At the moment im recovering from a bad crash from commuting last week. But at the same time 2 days before someone tried to frighten me by pushing me towards the curb. I take it that they were annoyed of the fact they had passed me twice and kept getting held up in traffic but i was able to carry on. Then they had to find the right time to pass me for the 3rd time but this time by giving me a kind of warning not to undertake them again. I was a bit angry with myself because of my reactions to what someone had just done to me. Instead of smashing his wing mirror or denting his car with my right foot the reactions i gave out were the opposite! The shock of what was happening overtook my first initial response that i thought i give out in those circumstances. So im prepared nextime and i also want a camera. I like the look of the garmin, a lot better than a gopro.

Glad you’re ok.

I recommend a mobius from Jovuu. I have the standard lens version and its brilliant. HD quality in the size of a match box and weighs nothing. Use mine commuting and off road. Cheap and effective. Best bit is you dont look like a tool. There is a waterproof case aswell.

It won’t help you when your dead or badly injured though

No but has the potential to make any claim for repairs easier if you do survive.
I have a virb elite on the basis that it as it has built in gps it also acts as a route recorder for strava. It can also capture heart rate data too.
The virb is also waterproof so you don’t need extra cases but the helmet or bike mount is extra.

Just waiting for mine to be delivered. I’d be happier if I knew the (local’ish) person who drove at, assaulted me and jumped on my bike had a conviction / caution for assault and dangerous driving rather than only the criminal damage he admitted but no evidence / witnesses (& police inactivity) and his willingness to lie gave him an easy escape.

p.s. a smashed wing mirror, done accidentally / without intent, was the catalyst for all this…not a course of action I recommend to anyone. take care.

jacob46 So im prepared nextime and i also want a camera. I like the look of the garmin, a lot better than a gopro.

Your needs may vary but I think the footage from Gopro looks better and suffer less from camera shake. Also a wider variety of mounts and options available for gopro, many for buttons on ebay. Gopro is the market leader by some margin and is the number one option for film crews and privateers all over the world.

Your needs may vary but I think the footage from Gopro looks better and suffer less from camera shake. Also a wider variety of mounts and options available for gopro, many for buttons on ebay. Gopro is the market leader by some margin and is the number one option for film crews and privateers all over the world.

A lot of this is true, but the longer battery life,gps and motion sensor tracking in the virb may be useful features as a dash/commute camera. An SJ4000 may also be worth a look.

Doesn’t the virb also display your speed on the footage?

geoffj

A lot of this is true, but the longer battery life,gps and motion sensor tracking in the virb may be useful features as a dash/commute camera. An SJ4000 may also be worth a look.

Yeah, which is why I started with “your needs may vary”. I thought about the gps (granted not for long) but I honestly can’t see how this would be of use on your commute in the possible event of a crash. You’ll know where you are from the video footage. What am I missing?

The cynic in me says that gps data could be used against you in some way by some sneaky bastard solicitor / bike hating judge.

Virb elite 119 quid on Amazon. Great hardware buggy software seems to be the synopsis.

The cynic in me says that gps data could be used against you in some way by some sneaky bastard solicitor / bike hating judge.

maybe if you were exceeding the speed limit but you wouldn’t do that, would you…

Another vote for a Mobius here. I have one velcro’d under my stem and another under my saddle. The plan is that they will be USB powered from my dynamo hub and will automatically start recording as soon as I start moving thus being pretty much fit-and-forget, but will collect evidence if required.

Cheers, Rich

A heavy d-lock attacked to the frame within easy reach might be more useful in these situations….. 😈

Yeah, which is why I started with “your needs may vary”. I thought about the gps (granted not for long) but I honestly can’t see how this would be of use on your commute in the possible event of a crash. You’ll know where you are from the video footage. What am I missing?

The cynic in me says that gps data could be used against you in some way by some sneaky bastard solicitor / bike hating judge.

I think the essence here is that the absolute quality of the video, once above a certain level, which the virb reaches easily, is not that important – other factors, including the additional information provided by extra sensors may be more valuable.

jam bo

maybe if you were exceeding the speed limit but you wouldn’t do that, would you…

I was thinking more along the lines of say, for example a car was parallel to you, unseen by the camera and made a motion to cut you up. A rider might react by swerving away, overcompensating slightly then need to come back to their road position. Driver might say the were behind you and you weaved erratically. Or you weave to avoid a pot hole/manhole cover etc

GPS alone won’t give you that level of detail.

how would I know if I was exceeding the speed limit? No requirement for me to have a speed measuring device on my bike.

How does the Mobius perform in this weather? I have a Roadhawk Ride but the video quality isn’t great in low light and the battery life is only 30 minutes when temps are below freezing

bruneep

how would I know if I was exceeding the speed limit? No requirement for me to have a speed measuring device on my bike.

Ignorance wouldn’t be an excuse though. Old cars without speedos are still subject to speed limits.

many get away with it on here…

The selling point of the Virb is it can be paired with a Garmin like an Edge, and that lets you get the overlay on footage of all the data.

However there are third party services that will let you overlay GPX etc data onto a video taken from any device, including GoPro.

GoPro is the benchmark supposedly for quality, though I’m not convinced it’s just hype these days and other cameras are just as good now. They are expensive for what they are, especially in accessories. They are also fugly.

The selling point of the Virb is it can be paired with a Garmin like an Edge, and that lets you get the overlay on footage of all the data.

The Virb Elite has inbuilt GPS, WiFi and motion sensors so you don’t have to marry the GPS track from another device.

GoPro is the benchmark supposedly for quality, though I’m not convinced it’s just hype these days and other cameras are just as good now. They are expensive for what they are, especially in accessories. They are also fugly.

I agree with this – if going down the camera only route, then an SJ4000 (see other thread) is definitely worth a look.

deadkenny

GoPro is the benchmark supposedly for quality, though I’m not convinced it’s just hype these days and other cameras are just as good now. They are expensive for what they are, especially in accessories. They are also fugly.

In terms of static images there’s nothing in it, colour reproduction is roughly equal. However, when it comes to action, anything with movement the gopro is the market leader. The garmin suffers badly from rolling shutter and blurring. Gopro are used by virtually every production company, both for tv broadcast and web broadcast where pov action is recorded. 3rd part accessories are cheap as chips and the new Hero camera costs £99.

If you need gps or accelerometer data then the Garmin is obviously the one to go for. Apart from that Gopro is a no brainer unless you want something really cheap or really small.

No battery swapping / backpac on the Hero ruled it out for me.

Virb elite 119 quid on Amazon. Great hardware buggy software seems to be the synopsis.

The early versions of the Virb firmware left a bit to be desired, the latest version is pretty good.
The free Virb Edit, video editing software has come a long way in the past year but still has a way to go, but there’s not much else to choose from if you want to embed gauges displaying GPS and other sensor data on you video’s.

Ive ordered the garmin elite from amazon £119.99 Bargain!!
Its gone up to £139.99 now!

Ive ordered the remote to go with it so i get some shots of my 6 year old when we go out on the mtb. Ill use it for a bit and see how i get on with it. If i end up changing my mind and getting a gopro i know ill get my money back. Ive checked ebay and there are loads on there and the bids are more than what i paid!! Odd!

I may get a spare battery which is a plus over the gopro but i full charge should last me a weeks commute. Ive checked the video comparisons on youtube and it seems to be decent quality.

I’ve got a VIRB elite.

Plus points:
GPS overlay is good, loads of options on what you can show
Don’t need another GPS to sync, the Elite has GPS built in.

Bad points:
Not as good quality as equivalent Go Pro
VIRB edit software is limited. Best to use it to create the overlays, then transfer to iMovie or similar.
Shoulder mount is useless, no option for chest mount. It means that realistically bar mount is the only option.

As just a camera, I’d get something else but if you want the overlays then its good.