Pinlock Motorcycle Ear Plugs - New Generation Earing Protection

Product Information

The Experience Case is nicer than the one supplied with the Quiets, but the little tether for a keyring isn’t particularly tough Fitting of the Auritechs is free if you go to its Guildford office, but look for offers from both companies at most motorcycle shows. In terms of fit, I have absolutely no qualms. My ears have never been overly hot, and the plugs provide all-day riding comfort. The best helmets are developed in a wind tunnel to reduce drag and noise levels as much as possible, but as ISVR Consulting found, the design of the motorcycle has a huge impact on the noise levels a rider is subjected to; the wake from a screen contributes a lot, as anyone who’s stood up into the ‘clean’ airflow while riding will know. If the wind noise is so bad then maybe you need a better helmet honestly. Or a better fitting one. Or both.

At low speeds, they work great. But for riding at higher speeds, I feel better options are available. You don’t have the howling noise in your ear on windy days with these plugs, but the growling of the engine is also less noticeable. Emergency sirens are just as audible but you do have to step a bit closer to people wanting to talk to you. Music quality through an intercom is almost as good as the Experience, although some of the mid-range goes missing at higher speeds. Considering the other performance advantages though, I can live with that.Since hearing usually plays second fiddle to vision when riding motorcycles, people sometimes forget how vulnerable their ears are out there on the road. The sound of your helmet traveling through the air at highway speeds is more than enough to damage your hearing over the long term – or even the short term if you’re wearing an open face or half-helmet. While it may go counter to your initial thoughts, wearing earplugs can actually help you hear better. When your ears aren’t completely overwhelmed, you have the ability to hear more sounds. Roughly one out of every 10 Americans suffer from hearing loss that affects their ability to understand normal conversation. The most common kind of hearing loss is the exposure to excessive noise, and the simple act of riding a motorcycle puts riders at risk for becoming part of those statistics. The wind noise at highway speeds can expose motorcyclists to sound levels in excess of 100 dB – that’s the equivalent of using a chain saw or standing in the middle of a dance club. Helmetless riders can experience noise 10 times greater than that, resulting in potential hearing loss in as little as 30 minutes. Hopefully your rides last longer than a half-hour. The above symptoms are commonly experienced by riders who choose not to wear earplugs. Yet I didn’t seem to be affected by any of them. As we say never judge the book by its cover, this product too is pretty good. I would any day recommend this product to all my friends out here. Polyurethane foam plugs These come in one size only which is suitable for a larger adult. The foam on these plugs is pretty firm and I found them more difficult to get a decent tight seal. After adjusting them a few times (i.e. poking them in further) I got a decent seal and they really quietened things down. But because they took more adjusting to get it right, I’m going to mark them down a bit.

In terms of comfort, Decibullz motorcycle earplugs fit me better than foam plugs. And they don’t hurt my ears even on longer rides. The Quiet plugs are very comfortable and have that funky look that makes it appear like an ear adornment rather than just a functional earplug.A poorly fitting helmet may not only be uncomfortable, more noisy and may move around when riding if too big or give headaches etc if it is too small, it is also dangerous. A helmet simply will not protect or perform as designed if the head inside it is not snuggly fitted against the impact absorbing material inside the shell. Designed specifically for all-day use under a helmet, Alpine’s silicone-free MotoSafe is built around a filter that allows motor, comms systems and navigation devices to still be heard. They come in two types, Race or Tour, the latter offering higher protection. The integral mini grip makes for easy removal too.

The polystyrene box is a little large to take out with you. So I would have liked a dedicated place to store them when off the bike. As a rider, you’ll know how loud your engine can be when you open the throttle. And if you’ve slapped on a sexy after-market can, you can add a few more decibels into the mix.Earplugs are designed to remove the deep tones of wind noise, but still allow as much speech and other sounds through as possible. It’s inevitable that you will hear less with something plugging up your ear canal, but if you don’t wear earplugs, it won’t be long before you can’t hear anyway. However, if I want more protection (which I do most of the time) I’ve also taken to rolling them up and fitting them with the big end first. I found this gives masses of noise protection – probably double the standard amount. The plugs seal my ear perfectly and hardly any noise gets in – to the point that, with my helmet on, I can barely hear anyone speak.

Fortunately, I realised that just because I wasn’t currently suffering the ill effects of riding without earplugs, that doesn’t mean I won’t fall foul of them later down the line. Of the 22 who responded, 18% wear no earplugs (one uses his AKG in-ear headphones for music, which will offer very little noise reduction yet need to be loud to be audible at speed). But if (like me) you find foam plugs uncomfortable and silicon plugs unsuitable, then these re-mouldable plugs from Decibullz are a fantastic alternative.

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As Jon points out, if an earplug rubs on the lining of your helmet, it can create a very annoying noise inside; for me this was an issue, especially on the more expensive Experience earplugs. This proves the point that we do all have different shaped heads and ears, so recommending a product like this can be hard. On tour, those hours turned into days as I spent weeks at a time blasting across the luscious mountain passes this planet has to offer us.