Bike mount camera recommedations

[Polar Bear]

We were out yesterday evening and were victim to Mr. Angry and his sidekick Road Rage.   We were a group of four and although Mr. Angry drove dangerously trying to force us off the road, when he and Rage got out of their fossilsaur their posturing came to nothing.   The three blokes in our group seemed to shrug it off but the woman with us was not so happy.   We have the registration, make and model, time etc. and will report it to the plod today.   I have to say that I have absolutely no faith in plod to do anything.

So, we've decided to investigate cameras.   Our typical rides on a Sunday will take upto 4 hours so we need something to record at least 4 hours.   We also need waterproof and decent quality but we don't need top of the range.

The plan is to get two, one for front mounting, one for rear.   We can carry both on one bike if out solo but have one front, one rear for the times when we are out together.

Do people use cameras and if so, what do you use and why?   Would you recommend it?   Would you have bought differently with experience?

[ACyclingRooster]

Hi P B. Firstly and most importantly I am a also a cyclist (pushing 72yrs) and still riding albeit solo in those lanes and solely for exercise,I have been there,done that and got the history to prove-it.
I am also a motorist and sadly a past motorcycle rider.
I live in rural West Lancashire and regularly witness "Pretend Peloton's" taking up vast amounts of the narrow lanes both on terms of carriage width and being strung out as many as ten,twelve and more following on the wheel of the rider in-front.

They are often seen to ride with an air of 'UP YOURS' and never leave room to safely pass even on straight stretches and they are often seemingly just waiting for confrontation. There are more and more that are armed with cameras mounted both on their heads and on their bikes.

Sunday mornings are notably the worst but also now with the 'Wealthy Pensioner Brigade' it also happens during the weekdays from mid morning to mid afternoon and now the daylight hours are increasing even into the early evening.

I can to some extent understand the younger ignorant riders that know the Highway Code back to front but have never actually read it but seemingly are quite happy to ride with no hands on the bars whilst scanning the smartphones or some other such piece of modern technology - probably even SatNav's because they cannot read maps and or plan a route and retain it in their fuddled heads.

Yes there are some seriously bad,inconsiderate and absolutely downright dangerous drivers out there but it is not all 'One Sided'.

With petitions for this that and the other currently being gaining ground rapidly,I really do believe that many cyclists should examine their actions,practices  and behaviour on the road and towards others - after-all it is the age of shared access including shared responsibility for ones safety and survival.

[jsabine]

An interesting perspective.

Personally I think that the responsibility falls more heavily on the person who brings a one tonne machine capable of a hundred miles an hour onto the roads than it does on the person who brings a ten kilo pedal powered machine, but you're free to believe there should be a more even split.

[Wowbagger]

@ACyclingRooster: if the lane is narrow, then there often isn't room for a safe overtaking manoeuvre anyway. That doesn't stop a lot of drivers trying though.

For your info, just in case you don't know the highway code, here's the relevant bit:

http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/163

I'd suggest, if you don't like moving at the speed of the traffic (i.e. cyclists) on those narrow roads, then you probably shouldn't be taking your car on them.

[Dibdib]

GoPro is probably the benchmark - excellent battery life, robust mounts, plenty of aftermarket accessories for mounting pretty much wherever you want. Probably the spendy end of the spectrum though.

Remember that recording length will depend on image quality and storage capacity (often a MicroSD card, so replacable/upgradable) as well as battery life - I doubt many will run on AA/AAAs but maybe look for one with replaceable batteries so you can carry a spare. Then weight - maybe only if you're considering helmet mounts as well as bike mounts.

Unfortunately I don't have one so can't offer any first hand experience but I know Dev has been very happy with his GoPro.

[citoyen]

PB, if you're after recording incidents rather than saving your whole ride for posterity, you don't need a camera that can store the whole four hours - something like the Cycliq Fly12 (front) and Fly6 (rear) combo is probably ideal, as it saves only the last 5 minutes. Claims a run time of 10 hours, or 2 hours with the light on full power.
https://cycliq.com/products/fly12
https://cycliq.com/products/fly6

I have a GoPro Hero Session, which is pretty neat and compact and takes very high quality pictures, but the battery wouldn't last 4 hours, so wouldn't be much good to you.

[citoyen]

Yes there are some seriously bad,inconsiderate and absolutely downright dangerous drivers out there but it is not all 'One Sided'.

PB was describing his own experience, referring to a specific incident. Are you doubting his version of events? What relevance does your Daily Mail-style anti-cyclist drivel have to the incident described?

Perhaps idiotic comments like yours are part of the reason why he feels the need to have a camera fitted.

[tiermat]

Yes there are some seriously bad,inconsiderate and absolutely downright dangerous drivers out there but it is not all 'One Sided'.

PB was describing his own experience, referring to a specific incident. Are you doubting his version of events? What relevance does your Daily Mail-style anti-cyclist drivel have to the incident described?

Perhaps idiotic comments like yours are part of the reason why he feels the need to have a camera fitted.

Thank you for saying what I was thinking.

[ACyclingRooster]

@ACyclingRooster: if the lane is narrow, then there often isn't room for a safe overtaking manoeuvre anyway. That doesn't stop a lot of drivers trying though.

For your info, just in case you don't know the highway code, here's the relevant bit:

http://www.highwaycode.info/rule/163

I'd suggest, if you don't like moving at the speed of the traffic (i.e. cyclists) on those narrow roads, then you probably shouldn't be taking your car on them.

Hi Wowbagger. For your information Rule 66 - bullet point three :-- never ride more than two abreast, and ride in single file on narrow or busy roads and when riding round bends -  is continually flaunted and the 'UP YOURS BRIGADE' continually ride the local lanes with total disregard to those that have no choice but to drive cars and other vehicles in/on them.

I am one of those such people.

Only yesterday morning one such bunch of older cyclists that ride the lanes regularly came to a particularly bad 'T' junction that is situated just around a left hand bend (as a motorist) and has a totally blind view of what is coming and the drivers cannot see until they are right on the crest of the bend.
Instead of one of them alighting and crossing the junction so as to gain a clearer view and look-out for the remaining 10 or so they came out on-mass from a stand-still position.
I could easily have been one of the many young local tear-arse drivers that use the route as a 'Rat-Run' and BANG carnage would have ensued.

Rule 67 and :-- look well ahead for obstructions in the road, such as drains, pot-holes and parked vehicles so that you do not have to swerve suddenly to avoid them.  It doesn't happen and they just all in sequence move out after the first one has alerted the bunch as to the hazard.

Check them out if you have any doubt :--  http://www.highwaycode.info/rules-for-cyclists-59-to-82.

Happy and safe riding.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Come on, Citoyen, that wasn't an 'idiotic' comment.

I used to live 2.5miles down a single-track road. Other people who lived down there became used to the give and take; sometimes you had to be the person who stopped in an overtaking place, sometimes you had to reverse, sometimes the other person did it.

It is the same with cyclists and drivers on narrow roads. Road users need to acknowledge each other, and with a smile and good will, give and take.

PB and his friends encountered some unpleasant people (who obviously were aggressive) and wants to make sure that in the future he has some recording of events.

cyclingrooster was reporting his observations that in his area there are groups of cyclists who don't give, they are just taking. That doesn't help anybody.

[ACyclingRooster]

Yes there are some seriously bad,inconsiderate and absolutely downright dangerous drivers out there but it is not all 'One Sided'.

PB was describing his own experience, referring to a specific incident. Are you doubting his version of events? What relevance does your Daily Mail-style anti-cyclist drivel have to the incident described?

Perhaps idiotic comments like yours are part of the reason why he feels the need to have a camera fitted.

Hi Citoyen. If you are referring to my post in reply to the opening post by P B then I suggest that you make an appointment with a shrink ASAP as there was absolutely nothing idiotic at-all about my comment/comments/post.

If you live anywhere near my location in Bescar,Scarisbrick,West Lancashire then please make contact and I will personally drive you around the lanes here and you will see first hand what some of - NOT ALL - cyclists get up-to.

[Polar Bear]

Erm, camera recommendations please.   

Thanks.

Mr Rooster,

We were in single file approaching a cross roads and a Give Way.  Mr, Angry decided to drive at/through us.   He should have been preparing to wait at the junction but instead got steamed up over having four law abiding cyclists in front of him.   Contact was made with one of our number.   

If you have nothing to add about bike mounted cameras please take your grievance elsewhere. 

Thanks.

[Polar Bear]

PB, if you're after recording incidents rather than saving your whole ride for posterity, you don't need a camera that can store the whole four hours - something like the Cycliq Fly12 (front) and Fly6 (rear) combo is probably ideal, as it saves only the last 5 minutes. Claims a run time of 10 hours, or 2 hours with the light on full power.
https://cycliq.com/products/fly12
https://cycliq.com/products/fly6

I have a GoPro Hero Session, which is pretty neat and compact and takes very high quality pictures, but the battery wouldn't last 4 hours, so wouldn't be much good to you.

Excellent.   Thanks for the info.   

[citoyen]

Come on, Citoyen, that wasn't an 'idiotic' comment.

PB described a specific incident involving a specific group of individuals, didn't make any generalisations about any other group of road users, and asked for advice within a fairly narrow remit. ACR took that as an excuse to go off on a rant about cyclists, which didn't refer to specifics, just made sweeping lowest common denominator generalisations. I haven't read the rest of your post or his reply to me, and I don't intend to discuss this irrelevant sidetrack any further. I'm just sorry I wasn't able to restrain my irritation enough to express myself as diplomatically as jsabine and PB did in their replies!

[numbnuts]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-SJCAM-SJ4000-WIFI-12MP-HD-1080P-Sports-DV-Action-Waterproof-Camera-CAM-/121910365114?hash=item1c626c8bba:g:lRIAAOSwzaJYBH9K

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorbike-Motorcycle-Set-Car-Charger-Case-For-SJCAM-SJ4000-SJ5000series-Camera-/331937309056?hash=item4d49016180:g:NMAAAOSwyLlXoEjq

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10000mah-Power-Bank-Portable-charger-2-1A-Dual-USB-external-battery-pack-/112340882475?var=&hash=item1a2809d42b:m:mC5N3zPqk8VgMRJk9fW9s6w

I bought the SJ4000 and very pleased with it, I wanted longer battery life with out the hassle of changing battery mid-ride so bought the waterproof case for a motor bike and a power pack.
Once set up in car mode as soon as it has power it starts recording and also it is set for loop recording.

[HeltorChasca]

Avoid the TomTom Bandit like the plague. 3 devices sent to me and all crashed in less than 4 minutes. All with major faults and the software is pants. It took 2 months to get refunded. Utter junk.

GoPro.

[Redjeep!]

I have a Gopro Hero and it's pretty good. The picture quality is excellent.

The only flaw I found with it was when on a long fast descent down the Brenner Pass the plastic mount snapped in half and my precious camera bounced along the road, sliding elegantly between the wheels of a 6 axle truck coming the other way. Shame it wasn't switched on at the time really.

I got it back unscathed, but felt GoPro's customer service were pretty poor afterwards.

[Polar Bear]

The one thing about ACR's intervention and this recent widely reported incident is that drivers seem to think that they are entitled not only to the whole road but also to behave very badly and without any tolerance or understanding when they don't get their own way.   Spitting out the dummy doesn't help.

We have decided as a group to report the incident to the police.   

Anyway, back to cameras please so that I can capture the miscreants misdeeds in future...