Hi everyone,

I bought a pair of moulded ear plugs (with speakers) from their stand at the Birmingham NEC last year to go with my intercom system. I have now been using them daily on the trip for the past 4 months, in the time between buying them and the beginning of the trip I only used them a few times to try and conserve them. About a week or so ago one of the headphones stopped working then a couple of days ago the other stopped working too, both with the same fault, the outer cover and wire have become separated just where the wires join the ear plugs.

I'm a bit miffed as these cost me £140 for each pair (I also got my girlfriend a pair) has anyone else had similar problems before I speak to Ultimate.

Thanks again,

Christopher

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The Wonderful Wander To Oz

Yep, though my speakers never stopped working. On my Americas trip, the wires got exposed where it meets the earplugs so when I got back, I had to send them back for repairs which cost £40, wasn't happy about that. That was probably due to the way I was taking them out more than anything.

On my last trip of only 5 months, the wire has become exposed again, this time around the plug. A lot of this has to do with how you use it as I reckon the last problem was due to me carrying my MP3 player in my trouser pocket.

I also noticed that one of the ear plugs stopped fitting correctly and I started getting a bit of wind noise unless I messed around with the plug shoving it further into my ear. But they are 2 years old and have had a lot of use. I still have the moulds so will probably send them back again.

As far as sound quality goes, I thought they were great although they do take a bit of getting used to at first.

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

That's a very common problem, see UKGSer thread. Although I only use mine on long trips, and am careful with how I look after them, mine have become detached three times. The first repair was free-of-charge, the second cost me £60 (surcharge for quick turnaround).

They then failed a third time and I sent them back with a 'most unhappy' letter. They repaired them foc but took five weeks or so to do it which meant I had to leave for a four week trip without them!

The latest repair has included a stress reducing outer cable which hopefully will mean it will last a bit longer.

Tim

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

If you have any tips on how to get a repair carried out free of charge Tim, I'm all ears! (if you pardon the pun)

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Oh well it seems I should maybe try and get them repaired, not sure how easy that is going to be though as I am already in Turkey, certainly not going to write off £140 though. I'm a bit miffed really that they didn't have some sort of stress reducing thingy as standard ......

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The Wonderful Wander To Oz

Which Legal Service (part of the Consumer Association) says you can safely ignore limiting warranty and guarantee terms and instead rely on 'breach of contract' provisions within the Sale of Goods Act. This has a limit of six years.

You have a right to quality goods and services!

Tim

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

What do you think guys, is it worth it ?

I am going to head off with the misses (so £280 for both of us) and was looking at these very carefully. I normally wear earplugs and was going to buy the standard moulded plugs. Then the idea of an intercom was bought up, being concerned about hearing damage these seemed the perfect answer as I thought the "in helmet speaker" type intercom would lead to me going deaf in one ear. The trip would be around 4 months, using the the bike most of the time.

MikeS when you say "A lot of this has to do with how you use it" do you mean don't pull them out by the wire ? Does the helmet make a difference ? I have a Shoei XR-1000 with the whisper strip (so its tight to get on and off anyway)

Cheers

Yeah, just try and be careful when taking them out not to pull the cable. And as I was using my mp3 in my trouser pocket a lot, it went for the cable around the plug end. But it does take quite a few months to do any real damage. It took me a while to get used to them initially though and got quite sore ears after 2 or 3 hours but now can use them for a whole day sometimes.

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Mike


www.singapore-scotland.blogspot.com
www.argentina-alaska.blogspot.com
My little Vid: India/Pakistan

BMW R1150GS
Suzuki DR650 SE: Ride it like ya stole it. Oh, somebody just did...

Had similar problems after a couple of years of not much use the speakers just gave up so sent back for repair, 95 pounds! later which I consider very expensive. The trouble was they came back very poorly finished with one plug incorrectly moulded and splitting so sent back yet again with complaints about quality. Waiting for reply. This whole saga does question the quality of this product.

I too was looking at buying a couple of those moulded ear plugs with speakers, but I have to admit that I have too much to fiddle with on my bikes to have time to fiddle with the ear plugs as well. I think I'll stick to the disposable ear plugs. Besides I'm too forgetful so I'm sure I'd leave my expensive ear plugs somewhere and never find them. Like I've done with a countless number of sunglasses...

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HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

Hi all, I have found this thread very interesting. I have just been moulded for a pair of ear plugs at the NEC from 'Custom Ear Protection'. This company had their stand right next to Ultimate ear protection and they were considerably cheaper for what seems like an identical product.

I know that in this life you only get what you pay for but as this is my first pair of moulded plugs and I want to try the concept out, then I thought that the cheaper option would be satisfactory. The standard moulded plug without any speakers, just the basic plug is £45.00 per pair with Custom as opposed to £70.00 with Ultimate.

I am still awaiting delivery of my plugs as they were very busy and stated that it would be three weeks for delivery so I cant comment on quality yet.

I have had second thoughts about my decision to have the straight forward basic plug though, I wonder if it will be too good at blocking out the sound?. They did also offer a pair with an atenuator built in which would let some noise in. I looked at these and thought that if mine were too good at blocking the noise then I could drill a small hole of about 2mm through the plug to allow some more natural (sirens etc) sound through. The difference in the cost to have the built in 'hole' was £25.00 per pair.

Does anyone have any experience of this company, based in Dorset, or of the effectiveness of the full plug....and what do you think of my idea to drill a hole in the plug, if neccessary?

Lee

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'Never worry about things that YOU cant change'

I ordered a set of custom plugs from Ultimate Ear. They said they were busy and I still don't understand how in this day and age it takes over 5 weeks to make them (a gumshield takes less than a week from the dentist). I was expecting the plugs, when they did arrive, to offer slightly less sound protection than say, Max1 disposable plugs, but more a consistent application, cheaper useage and cleaner than reusing foam plugs. The answer is never quite that clear. The plugs are slightly noisier (as expected - read any of the comprehensive reviews available on the web) but even the full ear ones aren't absolutely guaranteed to fit as snugly as you'd hope (this will depend on your own ears and not how it feels when they are being formed whilst fitting). I just wanted to post this in case you're hoping for some miracle solution or something to take on a trip etc.. I will continue to test the plugs and will be taking it up with the company if I have to.
Safe riding!

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Find out details of my 2011 trip to Siberia on a lightweight dirtbike:
www.brighton2expeditions.co.uk

Hi edteamslr, I did think that they would be better than disposable ear plugs in terms of comfort and noise. Do you think they are more comfortable than disposable? I would be using them almost daily.

Thanks for the info.

Hi
in relation to Custom in Dorset i am now on my second set of basic ear plugs - the first ones having lasted 4 1/2 years . Antoine ( the owner) says about four years is around the right time to change them . They were starting to get a bit noisy so the difference between them and the new ones was massive !!
Have no problem recommending this company at all

We're using a Starcom 1 intercom with Green Leopard ear plugs - which are quite different. (plugs available from Fil - "schiannini" here on the HUBB)

The earplugs have a hole for a plastic pipe, a "sound pipe" which leads down to the mcrophones in the cable. So the stress is on a piece of plastic pipe which can easily be cut/shortened if needed. The negative is it does pull out very occasionally - but is easy to fix - just push it back in!

I'm happy with them, work well.

Fil will be at the UK Meeting supplying them.

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Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
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Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
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