Best bike cameras

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Daninplymouth

Senior Member
Hi, looking for some recommendations for a decent camera. My key point is battery life would like 4-5hours. Iv just been given a gopro hero 8 but don’t think this is suitable really for long rides so seeing if I can exchange it. So far on my list is the cycliq fly12, anything out there better than these? I prefer the look of the bullet cams but like that the cycliq has a light as I don’t use one usually
 

vickster

Legendary Member
Have you done a forum search? This comes up often :okay:
 

Big T

Guru
Location
Nottingham
Do you want a front or rear camera? I have a ChilliTech front and a Cycliq Fly6 rear. The ChilliTech is cheap and cheerful. It works but the handlebar mount is a bit wobbly. It comes with handlebar and helmet mounts. They often have them on special offer at £39.99 and you can buy a spare battery for a tenner. The battery life is around 4 hours.

Ive had my Fly6 for about 5 years. It’s expensive but worth it IMO, it just works, gives decent footage and good battery life - 5-6 hours per charge. I also had a Fly12 front light, but it’s a heavy beast and mine died after a couple of years, so I can’t recommend.

Tariq from Smart Bike Trainers.com did a recent YouTube review of the the TeenTok rear light and camera, which looks decent and is half the price of the Fly6.
 

BoldonLad

Not part of the Elite
Location
South Tyneside
I have had the ChilliTech Camera, not terribly impressed, gave it away. I now have AKASO EK7000 (approx £50, on Amazon etc). Quite happy with the video quality, but, the battery life (3 hours) would not suit your requirements. Battery is removable, and, the camera comes with two batteries, so, if swapping batteries is acceptable, you could achieve 4 hours. One point to note, if/when you remove battery to swap/recharge, you have to rest date/time. Not difficult, but, a little bit annoying. Sample footage here.
 
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Daninplymouth

Daninplymouth

Senior Member
From the other posts iv seen and looked at I’m quite impressed with the ghost XL so that’s the number 1 contender i think now beside the cycliq fly12 although the newer CE doesn’t seem to get as good reviews.
I’m only after a front, I don’t want anything to cheap £100-£250 is where I’m looking.
 

Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
From the other posts iv seen and looked at I’m quite impressed with the ghost XL so that’s the number 1 contender i think now beside the cycliq fly12 although the newer CE doesn’t seem to get as good reviews.
I’m only after a front, I don’t want anything to cheap £100-£250 is where I’m looking.

There's a Drift User's group on FB which reports a lot of problems with the Ghost XL.

Mine conked out in heavy rain last year but was replaced under warranty without difficulty. Without the warranty it would be bricked or bodged by my inexpert hand.

Recently, Drift sneaked out a firmware update (said to "improve live streaming") which had the effect of diminishing the video quality considerably, by reducing the bitrate and file size, and I had to spend weeks with their support people getting that replaced with the old firmware so my videos are back to an acceptable quality. The XL is meant to be fully weatherproof without a case, so no case is available, but the Ghost X needs a case. If I'm going out in heavy rain I either tape over the speaker vents, or use a different camera in a waterproof case.

I'd probably look at a Ghost X but buy it with a credit card or from the place which offers the longest warranty.

If you're happy swapping the batteries, then a used GoPro from CEX comes with a 2 yr warranty and the later models have excellent image quality and the stabilisation which the cheaper Drift models lack. It depends if you're looking at producing beautiful footage, or just running the cameras for "insurance" or reporting bad drivers. Hope this helps!
 
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Daninplymouth

Daninplymouth

Senior Member
There's a Drift User's group on FB which reports a lot of problems with the Ghost XL.

Mine conked out in heavy rain last year but was replaced under warranty without difficulty. Without the warranty it would be bricked or bodged by my inexpert hand.

Recently, Drift sneaked out a firmware update (said to "improve live streaming") which had the effect of diminishing the video quality considerably, by reducing the bitrate and file size, and I had to spend weeks with their support people getting that replaced with the old firmware so my videos are back to an acceptable quality. The XL is meant to be fully weatherproof without a case, so no case is available, but the Ghost X needs a case. If I'm going out in heavy rain I either tape over the speaker vents, or use a different camera in a waterproof case.

I'd probably look at a Ghost X but buy it with a credit card or from the place which offers the longest warranty.

If you're happy swapping the batteries, then a used GoPro from CEX comes with a 2 yr warranty and the later models have excellent image quality and the stabilisation which the cheaper Drift models lack. It depends if you're looking at producing beautiful footage, or just running the cameras for "insurance" or reporting bad drivers. Hope this helps!

Thanks I will have a look through that page. I have been given a GoPro hero8 for my birthday but don’t think it’ll be suitable as I don’t want to carry spare batteries with me and have to stop and change them.
 
Tariq from Smart Bike Trainers.com did a recent YouTube review of the the TeenTok rear light and camera, which looks decent and is half the price of the Fly6.

Apart from the bit where he says the camera only picks out number plates really close up. That's a bit pants.
 

Seevio

Guru
Location
South Glos
Thanks I will have a look through that page. I have been given a GoPro hero8 for my birthday but don’t think it’ll be suitable as I don’t want to carry spare batteries with me and have to stop and change them.
I have a GoPro Hero 8 and I was a little disappointed at the battery life even though it seems fairly standard. So I bought a third party battery cover that allows me to run a power lead to an external battery pack. I now run out of space on my sd card before I run out of battery. This works for me because I don't ride for pleasure when it rains but obviously this solution stops the gopro being waterproof.
 

BoldonLad

Not part of the Elite
Location
South Tyneside
Thanks I will have a look through that page. I have been given a GoPro hero8 for my birthday but don’t think it’ll be suitable as I don’t want to carry spare batteries with me and have to stop and change them.
If the GoPro has exchangeable battery, have you investigated if it is possible to buy same physical size battery, with greater capacity? (A search on eBay may give a start), thus, extending the battery life.
 

Bazzer

Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
Cycliq Fly 12 user here. To date a great bit of kit. I get the feeling they spoiled it with CE version.
You might be able to pick up a second hand one. There are online guides about changing the batteries, if a duff battery is the only issue.
Note you also need specific memory cards for them to record properly.
 
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