ElJamoquio

I had a bad hit by a car a few months ago, am starting to bike again, and would like to install as-small-as-reasonable front and rear video on my bike.

The bike I used most frequently had a dyno hub and I imagine the bike I'm building will have a similar setup.

Ideally I'd take the dyno hub output, t it off either after the headlight or before with a converter, and have the video only record (and overwrite old recordings) when the line has voltage.

I'm willing to do some small circuits to make this happen, but to me a clean install is important and not having to hit a button four times a day is critical. I want to set it up so that I just start pedaling and it starts recording, so either motion activated and powered by the hub or turned on by a rectified hub output/etc is OK.

Any help?

canklecat

Right now it appears the best serious traffic documentation video cameras are Cycliqs, the Fly model front and rear cams. They're self contained with batteries and designed to run several hours. It would probably be better to use them as-designed. Modifications might negate any video records in court, even if the video files are not altered.

Your best option for a dyno driven camera might be a motor vehicle type dash cam, with separate housing for weather resistance. Those could be set to run for as long as your bike rides last, or until the media card fills.

FWIW, the one time in the three years since I resumed cycling that I didn't use a video camera was the time I was struck by a car and injured, in May this year. Fortunately there were witnesses so my attorney is confident of a favorable settlement. But if I'd been running a video camera as I usually do the evidence would be incontrovertible and the driver's insurance company would probably have settled already. The driver clearly turned left against oncoming traffic while I had both the green light and walk signal, so there was no way the driver should have attempted a left turn. And the driver was quoted on the police report as admitting to being "distracted" -- usually code for looking at the cell phone. But a video camera might have shown the driver looking down rather than at the road ahead and me.

As soon as I'm able I'm getting the Cycliq cameras.

FWIW, my video camera is an Ion Speed Pro. Not bad at all for around $50-$60. Very tough, cylindrical, self contained and weather proof. Daytime image quality is good, but nighttime is mediocre -- at best it'll show the shape, color and type of vehicle, but there's little chance of recording a license plate. US license plates are much too small for reliable recording with most action cams. Huge difference from the typical European plates that are more easily recorded by surveillance cams.

The Ion runs about 90 minutes per charge. It can run extended with an outboard USB battery, but this requires removing the weather sealed rear cap and exposing the media card slot, USB and HDMI ports and control switches to water, dust, etc. Occasionally I'll strap a small USB battery on the camera and run it that way, but it's a kludge.

ElJamoquio

Thanks for the reply.

I know if it doesn't auto-on when I step on the pedals, it won't be running the next time I'm catastrophically hit... I'd really prefer a solution where I wasn't in the loop.

I emailed Cycliqs and they told me no way, you'll void the warranty. We'll see. I might try it anyway.

noglider 

People often ask about running electronics off a dynamo hub, and you'd be surprised how complicated and expensive it is. Basically it's not worth even trying unless you are going to be riding away from a power outlet for several days at a time. Dynamo hubs put out AC with a widely varying voltage, often going down to zero (obviously). A system that converts that to a relatively constant DC supply is not trivial and requires a battery. I've done the easier thing and mounted a USB battery pack to my bike. A $20 battery can keep my phone running with the screen on all day. I charge my battery once a day, though I could get away with doing it every three or four days. Charging once a day is better for me because it's an easier habit to keep.

My favorite battery is the Anker Astro E1. It has proven to be reliable and durable.

ElJamoquio

Yup, I've put an oscilloscope on my hub and (with a lot of help... er, with me watching back in '09) built a circuit to create a constant 5V... maybe 1 or 2 amps out?. I didn't use a battery. I'm sure it had a capacitor but I certainly don't remember off the top of my head what the circuit looked like (and I'm a few thousand miles away from it at present). Even back then there was a slick chip that could do buck/boost on a wide variety of voltages and output a... different voltage, although I only wanted 5V so I could plug USB stuff into it.

Nowadays it's packaged much better into pieces that fit into your steering tube.

I recognize that it's 'easier' to just charge the darn thing. I don't care as much about the 'easy' I care about the 'reliable'. No, i'm not away from power for more than a few hours at a time, but if I need to plug it in and turn it on every time, I'll forget at least 20% of the time. I have to remember enough things as is, I don't want to remember more things. To me that's worth putting in more as an initial effort. I'm looking into some gopro stuff now and I'm sure more people are home modifying them.

noglider 

I understand. That's why I have a dynamo powered headlight. There are too many things to care for already. I carry a battery for my phone, but I occasionally forget it, and it's not a disaster. I don't want my headlight to fail because I forgot to bring it or charge it.

noglider 

I hear that car "dashcams" start when they receive input voltage and record in a circular queue so there's nothing to do. Maybe one of those would work for you. You'd need a speed-sensitive 12v power supply, but if you can fashion that, you are set.

Of course, I have to tell you some bad news. You're preparing for your last mishap, not your next one. It's good to be prepared, but your preparation should be in accordance with your risk.

PaulRivers

Aren't the cycliq's charged via usb? Could you install one of those "usb charging" things after the dyno hub, then hook it into the cycliq with that?

ridelikeaturtle

Seriously, how hard is it to push the "on" button before you head off?

(It was harder to type that than to push the button to run a Cycliq Fly6.)

Why overcomplicate things?

ElJamoquio

Yes. Very easily, and that was one of my initial thoughts. You still have to turn the thing on and off though.

ridelikeaturtle

I don't have the Cycliq Fly12 (yet; I will be getting one soon). But the Cycliq Fly6 is very easy to swap between bikes, and very easy to charge. Priceless, in my opinion.

ElJamoquio

It's not hard at all. Of course a quick circuit isn't hard either.

I'm not worried about how hard or easy it is, though. I'm worried about the 20% of the time I forget to do it. I have literally dozens and dozens of things I need to remember every day. I don't want to remember six more things. I don't want to remember to have to take the battery up several flights of stairs at my building I don't want to remember to bring it back down several flights of stairs. I don't want to remember to turn on the unit. I don't want to remember to turn it back off when I'm done. Even if I only forget a step 3% of the time, because there's six steps:

1) Remember to bring the battery down to the garage.
2) After putting the paniers on the bike, take the battery (or device) out of my pocket, install and turn on.
Ride to work!
3) Turn off the unit.
Work!
Load up bike with panniers, get on bike...
4) Turn on the unit
Ride home!
5) Turn off the unit. Take out batteries (or uninstall unit), put in pocket.
Take off panniers, go upstairs.
6) Put battery on charger

0.97^6 = 83% chance of success in a given day.

This should be a solved solution in the cycling space, but I realize people prefer doing extra work off the bike managing batteries than doing extra work on the bike. I'm the opposite, I'd prefer to do the work on the bike and design the system so that I don't have to remember another 6 things every day. I'm not wrong for wanting what I want, and heck although I'd rather pay someone to provide it to me, I'm even willing to invent and create it myself. I just want to do so in the quickest, 'best' way.

ridelikeaturtle

You make a strong argument.

In the meantime, and in the spirit of eco-friendliness (haha), doing the charging and pushing the buttons ourselves is a good plan.

But I like your approach. Especially with the tsunami of e-bikes that is going to inundate the market, having an incident-recording solution at hand would be brilliant. Food for thought.

noglider 

That's why I don't have a camera. I already have too many things in my routine. I'm anal about recording my rides (GPS breadcrumbs, not video), so I hit start and stop on my GPS app. And I put on helmet and gloves. And I wear a mirror on my glasses. And I carry water. And so on. It's already too much. When I was a kid, we spent summers on Fire Island where there are no cars. Normal attire was either a t-shirt and a bathing suit or maybe just a bathing suit. On our feet, we had flipflops or nothing. Taking a bike ride involved getting on the bike and going.

ElJamoquio

Ha! I don't record GPS / bike computer any more (though I used to!) for the same reason, too many things. I'd perma-hook on my bike computer on my bike hooked up to the dyno hub but I keep my commuter bike locked up in a semi-secure building garage.

canklecat

You should record every ride. Set Google maps timeline to record your activities by default. It's private, between you and Google. It's consistent, reliable, accurate, and provides a backup record in case we're unconscious or there's a conflict in reports between witnesses. It confirmed my version of events when I was hit by a car this spring.

Google timeline records can be deleted if desired, but I keep mine intact. The data can be downloaded, but the original record cannot be modified or falsified. That can be handy for legal purposes.

It also reliably estimates mode of travel -- vehicle, bus, bicycle, walking. No need to specify, Google reliably guesstimates based on speed, travel patterns, etc. Very handy.

The Google data isn't directly compatible with Strava, etc., but there are data format conversion tools. I've used them a few times when Strava glitched.

The only downside is Google will pester us to leave reviews on businesses we visit. Those prompts can be disabled. I prefer to allow the recording because I want a log of where I was, since many of my trips this year have been medical appointments related to the injuries from being hit by a car. Occasionally there are changes between my original appointments and my actual dates and times of visits, so it's handy to have an automatic log.