Aleck Punks Preview

by Paul Horta-Hopkins · 21/02/2024

Aleck Punks, wireless and hands free communication for your bike ride

We took a look at the Aleck Punks a while ago and now have a pair to try out. These clever little Punks allow you to communicate with your ride partners, take calls and listen to music. While some riders may prefer the solitude and quiet of a ride, others like to talk!

The Punks are one of four products that Aleck produce, which are: two in-helmet devices and a crash-sensor. The company was formed when their founder wanted to listen to music and talk to friends when skiing. The original idea was to produce a helmet with built-in communication. However after many twists and turns, they stripped that back to just a device that you could wear with any helmet. They then added their Tocsen crash sensor to their roster, which can also be attached to any helmet.

Punks

The Aleck Punks come as a left and right pair that you attach to your helmet straps; simple. You pair them via Bluetooth with the Aleck App, where you then create a group connection. Next you share this with your party using a QR code or passcode. Once you’re all connected, you can then chat away with anyone in the group. The group can be set to an open ‘Party Mode’ or PTT (Push To Talk).

Communication modes

Party Mode means that the channel is open all the time, speak and you will be heard. You can also play music over the channel; hope you all enjoy the same tune! However when someone does speak in this mode, the music volume will lower.

With PTT mode you can set a period of time and when you press the button, you will broadcast for that time. This is presumably to save you from actually having to hold down a button while speaking. So you’ll need to be concise!

A pair of Punks, charger cable and carry case

As long as your phone has a data connection you can communicate with your group. I’m interested to see if you could also communicate with someone who isn’t physically with you. Could you talk to someone sat comfortably at home while you toil up an Alpine climb? This is something that was demonstrated on one of Aleck’s videos; I’ll see if it works.

Punks description

Each of the Punks sit just in front of your ear, where they can broadcast straight into your ear. This allows you to hear your music and messages, while still being able to hear what’s going on around you. Personally, I think that’s important. Not being able to keep track of what’s going on around you could end badly.

There are two mics, one on the top edge is a noise-cancelling one. Presumably this picks up the level of wind-noise and through the magic of software, lessens its impact. The main mic however is shielded and sits underneath the Punk, next to the charging port. This port doesn’t come with any form of cover, hopefully that won’t prove to be a problem.

The primary mic is shielded to reduce wind noise

Attaching them to your helmet is done with two open clips at the top and bottom. These allow you to slip the Punks on and off quickly, so you can keep them off your helmet when not in use. To that end you get a microfibre bag to store the Punks and the charger cable. A quick word about the charger cable; it’s a splitter. That’s great, means you can charge both units at the same time and reduce the amount of chargers cluttering up the house.

I’ll be using the Aleck Punks in various situations on and off-road and will let you know how I get on with them. In the meantime you can head over to the Aleck website and check out all their products.