duffer1960

Saw the same driver a 3rd time. This time he changed lanes to pass me. Odd, though, that he went back to the right lane for a block only to switch to the left lane again to make his left turn.

Have not received the 'Drift Ghost X' cam I ordered yet. Should arrive soon. I chose the free shipping so got extra-slow service.

rumrunn6

that's a good thing & he probably just didn't know where he was, until he was there

kobike86

Did you buy?

duffer1960

Yes, and it's still in the box. Been busy.

Camouflage

Cyclic Fly 12 is a great option. I guess there are many fans here.

duffer1960

Drift Ghost X. It's out of the box & I'm trying to figure it out. Has a clip for mounting into dedicated fixtures. Includes two dedicated fixtures with double-back adhesive. One is flat, one is slightly concave. No clamp-type mounts. Charging & data cord is very short, about 7".

6/7/20 Edit: Powered it up & it seems to work. Want to buy mounts. Waiting for a reply on when the GoPro ('Universal') mount adapter will be available. Will also buy a handlebar mount.

AMGwagon

First off: I sympathize with your plight. I obey lights and stop signs and wave to motorists who respect my right of way. Yet every ride, there's something, and on some days it's a really close call. I use the Fly 6 & 12 from CycliQ, and they are not cheap. But they have blinking lights and use the GoPro software from what I can tell. The company is also hosting videos with location of incident on their site to help document the close calls. That said: I have NEVER had the police accept my video evidence to issue a moving violation to a motorist. I don't know of any state where police do use video evidence from a bike or car to issue a ticket, which is odd since police cams are everywhere.

As far as the best price/benefit: I would either recommend the new Fly 6 which is coming out now, and/or the cheapest GoPro for front and back. With this you can prove culpability after the accident happens. Or if you are like me and it'a a commercial vehicle, you can call the company and tell them you have video evidence of the employee with company vehicle and plates #__ who harassed and/or endangered your safety. In each case when I've called, the company has taken action (or so they said). One one occasion they called me back after the reprimand to summarize what they did.

Be well and stay safe.

duffer1960

Still haven't used my new Drift Ghost X. Bought the cam but it didn't come with a handlebar mount. I'd have ordered one, but to save $$ shipping I'd like to also order a 'Universal Mount' that attaches to GoPro style mounts. Drift Innovation universal mount is never in stock, apparently. Have received messages that say, "Check back after date x", and I do, but it's still not in stock. And, the charging cord is so short, about 2-3", that I have to hang the camera by the cord when I charge it. All in all, disappointed.

Edit: They have been good about answering inquiries. 'Be patient, it'll be in soon'.

Edit2: Ordered the handlebar mount, a universal mount, a swivel mount 7/12/20. Intend to try this as an auto dashcam also

Edit 3: Drift says my order can't be fulfilled - universal mount is out of stock. Asking me if I want to wait until/after 12Aug or cancel. Sheesh. Disappointed x2.

canklecat

The Drift roll bar mount is almost identical to the handlebar mount, but with longer bolts. It's still available as of today. I use one on my road bike stem. The handlebar mount is actually mounted on my seat post for the rear facing camera.

There's also another style handlebar mount, still available. One user review says the rubber grip tape won't hold, but I'm betting an aluminum shim material might work. I'm using a thin aluminum shim on my quill stem/drop bar to prevent rotation due to a slight mismatch in diameters. No problems.

myemptymind

I bought a GoPro 7 for both the car and to mount on my bars when i ride, works great for both.

duffer1960

I've been unable to use it so far. Ordered a bar mount and a 'universal mount' (that attaches to a GoPro mount, which I don't own but since it's the popular one, I want to be able to use). Have been trying to order these since I first received the thing but the universal mount showed out of stock. Then a month & a half ago, it showed as in stock & I went ahead and ordered, and they charged my card. Got an email from them that it was actually out of stock but would you like us to hold your order & ship it when it's available, after August 11, and I replied, 'ok'. So far (August 17), no further communication. I just sent them an email asking for an update. If they don't respond with a tracking number, I'm going to cancel the order, initiate a charge-back on my card. I regret buying this thing. Wasted $100.

bikebikebike

I was thinking along the lines of a substitute or overlap for the Garmin Varia RVR315 Rear Radar function, sort of an electronic rear view mirror as well.
Anyone played with some of the $30 alibaba dashcams?
Seeingn it might be a low cost "test of concept" before getting a $$ GoPro or other $$ fancier set up with wifi to bar mount cellphone I use as a GPS

canklecat

Sorry to hear about the difficulties getting mounts. I lucked out, ordering stuff before the pandemic disrupted the supply chain.

I was planning to order Drift's new GoPro adapter mount, which would open things up to a lot more choices. But user reviews for the adapter indicate the dimensions aren't quite right and the interlocking "legs" don't quite mesh securely with standard GoPro mounts. Hopefully Drift will fix that problem. If so, they won't really need to offer any other mounts since there are already hundreds of mounts for the GoPro standard.

I suspect Drift intended only for its cameras to be mounted on motorcycle helmets and were caught off guard by the demand for more mounts. I've rigged up a standard Drift helmet mount onto the rear rack of my errand bike/hybrid, using Scotch mounting putty, a grayish-white stuff that's similar to Blue Tak gum, very versatile and strong for mounting hard-to-fit stuff. It doesn't look pretty but it works and I can record rear facing videos without any special mount. I've used the same trick to mount to my bicycle helmets, although I prefer to keep the weight off my head.

duffer1960

They replied that they've updated the 'Universal Mount', (Handlebar Mount, not the Universal Mount) so I hope it's addressed the issues you cite. And, that my order is 'being prepared for shipment', but there's been no confirmation of shipment yet.

Update: FedEx is in possession of a package.

peterh337

I get very good results with a Sony X1000. Software stabilisation and good enough at HD (not 4K) 50/60fps. The battery runs for about 2hrs which is about the same as all action cams.

The Sony X3000 is no good because the optical stabilisation can't deal with the vibration spectrum; it is probably fine on a helmet.

The DJI Osmo Pocket is completely useless because the gimbal system also can't deal with the vibration. This is in the proper bike mount, too. It would be fine helmet mounted. It does produce the most awesome ski videos when handheld

If I didn't already have the X1000 I would buy a used Go-Pro Session; it is a nice compact package, has loads of mounting kit options, and does a good HD / 60fps video. You do want 50/60fps for biking; 25/30fps is OK for documenting bad drivers and such but the result is not really watchable. New action cams can do 4K at 60fps but the required data rate (at least 50mbps and ideally 100mbps) fills up CD cards very fast.

I hope these are useful data points for someone.

canklecat

I just discovered the mount for my old Ion Speed Pro video camera works with my Drift Ghost X. The Ion handlebar/stem mount was better anyway, although one plastic spring clip broke on the shoe mount. I've reinforced the mount with either a zip tie or something similar to keep the shoe from sliding out under pressure.

Unfortunately Ion appears to have discontinued most stock or gone out of business. Too bad, their original form factor was excellent -- solidly built, mostly aluminum cylinders, weather resistant, very simple to operate. The camera bodies just needed updated internals for higher quality and longer run time. And I can't find any mounts or accessories on Amazon now.

I'm going to browse the B&H and Adorama camera catalogs to see if they have similar ball head mounts with universal or generic video camera mounts that might work with the Drift cameras.

Goriot

Thread is for cameras, not lights.

dragoonO1

OP has already purchased their cameras, it would seem.

I run the Sony FDR-X3000 on a helmet mount, and the stabilization is indeed very smooth.* Battery life is only about 60-70 min(GPS on, no Wi-Fi or BT). I'm only running it @ 1080P 60fps (50M) due to card and PC limitations for now.

I skipped the X1000 due to multiple reviews mentioning overheating, but it was otherwise an attractive option at the time.

* The best stabilization action camera I'm running is the Xiaomi Mi Sphere with a 6-axis EIS. But it's not nearly as sharp or detailed as the Sony FDR-X3000, nor may it match its low light capture and color.

Princess_Allez

I'd say the cycliq fly6 [2nd or 3rd gen] would compliment the varia well. I'm waiting for the gen3 to be released this Nov.

Princess_Allez

After reviewing the specs on the current Fly6 CE vs the upcoming V3, I decided to jump the gun on the older model. I updated the firmware to the most current version (1.1.26.084). I picked it up second hand, but the sd card/power flap appears to be the CE v2 (model ce601). I'll report back whether or not it lives up to it's bad reputation, or whether it kicks the buck. There were a lot of negative reviews with the occasional positive one. I have a feeling a lot of the negative reviews are due to 1) water incursion 2) user error 3) incongruent software. [fingers crossed]

Princess_Allez

I've used the fly6 ce a couple times now and in various settings. It seems to lose connection with the headunit often and, upon reconnection, resets to a prior flash setting. This ends up killing the battery faster than with no flashing lights. I read somewhere that the bluetooth connection to the app could also be a culprit. I uninstalled the app. That way there's no communication between devices, yet it still retained the resetting issue. My last effort will be to disconnect/unpair the camera from the headunit. It could be that the camera doesn't play well with my headunit (Garmin Edge 820), or any headunit. Through all the troubles, it does still record most of my ride. I would guesstimate it to record 3-4hrs with flashing light on. It does not record when there are connection dropouts with the headunit. The camera is hot to to touch after continuous flashing/recording of hour+ rides.

bikebikebike

Saw this when looking up Cycliq,
TEENTOK Bike Camera with LED Tail Light, Full HD Rear-View WiFi Bike Light Cam
3.9 out of 5 stars 38 on AMZ ratings $109.99
Wifi's to phone. for active display
? any experience. I would imagine power need would be an issue
AMZ and YT reviews not bad but 2/3$ of Cycliq.
https://youtu.be/cCRU4PgFeBY

also https://chilli-tech.com/content/rear-bike-camera-reart-light-for-cycling/

Still needs radar and integration,
Slow appearance of this implies problematic implementation, but with opportunity
but an old iphone would make a good display. still, the whole field is so fragmented

friday1970

Good info in this thread.
Some white trash MF'r threw a plastic bottle at me yesterday while passing me in his truck. Didn't hit me, but angered me where I wish I could have stopped the driver and have a "chat". Even called the police and filed a report. But, did not have plate numbers since it happened too quickly. So looking to start recording and turning these dumbf***s in.

Daniel4

I certainly hope there is an increasing trend of cyclists recording and reporting bad drivers.

Since I had my camera, I had reported FedEx once and taxis twice to their respective company PR feedback.

My helmet cam is a Campark V30 that costed $99US. It was on a sale. Still is. Probably the Akaso would have been better but there was no sale on that one.

My rear view camera is a Kaiser Baas X300. Not so good. Short battery life.

Batstar

Can anyone recommend a camera that will fair well in colder climates? Not thinking about riding with it in -20C conditions but the forecast today looks to be a bearable 5C. I’ve heard lower temps will affect stabilization on certain models.