Helmets keep you safe but they just don’t look cool. You know what is cool? Beats headphones by Dr. Dre. BOOM. POC is here to save the day with their new Receptor Bug helmet. Dozens of companies have tried to make this format work before but none have attempted to use the “high quality” sound equipment. It’s available this January for $330, or $180 as an accessory for your existing Receptor helmet, and will keep your head safe, till you don’t hear “it” coming.
Via POC
McClain M;
Respectfully; I believe the (given the nature of the POC Receptor, of which I am an owner) that the set-up is intended for skatepark / DJ / trials / burly-all-mountain-but-not-quite-DH types of riding where automotive traffic is a bit of a non-sequitar.
To be sure, I expect that consumers will inevitably abuse the use of music while riding in a commuting fashion to a certain extent, but buyer beware. A rather simple indemnity clause in the owners manual would absolve POC and / or Beats from legal repercussion.
On a related note, those who are going to ride with music playing are going to regardless of helmet integration – whether that is done with either earbuds or over ear headphones, which candidly, I’ve seen plenty of times everywhere I’ve lived and visited thus far.
With that said: I’m rather excited about the idea and funds provided will scoop up a pair when available. HOWEVER; while I understand there’s a certain brand recognition associated with the ‘by Dr. Dre” label… I gives a f*** because I feel like I’m being overcharged for buying the label and name associated with that, So +1 for “Krank” in that regard.
But I’m not the average consumer POC is targeting! Given the profile of the rider’s who participate in the BMX / DJ / Street / Skatepark market segment (i.e. “that scene”) of cycling I’m not making much of a leap when I say that the lions share of these consumers are males aged adolescent to mid 20’s who by my rather unscientific, quasi-imperial, highly judgmental, with a dash of condescending, research has revealed… that by associating the “Beats by Dr. Dre” stamp to this particular piece of kit is only a value added aspect to the overall package as many of them are connoisseur’s of the hip-hop / rap musical genre.
This elevation of perceived value will spark the impulse, ever so loud and whiny in the retail outlets to the living rooms across America, to have children scream out, clamoring for this newest, latest, and greatest techno-treat. Why, I believe POC’s new Beat’s Receptor might be the one thing we need to break this recessionary fiscal behavior and due to children whining at their parents we can launch ourselves into economic prosperity with but a few thousand temper tantrums o’er the land.
Then more people will bicycles and I can work more hours, make a couple extra buck and graduate from my baller-on-a-budget Pabst Blue Ribbon drinking ways and graduate to fancy-schmancy French Saison ales.
Having both lambasted and exalted corporate branding in this most sardonic diatribe I have allowed my beer to warm slightly and must punish it and all that look like him by converting them into pee tonight.
Good thing high-quality was in quotes. Add a 3dB boost to the lows on any $15 earbuds and tape them to your braincase! Save yourself the trouble with all of that endorsed audio.
Haha, anyways. I don’t know why you want quasi-quality audio in a situation where you are also needing to protect your head. Maybe it’s for people walking around in the city who bump into things because they don’t pay attention to anything beside their phones when they are out in the real world? I can see a real need for helmets in that situation!
I’m under the impression that Snow helmet certification tests are very different from those required for Bike helmets: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/349.pdf
Here’s a video about how different helmet certification levels can affect your brain: https://bikerumor.com/2012/12/17/watch-this-certified-versus-non-certified-helmet-impact-testing/
I didn’t mean to dismiss the product outright, and I apologize if my post seemed a little condescending. However, this website is BIKErumor, which means I consider most products from the perspective of that intended use, and I feel it is an irresponsible practice to listen to headphones while riding, if only while riding in the street or on city paths where one can and should expect constant interaction with passersby, etc. We all know how frustrating it is to try to signal our passing from behind a jogger or a person walking their dog, only to receive looks or yells of disgust when they fail to hear you because they are wearing headphones. Cyclists obviously move much faster in these contexts, and so we need to be MORE aware of our surroundings. Being oblivious to approaching hazards or signals will not help the image of the cyclist in the public eye.
And they’re still illegal, in all 50 states when riding on public roads. The fact that you continue to review and endorse these products and call them “safe” borders on gross negligence and a huge disservice to your reader base.
On top of that, you include a pic of them installed on a skater helmet when just the other day you had an article detailing that testing of said helmets shows that they are anything but “safe”.
So please, just stop reviewing any of these products as it only adds fuel to the whole cars vs. bikes vitriol and cheapens your reliability as a site that provides quality product reviews.
@saupak
The helmet shown above is not a ‘skater helmet’. It’s a snow sports helmet and it conforms to all of the relevant standards. The video you mention conclusively demonstrated that skate-style helmets can significantly reduce the peak acceleration of the head in an impact – not that they are unsafe. The story is really about the electronics though, which fit to a number of POC helmets, many of which conform to bicycle standards.
My apologies, yes the Receptor Bug is CEN and ASTM certified for skiing.
And one of the great things about life in the US is the tremendous amount of personal choice [we all] have, including the right to choose to wear headphones while riding a bike, believe it’s OK, and that it doesn’t affect our safety or the safety of anyone else around us.
But the fact is it IS illegal, even in California (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc27400.htm) and considering the number of riders killed in that state this year (http://bikinginla.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/traffic-deaths-are-down-unless-youre-on-two-wheels-or-two-feet-or-driving-a-big-ass-truck/) and across the US, and the anti-cyclist verbal attacks across the US for our apparent flagrant disregard of the laws, maybe if we all respected the laws, motorists wouldn’t hate us so much and so many wouldn’t have to die.
