Giro G9 Wireless Audio Series Helmet - 2007 BCS

Giro does helmets best! Very comfortable, fits Oakley goggles well (I use the A frames) and keeps my head very comfortable in the coldest conditions. Recently went skiing solo and it was great to have music from my iPod on the chair. I made a few calls through the helmet and my music was paused automatically. The audio while using the phone is very good, even on a chairlift, people had no problem hearing me at all. Easy to use controls, even with gloves on. If your phone has bluetooth it will work with this helmet, you do however need to get the Skullcandy bluetooth adapter for your iPod.

the fitting-system works great SO FAR. Like anything, I except it to break at some point since it seems relatively new in design. The BT headphones work very well too. One problem I had with this Bluetooth set-up was that I initially charged as-per directions- so I would give battery perfect memory. The downfall, after two weeks of use, I accidentally fell asleep after a hard day of use and left on charger ALL night. It somehow fried the headset. It might have been just a flaw/defective product. Thanks to Backountry, they instantly set me up with a replacement. I ONLY have about 25 days woth of use on it, so take into consideration. The independent headset works awesome for watching movies and such off laptop or tv w/ BT-enabled design. The controls work perfect with numerous Smart-Phones w/ MicroSD card music, etc. I have four different sets of Bluetooth headphones currently and these are my favorite for sound-control/windage, and functionality. I HOPE i did not just ginx them!

Would I buy again...HELL YES!

4-Stars due to first set being defective....even with overcharging I have NEVER burned a battery in a BT-Headset.

This helmet is awesome. It keeps my head warm & cool and it is very light & comfy. I use the Oakley Stockholm women's goggles and I have no goggle-helmet issues. My head is small and small fits perfectly. I have an iPhone 3G and everything works well after purchasing a ~$20 (blueNEXT) bluetooth adaptor for my music. I am able to ride the whole day without draining the battery on my iPhone and helmet. My music streams well and the phone segment works seamlessly. The clarity is excellent for both voice & sound. And the external controls are very easy to use. My only complaint is the absence of an external opening/closing toggle for venting. Otherwise, I highly recommend this helmet!

Bottom line - the headphones are sick. The controls are awesome and I laugh at all the fools with earbuds. They work great, have long battery life, can be used by themselves... and are supposedly a step up from the S805 which runs $50 anyways. On top of that - the helmet compatible headphones cost $200 normally and recently (1/25/09) I saw them on sale for $110. The helmet has basic features, and like all Giro helmets for the road and slopes it's very comfy, decent looking, and seems like it will last a long time. So...ummm... this is a steal.

I have zero complaints about this system. I'd like vents that can be closed/opened externally, but I won't fault the G9 on that, as I knew what I was getting when I bought it. The helmet is very comfortable and warm, and I've only recently started using the headphones (I traded my POS iPhone for a BlackBerry Bold -- how in the hell did they not give that thing A2DP support!? Screw adapters, that's insane for an iPhone). Anyways, all is working well now, and the headphones are fantastic. You'll find that you use the headphones by themselves quite frequently, as they are of high quality and wasted if just used on the slopes!

This helmet is a great buy and easy to use. It's a must have if you like listening to music on the slopes and don't want to deal with any wires. I made the switch over to the G9 Wireless series after purchasing the wired product a few weeks prior. Luckily I got everything through Backcountry/Tramdock so I was able to make the change without any hassle. The helmet works great with an iPhone after you get the required bluetooth adapter that transmits the music (iPhones bluetooth does not transmit music since it doesn't have AD2P).

The helmet is awesome. Never had a problem with venting. It was in the single digits and lower a couple days and then in the low 30s the other two days. If you're worried about falling on the headphones, you shouldn't have to worry to much. I'm pretty sure I took a weird fall and felt like I landed on the left side of the helmet directly on one of the headphones. It still worked perfectly. Outside of using the helmet, the headphones are awesome. While plugged in directly to the iPod, computer, or anything else with the cable they provide, the sound was great. I use a Blackberry Pearl and had no issues connecting to the headphones using the bluetooth. It controlled the phone well, and if you even have music loaded onto your phone through a micro SD card it will control that as well. The pearl does output in stereo as well. But if you want to control your iPod with the controls on the side of the headphones, you will need to buy a bluetooth ipod adapter. It does come with the wire to use for your ipod, but if you want to change the volume or switch songs you will have to take it out of your jacket or where ever you keep it while riding. I bought the Scosche bluetooth adaptor from Best Buy, it was $89. I may have been able to find it somewhere cheaper, but I was leaving the next day and didn't really care to be honest. It is self-powered. This is the only one I have tried, and it's best if you get one with a built-in battery instead of having the ipod power the adaptor b'c the ipod battery won't last all day. The Scosche worked all day with the newest generation iPod nano with no problems. It's worth it to buy the adaptor in my opinion and you never have to worry about wires or anything. I don't regret that decision. I was always adjusting the volume or changing songs through the headphones and everything worked well. Only on a couple hard landings did it stop playing. Simply disconnect the adaptor from the ipod and reconnect it - it will go back to playing your music again.

I am loving this setup. Helmet fit is spot on and much lighter than my old Giro. The whole headphone setup is great. They hold a charge for a long time even in very cold conditions. I'm still waiting to get a bluetooth adaptor form my iPod but it works great with my pda. The only negative I can think of is that they don't seem to get as loud as my ear buds. Not sure why so it maybe something with my setup.

First off... this is a great deal as just the headphone seem to be going for 170 to 200 other places. The helmet is a very comfortable fit and light weight.. I really bought it for the audio system though. I love to listen to tunes while riding, but hated when I would have to fumble around for my Ipod to switch songs, turn the volume down on the lift, or have the headphones fall out of my ears. This solves all those problems. I wear mitts and can easily skip tracks, pause, turn up and down the volume, answer and make calls. I left a message on my answering machine at home while riding down the hill and you wouldn't have known I was using the bluetooth,
The sound quality is as good as I need for the hill, and prefer wired earbuds for around town. I will sometimes use the headphones when listening to anything i stream over the internet like Hulu or last.fm where the source quality isn't as great to begin with.
If you are looking for an audio solution for the hill and often get frustrated with digging around for your ipod, then you will not regret this purchase. fyi.. was using the A2DP on an LG Dare to listen to music... signal was strong and music was louder than I would ever need

This is one of the coolest things I've ever spent $$$ on. With a bluetooth wireless phone that plays MP3s you can listen to tunes, take a call (or ignore it), and the music pauses automatically and then picks back up where it paused when you end the call. Controls are literally on the earflaps for volume, play, pause, phone. There is one wire that connects the 2 earpieces but that tucks into the goggle strap to be low-profile (so far snag-proof). No more stupid wires coming out of my jacket pockets, etc! WOO HOOOOO!!!!!!! I wear this helmet at parties and I'm cool.