Blue View - Bike Communications

Something we disliked during our previous bike treks was the inability to communicate with each other. Many trails are wide and smooth enough to ride side-by-side, and we can chat as we pedal along. Most of the trails we’ve ridden, however, have been too narrow or too rough, and we usually ride single-file. If I follow a couple of feet behind Marcie, we can still shout back and forth, but I’m always fearful that if she brakes suddenly, I’ll rear-end her, wiping us both out, so I typically drop back a couple of bike lengths. At this distance, it’s impossible for her to warn of a road hazard, ask about a fork in the road ahead, or point out the flock of turkeys trotting up the trail. Likewise, I can’t warn her of bikers passing from behind (like this ever happens with our new ebikes - ha). So, before we began this trip, we decided to find a better way to communicate.

We immediately ruled out megaphones, bull-horns, and tin cans with a string, and I began looking at electronic options. What I found is that there are two possibilities; walkie-talkies and Bluetooth radios.

Walkie-Talkies

I thought using the term “walkie-talkie” would really date me and that no one under the age of 50 would know what it meant, but that name is still used for those handheld radios that provide communication between family members, hunters, campers, motorcyclists and others. While some types operate on frequencies that require licenses, like the HAM radio versions, most operate on public access frequencies that don’t require a license. There are units specifically designed for use by bicyclists, or a headset can be added to an off-the-shelf unit. To communicate, both users must first select the same channel, hopefully one not being used by someone else, then press the PTT button to transmit. When you’re done talking, release the PTT button and the radio returns to the receive mode. Most can also be configured to work in a voice-activated mode (VOX).

Advantages:

Range. Walkie-talkies have a longer range - typically a few miles in open terrain.

Cost. Walkie-talkies usually cost less than Bluetooth radios

Disadvantages:

Half Duplex. A walkie-talkie operates in half duplex mode, which means that it can either be in transmit mode or receive mode. As long as the PTT button is pressed or the VOX mic thinks you are talking, the radio will be in transmit mode and can’t receive anything from your partner. So, if your radio is configured for VOX operation and there is a lot of traffic noise, you’re moving fast enough to generate wind noise, or you’re breathing hard as you pedal up a hill, your walkie-talkie will be in transmit mode for long periods of time. This means that your partner can’t communicate with you, and since the transmit mode requires a lot more power than the receive mode, the batteries won’t last as long.

Public Channels. The operating channels are limited in number and are all publicly accessible, so anyone can eavesdrop on your conversations… you might want to be a little careful about mentioning how attractive your partner’s backside looks in those bike shorts, for example. In addition, anyone else may start transmitting on the channel you’re using.

Larger. Walkie-talkie radios are typically larger than Bluetooth radios. They range in size from a deck of cards to a large TV remote.

Bluetooth Radios

Several companies make tiny Bluetooth radio transceivers, aka intercoms, for bike communications. The speakers and mic fit inside your helmet and are voice-activated. Once two or more radios are paired together, they only communicate with each other, so conversations are relatively private. The built-in batteries will power the radios for several hours and can be recharged using a USB connection.

Advantages

Full Duplex. Bluetooth radios are full duplex devices, meaning they can transmit and receive at the same time. So, if you are flying along on your bike and the wind noise is loud enough to continually trigger your voice operated mic, your partner can still talk to you.

Size. Bluetooth transceivers are small enough to fit inside a smartwatch or Fitbit. For use in a bike intercom, they need to transmit further than a few feet, which means they require more power and, therefore, a bigger battery, but they’re still much smaller than a walkie-talkie.

Private Communications. There are scanners that can eavesdrop on Bluetooth communications, but they are pretty sophisticated and expensive. In addition, the scanner has to be listening when the Bluetooth devices are paired and then has to stay within a few hundred feet of your helmet as you are pedaling along. I have no doubt that the CIA/NSA/FBI have the technology to accomplish this, but I feel pretty confident that no one will be listening in on my conversations with Marcie.

Smartphone Usage. Many of the Bluetooth intercoms for bikes can also be paired with a smartphone, allowing you to answer calls or listen to music through the headset. They may even allow you to send and receive texts. (While this capability may be an advantage for some, it has no appeal to me. I can, and do, fall off my bike often enough when I’m paying attention… I certainly don’t need anything distracting me. And forget about texts. I can’t walk while reading a text without a high likelihood of walking into a lamppost or stepping in front of a car.)

Disadvantages

Range. The biggest disadvantage of Bluetooth intercoms is the range. While the maximum range for Bluetooth devices is more than a kilometer (~2/3 mile), the reviews I’ve read indicate that you can’t expect reliable communications with bike intercoms at much more than a few hundred feet of separation.

Cost. I’m sure prices will drop as they usually do for high tech products, but when I was researching Bluetooth intercoms for bikers, the prices ranged from $200 to close to $1000, much more than the cost of a pair of walkie-talkies.

What Did We Choose?

For me, the advantages of the Bluetooth intercoms far outweighed the negatives. We bought a pair at the less expensive end of the spectrum (but which had good reviews and specs), the Sena pi, Universal Bluetooth Intercom Headset on Amazon for $99 each. Each unit consists of two small mic and speaker modules that attach to the chin straps of our helmets, and a wire connecting the two that gets fished up inside the top of the helmet. The two helmets must be paired each time they are turned on. We also have the option of pairing them to each of our phones, but we choose not to. We typically bike 4-5 hours each day, and we’ve never run out of battery power. At the end of each day, we plug our helmets into USB chargers in Blanche for a few hours to charge them up for the next day.

The limited range hasn’t been an issue. We’re rarely more than a few bike lengths apart, and on the occasions when the one who is following has had to stop (or dumped his/her bike), the lead bike has always been in range. In fact, we’ve only been out of range of each other twice; once when I slowed down to chat with another biker, and once when I pushed my bike up a rough detour trail around the Paw Paw tunnel while Marcie waited below. In both cases, we had a good connection for a few hundred feet, and then a garbled connection for another hundred feet or so until we could no longer communicate.

If you buy a set, here are some pointers. First, the documentation isn’t great, but there’s a lot of helpful info in the Q&As and reviews on their Amazon webpage. Second, it suggests downloading their app to your smartphone. Unless you plan to have the Sena pi intercom work via a Bluetooth connection with your phone, don’t bother downloading it. We found it totally unhelpful. Third, the units must be paired each time they are powered on. To do this, turn the first unit on by pressing and holding both the “+” (plus) and “-“ (minus) keys for one second. Release the keys, then press and hold the “-“ key for four seconds. When the speaker announces that it is entering the intercom pairing mode, release the “-“ button. Repeat with the second unit. They’ll beep at each other for a few seconds, then pair up - usually. Sometimes we have to turn both units back off and repeat the process, but eventually they will pair and communicate with each other, and once paired, they work well.

BTW, ever wonder where the name Bluetooth came from? King Harold Gormsson, the second king of Denmark, was known for two things - uniting Norway and Denmark in 958, and a dead tooth that was a blue/grey color and which earned him the nickname “Bluetooth”. When three industry leaders, Intel, Nokia and Ericsson met to establish a new short-range communication protocol, they needed a project code name. Jim Kardach, the lead Intel engineer had been reading about the Vikings, and thought it only fitting that they name this new technology that would unite the PC and cellular industries “Bluetooth”, after the man who united Scandinavia. The name was meant only to be a temporary code name, but as the product launch time grew near, the other suggested names, PAN (Personal Area Network) and Radiowire either had trademark issues or already had thousands of other internet hits. By then, all the developers, marketers, and beta testers were used to calling it Bluetooth anyway, so they just kept the name.

Now that you know more than you ever wanted about how to communicate between bicycles, stay tuned next week when I talk about how to fall off your bike gracefully. If we’re going to dump our bikes or fall off on a regular basis, might as well look good while doing it…