After an extremely close pass this morning, and something of a confrontation with the driver, I'm thinking about a bike camera to record incidents. Is there any consensus (seems unlikely I know 😉 about:
a) A good, reasonably priced, camera.
b) The merits of front or rear facing?
TIA
Littlerob
TBH I don't think you need any more than one of these
Seems crazy to spend out on something you hardly really use in anger, and the footage from the ebay ones is decent enough if you do need it. The only downside is they use a proprietary charge lead and the "video on" light is a bit too small.
I've tried loads over the years and they are as good as any, especially battery life. And when they do die, easy to replace.
Never seen the need for rear facing - though, as I've said in a few other threads, a rear view mirror on the bars is really useful.
Chilli tech bullet cam has always done for me.
I've been thinking for a while that i should, and looking at Chilli-tech ones, reasonably sensible for front and back, and decent battery life - 3.5 hours advertised.
Desperatebike's recommendation probs works for a commute, but the battery life feels a little short for longer weekend cafe outings
EDIT: AA's post crossed in the ether with mine
I did a thread on this about three weeks ago. I'll see if i can link it in a moment. Someone suggested a 360 helmet cam.
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/bike-forum/what-front-rear-cameras/
That's the one.
I've had a few of the Chilli Tech 1080p cameras and I've also bought some of the ones on ebay which are the same as the Chill tech 1080p camera (Chilli tech seem to rebrand them and add in some extra mounts etc.. I don't think Chilli tech actually make the camera)
They are all ok for general day use but have their limitations, low sunlight, fast moving cars and no stabilization can mean you cant always read the number plate and you pretty much have no chance of the camera showing someone using their phone whilst driving
At night they are useless which is a shame as my commute is always in the dark once a day
Another thing is I've always found Chilli tech's customer service a bit crap, I had some issues with one of their camera's and it took a month for them to reply to me, I tried what they said to update the camera to fix an issue, it didn't fix the issue so emailed them back and never had a reply
Silly me, answering the thread title 😉
but the battery life feels a little short for longer weekend cafe outings
How would you know? Anyway … road riding for any other purpose than getting to and from work? No ta.
How would you know?
...Cos the ebay description on yr link says 2 hours...as I said, fine for a commute, not having a pop, but....my weekend rides are longer than that so they don't make my wishlist
I used to commute a little over an hour each way 4 days a week and used a Magicshine Seemee DV rear camera/taillight and an older Gopro Hero7 Black on the front with frame rate/resolution set to give it's longest run time in 1080. (about an hour and a half IIRC. I'd charge it at work for the commute home). To be of any use. you definitely need both front AND rear camera. But ideally a 360 cam. (expensive) to show the whole incident and capture numberplates/driver etc.
The Magicshine has a really long runtime, captures decent quality footage and is actually one of the best rear lights I've ever used. I've simply no use for it anymore though as new job means I no longer commute by bike at all.
PM me an offer for it if you're interested.
In contrast I contacted chilli tech about a battery, mine was old and not lasting very long, they sent me a new one for free. You can easily carry a spare battery and replace on longer rides but the time stamp resets to 2017 or something. I can do a 3-4 hour ride with one battery although I did note that my wives had died after about 2 hours when looking at an incident on a group ride a few weeks ago.
As said if you want to catch people on the phone they are useless and in the dark or wet they are less useful, but on the proper close passes I have always got a reg number.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak7JkdaBC1w
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xx5Z2uPVjgQ
https://www.teamcycles.com/accessories/lights/tooo-cycling-front-camera-light-combo__42838
At £99 this has to be worth a look.
@anagallis_arvensis I hope that Land Rover Evoque video was passed to the police as, at least the second pass, appears both aggressive and deliberate.
As said if you want to catch people on the phone they are useless and in the dark or wet they are less useful,
That footage quality is absolutely awful even in decent light. You'd get a secondhand Gopro 7 for about a hundred quid. add a powerbank and a cable with sugru to seal around the connection port and you'd have way better quality footage and a long run time. There's probably a better option these days but I'd expect it to cost a fair bit more.
helmet mounted cam is the only sure way to catch what a driver is doing inside a vehicle. So again 360cam would be your best option then a gopro or one of the tiny insta go cams but runtime is seriously limited with those you'd need to remember to press record when you need to capture footage. and probably not the first thing to pop into your mind in the heat of the moment.
Thanks for the responses. I'm going to have to give this some thought. The handlebar mounted options look very big, and I swap between bikes for the commute. Helmet mounted might be an option, but I already have a helmet mounted light for the commute home, so I'd have to re-think that.
https://www.teamcycles.com/accessories/lights/tooo-cycling-front-camera-light-combo__42838
At £99 this has to be worth a look.
That is a decent cost saving PSA, assuming the camera is actually any good.
Why anyone would have a helmet mounted light for commuting has always absolutely baffled me.
A light at head height gives oncoming vehicles on unlit roads a false impression of where you actually are in the road not to mention dazzling any oncoming traffic or pedestrians you look at.
Why anyone would have a helmet mounted light for commuting has always absolutely baffled me.
A light at head height gives oncoming vehicles on unlit roads a false impression of where you actually are in the road not to mention dazzling any oncoming traffic or pedestrians you look at.
Thankfully Ive developed eyes that can look in a different direction to my head orientation, so I can turn my head (and therefore the light beam) slightly away from cars, and still see them with my eyes.
Thanks for taking the time to reply but I'm still baffled as to why anyone feels the need to have a helmet mounted spotlight as well as a decent bar mounted light while riding on public roads.
UK road laws stipulate your front bicycle light should be fitted no higher than 1.5m from the ground. Additional lights are permitted but only legal if they do not dazzle.
But if you're the one guy who manages to avert his Dazzlemaster1000 bonce beam away from every single oncoming road user and pedestrian I guess you'll be exempt. Just like all those guys who've developed eyes to type phone messages while also keeping their eyes on the road while driving.
oh... wait!
Its a bit off topic, but part of my commute is off-road and I've found it extremely useful (in the sense of game-changing, never going back) to be able to shine a light where the handlebars aren't yet pointing.
Was driving yesterday. saw a rider with a helmet and bar light. Thought, that's good, he's really visible. Didn't dazzle me anywhere near as much as the van that later came towards me with bright LEDs right in my eye line.
hope that Land Rover Evoque video was passed to the police as, at least the second pass, appears both aggressive and deliberate
Argh yes...he was sent a warning letter!!! Ffs it was 100% deliberate, the driver was so angry at me not being safe in the shit cycle path he decided to ram me off the road.
That footage quality is absolutely awful even in decent light
But still good enough to get reg number and both drivers reported to police which is why I want the camera..I don't need a go pro.. just need something to strap to the bars and largely ignore for months on end
Oh. yeah. don't get me wrong. Bright helmet mounted lights are absolutely brilliant OFF-Road. But just switch it off if you're riding on the road.
Visibility can be achieved with Hi-viz/reflective clothing/helmets/decals and if you want lights on your helmet attach small lower intensity led lights with maybe 100 lumens or less. To be seen by rather than see with..
Something like a 40lm knog plus safety light attached to your helmet would more than suffice
https://www.knog.com/products/plus-front-bike-light
How long do you need it to run for?
I love my little GoPro Session 5, video's great and it's a nice unobtrusive little camera, not the usual brick. However, the battery's not replaceable & after the usual charge decline I only get about 2 hours @ 1080 (it'll go a fair bit higher resolution).
It's old and hasn't been produced for years but they still seem to be quite sought after fetching £100+ at CEX or on eBay.
I'm after something similarly tidy & discrete that'll run for 3 hours or more.
90 min commute is too long for my GoPro. I have a Fly6 on the back that needs a charge when I get to work. It’s been fine but tends to die fast. I have an original Fly12 that is now bricked. I didn’t replace it but liked it when it worked. The varia seems a decent option but not cheap. Will see if any reductions come for Black Friday. And if choosing one, rear for the close passes.
My Fly6 recorded a fatality in our club and was used to exonerate our riding standards at the inquest. Fortunately it was dark because the footage was harrowing enough without being daylight.