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Wife commutes in to work every day and on a dutch style behemoth of a bike but regularly tells me of being cut up and risking being knocked off by eejiots. She has persuaded herself that what she needs is a camera to capture the moment one finally knocks her off, Me, can't see the point really. Once you are dead you are dead and no amount of footage will bring you back. Would rather put the effort into finding a route with less danger points.
In any case, she is adamant. So, whats the default answer for a relatively cheap camera that records on a loop or whatever they do? Maybe helmet mounted but I would have thought bar mounted would be bests. And idiot/ technophobe proof.
Read cyclecraft, do some training. Much more useful than a camera in that you will be unlikely to need one. As with cars the only people that have many near misses are people with cameras.
Any. My experience is that a visible camera on your helmet is a remarkably effective deterrent against many crap drivers. While sad in the sense that it means most drivers know the law yet will take a risk with your life, it did cut down on the number of close passes for me.
Read cyclecraft, do some training. Much more useful than a camera in that you will be unlikely to need one. As with cars the only people that have many near misses are people with cameras.
If you read my post you'll see I don't need much persuading on the first two sentences. Last sentence is I suspect bobbins however - trees falling in woods springs to mind.
I have a DogCam - small bullet like thing that fits well on the helmet (I use an exposure light mount thinking about it).
Edit: by DogCam I mean these guys but the website is useless on my phone to find the actual one.
https://www.dcs-systems.ltd.uk/retail/dog-cam-sport/
Aye a nice victim blame there
I commute witha camera because folk on the roads are impatient dicks at rushhour
I don't have many (infact i cant remember my last) nead misses but then I don't post my footage online so you'd not be able to add it to your shonky statistics.
I got a roadhawk after a not so near miss when a car crossed into a junction too late blocking my path at the last minute by misjudging my speed.
Police wouldn't do owt so I fitted a cam .
I also fitted car cams to my vehicles around the same time
The only thing I've ever picked up was the time a car drove down the wrong side of the road round a blind corner and I'd already stopped he near drive into me....was that because I had a camera or would it have happened camera or not ?
You can have a camera and not be a dick you know.
Cycliq - bar mounted and has integrated light, decent battery life / connectivity.
I bought it after a run-in with a walker on a bridleway attempted to block my way / push me off - he missed, fell on his face and then feigned a neck injury.
There's no accounting for nutters, whether they're driving, on foot or living under their own pretences of invincibility...
What do folk do with footage of bad driving ? Do the police act on it as a default and is it worth bothering with ?
Send it to road safe, who will prosecute the driver if the offence is bad enough.
I just want it as a witness next time a car tries to kill me even with defensive riding in sure it'll happen again even if my commute is now 19km and only 1of those is on the road.
I'm watching this thread with interest.
My ideal setup would be cameras front and back with a power bank in the middle, all sealed from the elements if possible. I'd then charge the power bank once a week or something.
I've been looking at cheap action cams and wondering if I could get waterproof housing that I could drill into for the purposes of charging?
I’ve been looking at cheap action cams and wondering if I could get waterproof housing that I could drill into for the purposes of charging?
Exactly what I've been idly thinking.
What a ridiculous post by @cbike!!
I have a rear mounted Aldi light/camera and have already had one successful prosecution against an aggressive/dangerous close pass.
I think I will upgrade it to a Cycliq Fly at some point because it has started getting condensation inside.
Avon & Somerset police have a very easy submission process online, I had a reply within 12 hours, a big thumbs up to them!
I've got a GoPro Session on my bars, but the battery life is pretty poor (I get about 2 hours). When the time comes to replace it I'd be tempted by a [url= https://driftinnovation.com/collections/cameras-new/products/ghost-x ]Drift Ghost X[/url] which has 5 hours of recording time (and a boost battery pack).
I have two camera's. A GoPro Hero Session 5 for the front and the Cycliq Fly on the rear.
I will be honest, makes little difference. Had man an incident yet Police not interested. Had one last week on a single way road. 20Mph road. It has a climb at the start, flattens a little then a slight down hill. I was riding along and had a car fly up behind me as I was starting to crest the climb. I started to speed up as I didnt want to slow them as they sounded more important than me. Next minute they basically pushed me out of the way.
I got in touch with the Police, sent in CD with the footage on. But because they're so short staffed its not a priority. I totally understand that, but now its gone past the time of prosecution so the basically cant do anything.
What do folk do with footage of bad driving ? Do the police act on it as a default and is it worth bothering with ?
I think the default is to Post it on YouTube and wait for the love to roll in...
Apparently Google are looking into a new technology that specifically harvests the rage and vitriol from the comments posted on helmet cam, traffic footage as a potential new energy sources...
TBH the best you can do as a deterrent is cover a large matchbox in Back insulating tape and stick it prominently on top of your missus lid, just to ape the appearance of a helmet cam... Or spend £20-30 on amazon to achieve the same effect but with an LED or two.
Edit: There's about a cajillion Go-Pro knock offs available (like this) for under £25, fill yer boots...
cbike
Read cyclecraft, do some training. Much more useful than a camera in that you will be unlikely to need one. As with cars the only people that have many near misses are people with cameras.
Penis.
In answer to the OP, I don't think there is a default camera choice.
If I was buying now, I'd get something like a GoPro session or a Polaroid cube. Or just a cheap bullet cam, depends on the budget.
I went for one of the flash, feature rich Shimano cams and now I know why they were half RRP everywhere - cos they are pretty crap - battery life is less than an hour, even with the features turned off. The phone app makes it easy to delete footage (which is what you do mostly!) or just review stuff.
Previous to the Shimano had a £30odd bullet cam from eBay and the quality was just as good, the battery life was far better, not so many mounting options though. (Shimano is GoPro mount compatible). The cheap ones come with massive, heavy mounting hardware, so yeah, things like the Session or something is a better choice.
The Cyclic ones are far too expensive for me. Just don't see the point spending that much.
the roadhawk i bought comes with a waterproof plug through with extension lead to a battery pack which gives it pretty much infinate power as the battery pack lasts many many many more times longer than i can ride.
What ever you do buy make sure it does auto over write recording.
If you really must, consider getting a Rylo or some other 360 cam, one way footage is only going to tell half the story, you have no idea why that car got close and it could be a good reason.
"you have no idea why that car got close and it could be a good reason."
the camera can detect brake failure? (the only valid and real reason for getting close)
One of the guys in the cycling club has the fly12 and fly6 which seem OK if a bit expensive.
I took the "victim blaming" view on my commute and decided that I'd rather cycle 20 minutes out of my way to avoid the busiest road than spend that time having to put yet another device on charge.
the camera can detect brake failure? (the only valid and real reason for getting close)
They're important, you're a cyclist, what more reason do most people need?
I’d rather cycle 20 minutes out of my way to avoid the busiest road than spend that time having to put yet another device on charge.
I avoid the busiest route, but it's not like I can avoid my place of work, or my house. They're still in places where I have to mix with the traffic, if only for a few minutes. But, don't you find, the vast majority of incidents happen within a mile of your departure or destination?!
The most dangerous bit of my commute is the last mile.
Doesn't matter how much you ride out your way. If you want to get to the final destination you'll be mixing with traffic.
I avoid the busiest route, but it’s not like I can avoid my place of work, or my house. They’re still in places where I have to mix with the traffic, if only for a few minutes. But, don’t you find, the vast majority of incidents happen within a mile of your departure or destination?!
Either end of mine is just suburban 30 limits, it's the NSL A-road in between that caused problems.
the most dangerous bit of mine is the suburban 30limit. the bit with the round abouts and the junctions that people are doing anything else but driving.
the rest of it is fully tarmaced well draining ex railway line cycle path sheltered from the wind and no cars. just extendo lead dog walkers with headphones to contest with.