Tales from today's commute....

[HLaB]

Bit of a frustrating run of p'tured for me this week. Over the weekend my rear tyre went flat (probably p'tured on Friday), so I had to change that before it even started. That was the 2nd in two weeks so I ordered a new tyre. It came but I held off fitting it, I am glad I did. Last night I had an unscheduled deflation thanks to a 1 inch nail. That would have wrecked any tyre, I am glad it was the old one. I fixed the p'ture but didn't know how long it would hold, amazingly it held around 7+ miles. It eventually went 3.5miles from where I'd park, that was a slow 3.5 miles. Put the new tyre on pumped it up and all seemed fine and in the morning it was ok too. It didn't like the 35mins in the car though. Not long after I'd parked, BANG. Another repair needed and an express ride to work ensued after :-D

 

[Zanelad]

First day commuting on tbe bike for 3 weeks. Constant rain kept me in the car. My bike fitness has certainly suffered in those three weeks. Lets hope for a decent spell of dry weather so I can claw some of it back. Quite like the dark though.

 

[Bazzer]

Ps does anyone know any bike cameras that last longer then 2 hours with good audio . Because my 2 hour USB port broke and my spare one only lasts 1 hour and terrible audio and isn’t great recording at dark hours

I can only speak from personal experience of a Cycliq Fly 12 (not the CE version). With a 32Mb micro SD card, the card has plenty of space before the battery runs out after 10 hours or so, (assuming the camera light isn't used). But it isn't the sort of camera I would want on a helmet.

IIRC @Arjimlad uses a different camera and has previously said which one he uses, but I can't remember what it is.

Edit. If there has been an incident with a driver and I am not sure the camera, (which is handlebar mounted), has picked up the reg plate, a raised voice of the number will be picked up by the camera, even when moving.

 

[Arjimlad]

I can only speak from personal experience of a Cycliq Fly 12 (not the CE version). With a 32Mb micro SD card, the card has plenty of space before the battery runs out after 10 hours or so, (assuming the camera light isn't used). But it isn't the sort of camera I would want on a helmet.

IIRC @Arjimlad uses a different camera and has previously said which one he uses, but I can't remember what it is.

On the bars or helmet I have a Drift Stealth 2. The sound recording is not good at all when you are in motion due to wind noise. If I bellow a registration number it might be audible.

As for stationary conversations, it isn't bad. It will pick up the inanities of arseplectrum drivers when I catch up with them at the lights.

At the rear I have an Aldi Maxtek from 2017. I don't want to say how it has been very reliable & gives great battery life even when running as a light too, as that might jinx the thing.

Audio on the Maxtek is pants, though. It will pick up a blaring horn.

 

[I like Skol]

Strange ride home tonight! Dark, wet, windy and lots of knobbish driving. Several 'incidents' with drivers doing stupid things resulting in some quite near misses. For some reason it felt like a Friday night or worse and as well as the near misses there were lots of drivers in 'noisy' cars racing around being noisy on the wet, busy roads

 

[lazybloke]

Slightly late home tonight. Was properly dark on the woodland bridlepath section. Bit of a shock to be honest.

 

[Randombiker9]

I can only speak from personal experience of a Cycliq Fly 12 (not the CE version). With a 32Mb micro SD card, the card has plenty of space before the battery runs out after 10 hours or so, (assuming the camera light isn't used). But it isn't the sort of camera I would want on a helmet.

IIRC @Arjimlad uses a different camera and has previously said which one he uses, but I can't remember what it is.

Edit. If there has been an incident with a driver and I am not sure the camera, (which is handlebar mounted), has picked up the reg plate, a raised voice of the number will be picked up by the camera, even when moving.

Interesting thanks , however if you attach at on the bike it doesn’t seem like it’s quick release however on amazon description says there’s an alarm, if possible can you explain that?
Ps I wouldn’t trust leaving a camera on bike

 

[Arjimlad]

Lol I hate Black Cabs had another call with one today. Unfortuantly failed to realise my cameras memory was full and turned itself off so didn’t catch it. Most of the time it’s Cabs in the day time and Tesco vans at night lol

Ps does anyone know any bike cameras that last longer then 2 hours with good audio . Because my 2 hour USB port broke and my spare one only lasts 1 hour and terrible audio and isn’t great recording at dark hours

The Drift Ghost X has better battery life, I would get one if my Stealth 2 conked out. You can get extra high capacity batteries for it too.

 

[Bazzer]

Interesting thanks , however if you attach at on the bike it doesn’t seem like it’s quick release however on amazon description says there’s an alarm, if possible can you explain that?
Ps I wouldn’t trust leaving a camera on bike

It isn't a quick release. Mine is as permanently attached as a metal bracket and allen headed screws allow.
If you don't trust leaving a camera on a bike, then you need to look at other camera options. @Arjimlad has made a couple of suggestions, but there will be other cameras available.

 

[ianrauk]

Grimy commute this morning. The temperatures are really mild though, 15° when I left home at 7.30am. However it had rained heavy over night and it was drizzling when I left and continued to drizzle for the whole ride in. Of course, with rain comes more traffic. Seemed the whole of SE London was gridlocked this morning. A right pain in the 'arris. made for frustrating progress.

Anyway, scores on the doors. We have caught up with last years
Rainy commute #38 for the year to date
Same period last year, 38 with 53 over all.

I get a break next week as I will be do a weeks cycle touring in southern Spain where the weather is sunny and in the mid 20's. Nice.

 

[Arjimlad]

Impossible to avoid flooded roads this morning, at least this one was quiet. I warned several drivers "if you like your car, turn around!".

My feet stayed dry by only pedalling at the top of each stroke. Hub and BB service in the next 7 days though.

 

[Randombiker9]

It isn't a quick release. Mine is as permanently attached as a metal bracket and allen headed screws allow.
If you don't trust leaving a camera on a bike, then you need to look at other camera options. @Arjimlad has made a couple of suggestions, but there will be other cameras available.

It does seem like a good camera however have you ever had it stolen or is it very hard to take off and how do you upload it?

 

[Bazzer]

It does seem like a good camera however have you ever had it stolen or is it very hard to take off and how do you upload it?

To date it has never been stolen. - Although it is fitted under my handlebar to be slightly less obvious. As I said, it is fitted with metal brackets, which are held by allen headed keys. When moving it between my bikes, or changing position on my main road bike, I have used the conventional allen key, so I don't know how hard it is to remove by force.
Uploading is very easy. At the rear of the camera are two push in panels, which each have a tag hooked into the main camera body, so that they do not fully detach. Behind one is the USB charging point. Behind the other is the micro memory card, which removes and fits easily, with a simple finger push.

Please remember, mine is the older style Fly 12 not the Fly 12CE which is the more recent version. So unless you can source the older model, you will need to get feedback from others on the CE model.

 

[rogerzilla]

Really wet ride home. Not cold but really heavy rain. Stopped 5 mins after I got in

 

[Skanker]

Really wet ride home. Not cold but really heavy rain. Stopped 5 mins after I got in

That sounds just like every ride and dog walk I go on recently.