autism

What are your thoughts on installing a GoPro or other video camera on a road bike? Like a car dashcam.
I'm kinda obsessed right now on doing this... It looks like it's really fun to have one?

linnefaulk

I think it would depend on where you are going. I do mostly road and bike path riding which, unless you are riding, is pretty dull. I think it might be fun to look at some trail riding but for how long. What would you do with the video after you have it?

autism

I would mostly be expecting a dull ride footage, but you never know, right?

Huskysibe

I've tossed it around as well, then I always come back to the question of what will I do with it? Will it be exciting for anybody else to watch? My camera still sits in the drawer to this day, I cant find a good enough excuse to mount it.

kevmk81

I use it in case I need to back myself up from aggressive motorists. If I wear it on top of my helmet I get a good reduction of motorists giving me cr@p as well. That being said, I haven't used mine for a while either when JRA. It's too much of a pain to keep charged.

fietsbob

Meh..

autism

Does GoPro have an option to keep recording on a loop (ex: nothing interesting is recorded)?

wphamilton

Exactly what I go through whenever I want to buy one. I feel like I'd enjoy recording a few rides but then I consider, what after that? No one is going to want to watch my rides except to be polite. Maybe 15 seconds would be interesting for them. Or if something unusual happens, which, being unusual, rarely does. Few would enjoy me carping about some rude driver and showing video. And I can't see my spending the time to review them all to extract the interesting parts. So I wind up never punching "checkout" even with an exciting bargain in the cart.

autism

You'd be surprised what people find interesting to watch on YouTube. I once recorded a crazy lady in a subway screaming at people to speak French, i thought it was a pretty lame and boring footage but still uploaded it to Youtube and sent a link to news media... Well i made $200 so far from that video (118,000 views), monies directly deposited to my bank account by google.

Little Darwin

I have toyed with the idea, even considering using a video app on my cell phone, but I didn't think there would ever be anything worth watching after the fact.

A forumite in the 50+ forum had forward and backward facing cameras on his bike when he went for a ride a while back. Unusual things do sometimes happen.

https://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus...ed-pickup.html

Robert C

I filmed some of the riding I did in rural China. I really do not like the go-pro and its clones; however, that is what I use because there seems to be no better. I would like:
A real -hard wired- control panel so that I can put the controls somewhere convenient.
A standby mode that keeps the CCD charged and ready to trigger, from the remote control panel (or other well placed trigger), at any moment (see something interesting, one button and you have it on 'film').

spdracr39

I record my rides and usually watch them through once to show the fam what i saw while riding. If you get one the handlebar mount sucks and breaks often. use the chest mount or helmet mount. If you must use the handlebar mount be sure to tether the camera so if it breaks you don't have to chase it down. A 32 GB high speed card and the added backpack battery gets me about 2 1/2 hours of video on 720p. This in turn takes me about 30 hours to upload to you tube ( not really exagerating its rediculously slow). here is a link to some unedited ones if your interested. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCM...DTi8-8wNKJgo8w I haven't uploaded any with the chest mount apparently.

John Redcorn

I see guys with go pros on the bike or helmet about every day. Everytime I have the thought that I hope I never get caught doing something stupid or toolish when one rides by and I end up on youtube.

autism

Ha ha
Now imagine when those flying drone cams really take off... Today, a top tier consumer quadcopter drone + the best GoPro, both combined, cost under $2K
We are lucky we still have clean skies... i foresee in a couple decades those flying cameras will be in the skies above EVERYWHERE...

Farhat

Yes. you can record a, say 20 min loop and it will automatically delete the last loop that you have recorded. Say you have 5, 20 min loops on your card, once the card fills. it will get rid of the first one.

I use mine for snowboarding all the time. But think I would only want to use it on my bike if I were to go on a really fast ride, or during a ride with a small group of friends.

autism

Thanks!

Lanovran

I use a Garmin Virb attached to a Paul stem cap mount on my commuter/tourer. I don't really use it to capture anything exciting or interesting, though if that happens, it's a nice bonus. Mainly, I use it the same as I'd use a dashcam in my car: to provide video evidence in case some negative incident were to occur (e.g. a collision, a "my-word-vs.-their-word" altercation, etc.).

tomget

I'm looking for a video cam for "witness protection"..same as you. Would you still choose this setup? Or have you got a better idea now? Will the Garmin Virb record a continuous loop so I can just tape over earlier "non event" portions of the ride? Or how does that work? I don't plan to view or keep the videos for any reason except if I get hit from behind etc...I've had the experience and a witness would have helped. I'm thinking seatpost or other similar rear facing mount. Do you know of a good mount for the rear direction?

Thanks

tomget

I'm also thinking I might be better off with a forward facing camera..Could go either way. Still thinking. But unlike you I don't have a threadless headset..Got the quill type on my road bike. And so the Paul stem unit looks awesome, but I couldn't use it. And I read that peeps aren't happy with the GoPro plastic handle bar camera mounts etc. Seen any good metal ones for a GoPro or Virb?

BTW why did you choose the Garmin over the GoPro? Any big reasons? Or just either would be good etc.?

rumrunn6

get'r done, it's wicked pissa!

spdntrxi

Virb will loop up to 30min
i don't care for shape of go pro
virb has overlays so I don't have to use dash ware anymore
got tired of waiting for rideye kicks starter campaign (still waiting)

DBA

oof..that sent chills down the spine.

Lone

did you see the cameras shimano mounted on the bikes for the tour de france? they are really small. there may be some new features or lower prices in the near future.

Lanovran

I like how my camera is set up and positioned dead center over the stem (see attached photo). I don't keep the videos either, but my commute is short enough that I don't bother using the "loop" function at all. I just delete the data off of the Micro SD card as I go, which is easy to do on the camera itself (no need to plug it into the computer). Garmin makes a variety of mounts to fit onto a variety of tubes, helmets, surfaces, etc. The camera itself clips into a "cradle" which attaches to the mounts, so it's really convenient to be able to just pop the camera on and off of the bike without removing or adjusting the mount itself. I actually use my Virb both on my bike and in my car.

You could use Garmin's small-tube mount to clamp it directly to a quill stem or seatstay, or use the large-tube/handlebar mount for the handlebar or seatpost. I think the mount is plenty sturdy, if not the most low-profile. I had it on my stem cap mount over a week-long bike tour a couple of months ago, which included some rough roads, and the thing never budged on me. It's also waterproof (to a minimal point, anyway), and built pretty tough.

As for why I went with the Garmin instead of the GoPro, well...a big part of that decision was the fact that I work at a Garmin dealer, so I could get a nice discount on it that I couldn't get for GoPro. I also just generally prefer the more longitudinal body shape and the built-in LCD screen of the Virb. It's really easy to use, with a simple on-off record switch, and it's easy to take snapshots, even while recording video.

tomget

Thanks to all for the info..I too for sure like the shape/looks of the low profile Virb and I've never used a GoPro but can understand from the comments that for my purposes the more easy interactions regarding on/off and LCD screen etc, and the 30 minute loop sounds ideal..I'll probably go for the Garmin Virb on the quill stem with their small-tube mount.

You use it in your car too? I never thought of that..might be worth it.

Thanks
Tom