Bike camera with decent battery life?????

[Arjimlad]

Somewhat naively I assume that updates will be automatic. Both my Garmins my phone, car and even the central heating do it automatically. I thought that was one of the benefits of progress.

(I just typed Garmisch-Partenkirchen. No I didn't. Effin predictive text.)

Mine needs a manual update but if I forget to do it, there's an option to explain the time difference in the online submission process with Avon & Somerset.

 

[simongt]

SWMBO says no camera no ride.

My GLW has never had any issues with my continuing riding, even after I was put in hospital with a broken femur after getting rear ended.
But she's a realist; s**t happens.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

My GLW has never had any issues with my continuing riding, even after I was put in hospital with a broken femur after getting rear ended.
But she's a realist; s**t happens.

We've been married 50 years and she's lost count of the number of times I've come home injured, or even not come home under my own power. Hospital visits are not uncommon.
Think she's getting worried that I won't make our anniversary in August.
Don't know how a camera will stop drivers being 🛎 ends, but it's a small price to pay to keep her happy.

 

[Daninplymouth]

I’m using the new fly6 pro from cycliq takes really clear footage and the battery should be good for 6-7 hours. I only have a rear camera and has come
In handy for reporting a couple of drivers for dangerous passes.
I had the fly6 previously and that was decent but battery was only good for 2-3hours, plus they have a decent sale on at the moment

 

[Daninplymouth]

Also my latest trick now, rather than get angry with people and have an argument when I catch them up. I just point my camera and say let’s see what the police think of your driving, even if I have no intention of reporting them a nice little smug smile and say let the camera decide I think might make them consider their driving habits at least for a few weeks

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Well the Fly 12 pro has arrived.
Somewhat naively I assumed that the phone app was all I needed. Shall we say I was frustrated to find that it isn't really much use.
Couldn't find a decent user manual, just random references to "excellent" features.
Eventually I found an app for my PC and discovered that this was to route to take.
Only problem now is that the cable supplied must have come from Temu; once I substituted a cable from my Garmin everything connected well.

Went out today for 3.75 hours. Battery was down to 80% which is very good. Picture quality I've left as supplied to see how things pan out, but the images are very clear and stabilisation is good.

Now I need to work out how quickly the sd card will fill up.

Early days but looks promising.

 

[Dadam]

I like my Fly12 CE but for the last year or so it no longer connects to my iPhone so I can't change the options, and the timestamp is out of sync. Cycliq website says it is no longer supported

 

[Cobb]

SWMBO insists that I get a bike camera.
Plenty on the market, most of which are TEMU standard.
I want one with good resolution and decent battery life.
Looking around 2 hours seems to be the normal battery life.
GoPro and the like are ruled out as are anything that mounts on helmet.
Problem in my normal rides are up to twice that long and my weekend rides can be 6 hours.
I'm not the beard and sandal brigade with saddlebags and panniers and dont want to load my bike with battery packs, solar panels or any of the other paraphernalia that tourists are happy with.
I've seen Cycliq cameras which claim a battery life of 7 hours but nobody seems to be able to achieve this and the company are very coy on giving instructions. (But then they are Australian)

Anyone know of a good camera that has a decent battery life and can fit nicely under my bars?

Drift. They're marketed towards motorcycles. But I've been using them for years. Go Pro or generic mountings ( eBay). Very good resolution and weather resistant. Coupled with an app to chop and save footage.
Got some good videos of close passes and contact !!!

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Do any of you regular users tell me what happens when the SD card gets full?
After today's ride my card is 84% full. Does the unit start discarding the previous recordings?
I don't want to be formatting the card after every ride just to free up storage space.

 

[Slick]

Do any of you regular users tell me what happens when the SD card gets full?
After today's ride my card is 84% full. Does the unit start discarding the previous recordings?
I don't want to be formatting the card after every ride just to free up storage space.

Just overwrites the oldest files first.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Just overwrites the oldest files first.

Thanks. I thought it would but it doesn't actually say it does. Curiously it does say so on the rear light.

 

[si_c]

Thanks. I thought it would but it doesn't actually say it does. Curiously it does say so on the rear light.

Yeah it just overwrites stuff - which is the purpose of the Q button - when you press that during a ride, it tags the two most recent files to say that you want to keep them and not to overwrite them.

You can adjust how big the files are in the app - I think I have mine set to three minutes or so.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

You can adjust how big the files are in the app - I think I have mine set to three minutes or so

Yes, not found it on the app but in PC it is set by default at 5 minutes. I'll leave it at that ftb.

 

[Maylian]

Can I tag on to this thread. I'm thinking of getting a camera/light combo as well and found this thread before starting a new one.

It looks like the Fly camera's are largely well regarded. Couple of questions I've got, do people tend to run front and back camera's (Fly12 is currently out of stock on their site)? I think I'll end up getting both, but curious if I should prioritise. For the rear camera, is there much room on the seat post with a saddle bag? Like OP, I don't have paniers etc. so use a Lezyne L-Caddy saddle bag to carry my spares, although I'm 6'4" so the post is out to it's limit.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Can I tag on to this thread. I'm thinking of getting a camera/light combo as well and found this thread before starting a new one.

Sure thing, join in.
I'm new to this so here are some initial thoughts on Cycliq.
Pros...
Unit is very compact. Much smaller than I imagined. I don't like anything on top of my bars and this fits nicely under them.

Picture and sound quality seems very good.
Image stabilisation works well.
There is the ability to lock the present recording session so that it doesn't get overwritten later - useful for an incident at the start of a long ride.
Battery life seems good. I've left settings as they came and today's 4 hour session only reduced the battery level to 80%.

Cons...
Buttons are a bit tricky to access under the bars, but I suppose that once the novelty wears off they won't be used much.
Suppied cable to connect to PC must have come from TEMU. I have ditched it for my Garmin one.
Fittings are PIA. Cycliq have developed their own 1/4 turn set up. This is totally incompatible with the ubiquitous Garmin system meaning that you have to rely solely on Cycliq fittings. So if you have more than one bike you have to pay handsomely for extra clamps or resort to a bodge if your spares box will allow.
Make sure you get everything in one order. Every order - even for full systems - attracts a £10 postage fee. Bit of a rip off.
Don't try and email them for help. I did and was asked for photos from every side of the unit, my receipt and the box it came in before they would discuss anything.
Don't expect anything like a user manual. There are a few hints and tips but you have to search for them. Google and other forums are just as useful as anything Cycliq put out. They tell you what buttons are for, but not what effect they have. EDIT...I have found a user guide - it took some finding.
(Very much like Garmin and Wahoo who all seem to believe that we are all geeks with 3 day stubble, drainpipe jeans and walk around with a skinny decaff latte in one hand and the latest (very latest) i-phone in the other)
The phone app is not much better than a chocolate teapot. I believe you can view playback from the latest rear cameras, but not the front ones.
You need to find and download a desktop app and connect via a cable to see your videos; seetings controls are also available there, but once you have it set there should be little need for amendment.

Early days and the unit seems to do what I want, but I suspect that if anything goes wrong with it then I will be very much on my own. I don't get good vibes re customer service.

As mentioned above wifey pressed me into getting this. I still have resevations that driver behaviour will change, but at least plod cannot use their usual getout of "No video, no crime". I only have the front but am not averse to getting a rear; like you I would like to know how well it fits under a small saddle bag