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/537620

Had mine 2 years and 3 Euro trips so far. Battery life on my own (i.e. with MESH2 switched off, just listening to my NAV6 via Bluetooth) is fab (2 days!). With MESH2 on constantly, and listening to music, about 8 hours riding time between charging.

The comms is great for "look out!" moments (watch that pothole, watch that sleeping driver), as well as planning petrol, coffee and pee stops etc. After a while the chatter subsides a bit but they are really useful. Range is good with MESH2 as well, so if the guy at the back gets separated a bit, they can still either (1) let you know so you can wait, or (2) the leaders can give directions...

If anyone in your squad has an older bluetooth-only SENA, you can get a MESH adapter to make it compliant... Here: https://www.sena.com/us-en/product/plus-mesh

With either SENA or Interphone units, you just press the MESH button once and that's it! It pairs up with any other MESH2 units in range. It's that easy! The Mesh button is situated so you can easily press on and off whilst on the move, with a gloved hand.
You can also have a private mesh if you want, but we've never bothered.
Once or twice (like getting a ferry with 200 other bikers) we end up getting other riders in our MESH group! As we only ever bother using channel 1. It's a bit of a laugh when that happens. You and your group can use another channel (there are 8 IIRC) if you want privacy, but TBH it's not an issue.

We've been extensively in Spain (as well as Portugal and loads of other countries) , and even stopped by the police, who only wanted to make sure we had UK stickers and legal exhausts (and sober!)
 
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That's a good shout Martin. Two others Sena 10U units with handlebar remotes and reckon it's good for about a mile in the right circumstances. The choice is that I stump up and make them a present of the Mesh adaptor (they'll not want to spend their hard earned to communicate with me :ROFLMAO: ) and go down that route or I opt for the 10S unit. Mesh 2 does future proof it as people drift from using bluetooth onto the Mesh system (if they do).
 
The Sena “Arai” is so called because it’s for standard helmets rather than either flip (Schuberth etc) or the Shoie specifi one.
They will fit any helmet as it’s ear bud and a wired mic.
man issue with Sena can be that a low battery means stopping and they aren’t 100% waterproof unlike Cardo which is and can be charged and used at the same time.
Cardo also have removable speakers so can be used with in-ear with a 3.5mm jack.
 
PitaNaanRoti said:
The Sena “Arai” is so called because it’s for standard helmets rather than either flip (Schuberth etc) or the Shoie specifi one.
They will fit any helmet as it’s ear bud and a wired mic.
man issue with Sena can be that a low battery means stopping and they aren’t 100% waterproof unlike Cardo which is and can be charged and used at the same time.
Cardo also have removable speakers so can be used with in-ear with a 3.5mm jack.
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The more recent Sena units can also be charged and used at the same time. :thumb2
 
MartinK said:
My friends and I have "standardised" on MESH2. We have a mix of SENA and Interphone. They work seamlessly together with no lock-in (unlike proprietary Cardo, which only works easily with...other Cardo).
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Thanks for the post, that's been the most informative I've read anywhere! Digging deeper,I found out that it was announced in 2021 that new Interphone products would use Sena’s Bluetooth and Mesh 2.0 technology, which explains the seamless integration.

A similar technology agreement made in 2017 saw Nolan's N-com intercom lineup moving to Sena technology. This would be ideal for me as I have a couple of modular Nolan helmets and the intercom controls are particularly well integrated with the helmets, however as far as I can find out N-com only uses Bluetooth and does not support Mesh. I've asked N-com why...
 

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