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After a few too many altercations/near misses over the past few months, I'm looking for a decent bike cam.
Good enough for evidential purposes inc sound, presumably SD card memory and battery to last all day - say ~8hrs. Obviously mounted to the front of a boik so light and unobtrusive plus weather tight. Oh and extra jam, decent low light performance would be a bonus.
Watcha got and how do you find it please?
Ta.
bookmarking
Take a look at the Drift Ghost XL camera, 1080p, 9 hour battery life, waterproof, rotatable lens etc...
Designed for motorbike use but just as good on a road bike, only downside is no stabilization
@escrs Aye saw them on Amazon. Anybody got one/used one? Feedback please as the Amazon reviews aren't great...
I had one for a month, for on road use just to capture car number plates etc.. it was good, clear detail, good low light once you set it up, battery life was excellent
I wanted something i could also use off road (the Ghost XL was rubbish due to no stabilization) so sold it on and bought a GoPro 8 with 2 extra batteries, i can get one day's commute (30 mins each way) out of one battery and then also have it for off road recording
May buy another Ghost XL for when i do longer road bike rides later on
If you buy on Amazon and dont like it then its easy to return and get your money back
See here - https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/psa-nice-bar-camera-30/
Still have stock by the look of it.
Quick sample
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I had a Ghost Drift, sold it because the app doesn't work with the most up-to-date android version so you had to connect it to a computer all the time.
I have this for sale, was listed on here but doesn't want to do it any more
https://m.pinkbike.com/buysell/2931265/
Thanks DezB - clicked buy on one of the SP Vupoints.
I need to get an SD card apparently. Only purpose is to record road rides in case of accident / evidence. Would not plan to store anything on the card so if it has a 2 hour battery only how big SD does that use?
I’ve got the earlier version of the Drift and wear it on every ride nowadays. It goes on top of my helmet and mounted that way the lack of stabilisation hasn’t been a problem. Battery lasts 2 hours in the warmer summer weather (less in winter). For longer rides I pop a small ‘power bank’ in my jersey pocket with a long power lead connected. I’ve submitted one shitscary close pass to the old bill which was dealt with. It’s very customisable via the menu and does exactly want I want from a helmet-cam.
@watty Thanks. So the Drift will run whilst plugged into external power?
What version have you got?
I know the Drift Ghost X only has 5 hour battery life at 1080p (8 hours if used with the long life battery module)
The Drift Ghost XL has 9 hour battery life at 1080p
The Ghost 4k only has a 3 hour battery life at 4k ( there is a 5 hour battery module available)
Tempted to try the Ghost 4k with the 5 hour battery module for commuting and longer rides
@dezb Ta. What’s the battery life like please?
Yeah, I’ve got 2 hrs out of it. Hasn’t run out of power yet on a ride.
Guess one downside is the proprietory charger - doesn’t charge from a normal usb, but a little base unit thing. (not sure if it charges when connected to device via the inbuilt connector though)
I've been very impressed with the little Vupoint. My only concern is the lack of a timestamp, but it is a great little camera.
Nice one, glad to hear it. For £30odd, its pretty decent eh 👍
I have a couple of cycliq cameras. The front one has good battery life, a built in light, and good video quality....however it interferes with GPS bike units (you can see the accuracy drop and improve by turning the light on and off). Cycliqs response is to shrug.
I said I have a couple, I've also got the rear one they make (Fly 6?). However I've no idea how that performs as although I ordered in November (and paid for 3 day delivery IIRC), it arrived yesterday (to my old address - they've taken so long i've moved house!)! Radio silence from the company, other than them occasionally sending me tracking references (which when you use them it says the shipping company is expecting the package) and then sending follow ups saying all the packages were 'lost in transit/some bollocks'.
Not impressed and would avoid.
malv173
Full Member
I’ve been very impressed with the little Vupoint. My only concern is the lack of a timestamp, but it is a great little camera.
My local constabulary insist on the footage having an accurate time and date stamp
Thanks for the suggestions. So far I'm not seeing an ~8hr battery life HD/evidence worthy option. The Drift has potential but the majority of the reviews on Amazon stink.
I have chilli tech bullet cam, done the job so far. Although I doubt the battery would last 8 hours, although mine has never completely gone flat
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O6XMVCV8gpQ
My local constabulary insist on the footage having an accurate time and date stamp
Interesting. How do they know it's accurate? Most of em you have to set by editing a text file..
Also - scenario: Officer, a car knocked me off, here's video evidence of D1CK H3D knocking me off. Sorry mate, doesn't show the time.
As if.
I've the Chilli tech cam also, it's resulted in at least one driver education course. Battery lasts about 4 hours. I bought a spare battery for it but only found out once I bought it that changing the battery resets the date / time, that's a bit rubbish
I bought a spare battery for it but only found out once I bought it that changing the battery resets the date / time, that’s a bit rubbish
It's annoying that, not sure if the new version solves it or not.
Another vote for the Chilli cam here. Footage perfectly acceptable for what it is (see AA's video above) but it's not amazing in low light. Good enough but won't catch numberplates at night unless you're pretty close, but then I suspect most are like this unless you pay a lot.
The date/time also resets everytime I connect it to the PC, a minor annoyance, easily fixable though as someone made a batch script that can be just clicked on to set the time correctly again. Can't find the link right now though... will upload it if anyone wants a copy.
I'd like the batch file link please. I'm never sure if I'm recording the proper details on mine or not.
Sorry mate, doesn’t show the time.
especially if backed up by a strava file or similar
@thepodge may have the link please?
I've ordered a Chilli Tech c/w spare battery to see if they're any good. How are people mounting them please?
Thanks for the suggestions. So far I’m not seeing an ~8hr battery life HD/evidence worthy option. The Drift has potential but the majority of the reviews on Amazon stink.
I'm not sure that's realistically possible? There's a trade-off between image quality (both sensor size and processing power) and battery life.
E.g. a go-pro only lasts an hour. The chilli tech ones now run off external 4x18650 packs like lights
There's loads of dual camera systems for motorbikes on eBay that I'm tempted to try, they'll run off a USB power bank (or dynamo + usb socket). I think f+r is the most usefull bit, the reg plate is more likely to be visible (and passes facing backwards always look a lot closer because cars are often still pulling out untill they're well ahead).
I don't have the file, I was asking for it.
I mount mine with ALL the adaptors from eBay
I mount it with the velcro one that came with it.
Download link
Just stick that on the cam, next to the time settings file. Before unplugging it from the PC, just double click this to set the time to the same as your PC.
NB: after unplugging, turn the camera on then off again. It only reads the file and sets the internal clock when it's turned on for the first time so if you don't do this straight away the time will be wrong anyway.
If that link goes dead, here's the code:
@echo off
for /F "usebackq tokens=1,2 delims==" %%i in (
wmic os get LocalDateTime /VALUE 2^>NUL) do if '.%%i.'=='.LocalDateTime.' set ldt=%%jset ldt=%ldt:~0,4%.%ldt:~4,2%.%ldt:~6,2% %ldt:~8,2%:%ldt:~10,2%:%ldt:~12,2%
echo %ldt% Y 3 > %CD%\time.txt
Just create a text file, paste that in, then change the extension from .txt to .bat
(I take no credit for this! But can't remember who does...)
Edit: Ok somewhat unsurprisingly the formatting went slightly weird there. Just put backticks around the white part inside the brackets.
Thanks for that.
The date/time also resets everytime I connect it to the PC
Mine doesn't do that.
I fix mine to bars and use a cheap planet X mount that's better than the one it came with.
Anyone having problems getting a phone to connect to a Vupoint Q? Just received mine, the app opens then immediately just crashes, can’t access settings or view images.
Think mine did that once or twice when I first got it. Been ok since. TBH I usually plug the SD card into my laptop to view/delete files off it.
I've just seen an ad for the "new updated" Chilli Bullet cam. Any opinions?
I use a Cycliq fly12. It's the older model but it checks out.
Great footage and lasts a couple of days even with the light on as well.
BigJohn
Full Member
I’ve just seen an ad for the “new updated” Chilli Bullet cam. Any opinions?
I've ordered one to see if it's any good.
I await with interest.
Wellllll full circle...
I bought the Chilli Cam c/w extra battery. It comes with helmet and bar mounts. The bar mount is held together by a nut and bolt (m3?). Take yours apart and apply threadlock before using to avoid losing anything when it falls to bits...
The battery lasts in excess of 4 hrs and the video quality is good. Sound quality is dog shit on the move but OK when stationary.
I initially used a 32gb SD card and vids are saved in little 3min segments. When the card is full, oldest segments are overwritten sequentially. There's no way to mark a segment for archiving/saving.
The main controls (one multi coloured backlit button) is a bit hard to see in sunlight but there is a confirmatory vibration when the unit starts or stops.
In all, it feels like an entry level camera that is a bit light on features but for £50 all in, I'm quite happy with it as a dashcam/continuous record of my rides. Battery life is exceptional ATM and I've ordered a 128gb SD card to avoid any overwrites on longer rides.
Chilli cam footage ( I had somehow unknowingly turned off the timestamp, its back on now):
1min 40 to see car
In all, it feels like an entry level camera that is a bit light on features but for £50 all in,
Sounds like you wuz done mate 😂
That's a thing of beauty, that is! 😆
I actually thought it was game over today...1.20in
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jnX1iKUxupQ&feature=youtu.be
I'd just say, ditch the cameras, it will do nothing more than rise your stress, especially looking at it after.
I quit rode riding for 5 years after breaking my spine 6 years ago on the road - I'm back at it, but stay away from commuting on roads, and pick my routes now.
The one above was close but you had room for a bail and could see the driver's position. It's terrible, but that's a very narrow road and folk take the whole road sometimes - something you've got to watch - been there.
that’s a very narrow road
It's not really, as the second car showed.
I’d just say, ditch the cameras, it will do nothing more than rise your stress, especially looking at it after.
So don't report dangerous driving? What a curious thing to say. Having got rid of my camera and having no ability to follow the matter up would increase my stress levels much more.
The driver of the one further up entitled "overtake" got a warning letter from police, might make the moron think twice next time. The more people that have cameras and report bad driving leading to action from police the better I think.
With you on that angagallis_arvensis. Especially the "curious thing to say" bit - Fossy's whole post was a bit bizarre.
what always gets me about those kinds of incidents ^^ is there's never any attempt to slow down by the on coming vehicle it's deliberately intimidatory .
I totally agree with reporting this kind of driving - it’s stressful having absolute dicks just either using their metal boxes as battering rams, or being totally careless around cyclists.
My wife says when I’m driving I’m odd around cyclists - I pointed out I’m just trying quite hard not to run them down. I have a suspicion she falls into the careless around cyclists category but nothing I say changes that. What would be good would be taking her out on the road to see what’s it’s like to get close passed - but she’s too nervous a cyclist to do that!
That overtake on the wrong side of the road gave you a lovely amount of room - but the person in the car coming the other way must have needed to change their underpants. That surely warranted some points / a fine rather than just a warning letter.
On the second car coming the other way that’s just aggressive / ignorant driving for no good reason. I wonder what the police will have to say about that one.
That surely warranted some points / a fine rather than just a warning letter.
There was some bloke on Twitter who was in the process of escalating something like that to his PCC/MP etc. as he felt a letter was unduly lenient. Must chase up and see how he got on…
Update.
Police called to say the old lady driver has, after watching the video with her daughter, agreed to surrender her license.
Well done daughter and police.