Hi all.
After a couple of years riding around without earplugs, I realised that a very small ringing was noticeable when I was in a quiet place. Not wanting to be a deaf old bastard some day, I decided to get some plugs.
I tried a few different kinds of disposables, which were decent, although a bit hard to fit at times, and the attenuation of engine and bike noise tended to be higher than that of wind noise. Some of them were very quiet overall though, which was great for SH1 hauls.
I also tried Alpine plugs, after reading many great reviews. I like these for a long time, as they did cancel out much of the wind noise, but still let me hear the engine and tyre noises well. They also let me hear other traffic pretty well, which is important to some, but I don’t really give a toss. The problem was that the were tricky to fit right (too far in even, and they seemed to lose their attenuation qualities), and were prone to slip during a ride, which was a real pain in the arse, especially when it was only in one ear.
Finally, I decided to stump up the big bucks and get some custom moulded ones, so I contacted this dude called ‘Arno’ from Elacin NZ (www.elacin.co.nz). He came to Auckland (from Papamoa or something I think), took a mould of my ear cavity, and a few weeks later I had some ‘Biopact’ plugs with an MM01 filter.
How are they? In short: awesome!
That might sound a bit over enthusiastic for something as un-sexy as earplugs, but it really has made a huge difference to the enjoyment of my time on the bike, whether I’m going hard or cruising on the highway.
They are very quick and simple to fit once you know how (5 seconds or less each side, with no chance of incorrect fitting), they are very unlikely to fall out while riding (haven’t done so yet in one month of use) and there is never any pain or hassle involved.
I can actually get forward on the bike (sports bike with lowish clipons, so it’s how I need to be to ride it properly, not just ‘cos I’m a GP wannabe), and the extra wind noise from the screen is so minimal as not to matter. With other plugs, I’d find myself sitting more upright and further back to avoid the wind noise, which is not a good position to ride this kind of bike. I didn’t think when I bought them that a benefit would be me actually riding better, more often. Long trips are much more bearable too.
They give you a choice of 4 filters, being: ML01 (most quiet), MM02 (2nd most), MM22 (3rd), MM12 (least attenuation). They are actually quite similar at higher frequencies, but offer vastly different attenuation for lower frequencies.
Apparently bike cops in Europe use the MM02, but I went for the extra quiet ML01, ‘cos my TwoBros full system is bloody loud to the point of pissing me off (I’m finally growing up I guess).
I’m stoked with the choice, now everything is just perfect.
At $230, they aren't cheap, but I'm happy enough with them that I consider it a good deal.
I’m told they will last me 5+ years if looked after.
Recommended to all who are sick of damaging levels of noise, and the sometimes pain in the arse procedure of fitting earplugs.
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Originally Posted by Drew
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