keraba2

I was surprised not to see a sticky in this category for recommended dashcams. Maybe they change too often.

I was considering the Sykik CR1 - 2" screen, which doubles as rear view mirror, connected to 2 tiny cameras - but they don't make it any more. I would consider the CR2 but the price is plenty high enough to consider other options.

I've googled best bicycle dashcam but they only seem to look at single unit designs. Amazon seems to have a few 2 camera units but who knows if they're any good. (I've had 1 of 2 Amazon dashcams just die.)

Any recommendations?

thanks!

JW Fas

Have you considered a 360-degree camera like the Garmin Virb 360?

Gyro

I'm recording with a GoPro hero 6 on my handle bar occasionally. If that is any help. Max record time is generally two hours per battery. Audio isn't the best, GoPos are know for that.

Daniel4

I started a thread in the Electronics and Gadgets section but it didn't go anywhere.

Elsewhere other members have raved about Cycliq, Ghost Drift, the Insta 360 and more.

keraba2

Regarding GoPro's and related, I'm looking for a dashcam. This means that it begins recording as soon as it's powered on, and loops the video (until something tells it to stop.) They may automatically start a new file, when they detect a crash for example, or may do it when you press a button. They tend to run off USB, so that you don't have to charge them. (It was my distant hope to connect it to a hub generator, so that it would just start recording when I started moving.)

I tried a GoPro Session 4 for a bit, but it was *way* too much trouble charging and wiping the SD after each ride. My car's dashcam, and my motorcycle's, don't require a second thought.

Cycliq appears to loop, but is quite expensive, and seems to require charging once in a while?

An additional concern with the 360 cameras is resolution. Even with 2 actual cameras, it's dividing 180 degrees over 1080 pixels?

Most of these are missing the other requirement: A screen so that it can be used as a rear-view mirror.

I went through some Amazon reviews. It looks like there are 2 tiers: $40-80 are crap and not worth your time. The rest are $160-200. Sounds like I need to give the Sykik another look.

Daniel4

Is driving mode what you are looking for? I checked. My two budget action cameras have driving mode. I never used them.

keraba2

I'm not sure what "driving mode" is. It appears that some cameras e.g. GoPros support looping but don't support auto-record.

Troul 

iirc, auto-record is triggered by an auxiliary voltage feed from within the mode of transit [switched 12 volts] . So unless you rig the bicycle to support how I think it functions, you'll have a hard time finding what you are after for a bicycle want.

Looping is almost a standard setting offered by any well known brand/company imo. Usually if it doesnt support looping, I don't look into that particular unit any more.

keraba2

Auto-record is, when you apply power to the device, it immediately starts recording. Both of my current dashcams work this way. My GoPro doesn't even turn on; it just begins charging.

Plugging them into the 12V accessory jack is a handy way to have this occur when you turn on the vehicle, but:
- It is not the only way. Sykik includes a motion sensitive filter which passes current when it senses motion, for motorcycles which don't have an accessory jack.
- They don't run on 12V. They run on plain vanilla 5V USB, so e.g. a power brick or hub generator will suffice.

However and whenever voltage is applied, the device itself must immediately start recording, or you must remember to turn it on and hit the record button. If I'm going to plug it in, I suppose it's no more effort to hit record, but in the future, should I install a hub generator, or use a motion-sensitive device, it would be nice not to have to.

Anyways, I guess no one is going to pop up with, "Hey, this cheap Chinese dashcam actually works!" so thanks everyone for the discussion!

ztmlgr

I've use 2 "dashcams" on every ride.

I've had a Contour Roam2 mounted on my helmet for the last few years. It's adequate, and easy to operate as it has a slider that turns it on so I just have to remember to reach up and turn it on before every ride. I have to take it off to charge it after every ride but that's not a big deal for me. However, there are 2 things I have found to be issues.

The first is battery life. When I first got it, it would record for almost 4 hours, but after several years of daily use, it would last under 2 hours. I was able to increase that to around 2 hours 20 minutes by tweaking the settings to record at a lower setting without appearing to affect recording quality. It will not operate if there is a charging cable plugged in as you have to flip up a cover to access the charging port, and the battery is NOT removable or replaceable..

The second issue is that it does not over-write files. If I forget to delete the previous files, it will just stop when the sd card is full. I have a fairly small sd card so I end up having to delete files after around 4 hours of operation. You can do this either via a button on the back of the unit, or by connecting it to a computer and deleting the files via file manager. Note that battery life is the critical factor as just getting a bigger sd card won't do much for you except reduce the frequency at which you need to delete the files.

My 2nd dashcam is a free phone app called Dailyroads Voyager. I installed this on an old smart phone that had been retired and has no service. I mount it to the handlebar using a cheap handlebar mount. It will overwrite files and your space is limited only by the size of your sd card. I can get maybe 4 hours of use out of it before my cell phone battery dies, but I could plug in an external charger to extend that significantly. I just have to remember to start the app and make sure it's mounted with the camera facing forward and it's good to go. I like it better than the Contour as it's much more flexible as you can use any smartphone you have lying around. I have 7 old smartphones so I could install a front, a back, and 2 sideways dashcams and it wouldn't cost me a dime, Also, your recording quality is limited only by the quality of the smartphone camera. The current phone I am using has just a 5MP camera but the recording quality seems just fine. It has some nice features like showing stats like speed and altitude on the playback. Dailyroads Vogager is just 1 of many free dashcam apps I saw on the Play Store. i seem to remember checking out a few others but found all but Dailyroads Voyager deficient in some way.

Troul 

Tech that you're asking of just is not feasible at a low price point. If I am spending three digits on something, I'd want more than a handful of moist environmental use out of it.

What I have not heard of is any tech camera that is over $1K USd that is worth the cost or hassle to obtain. So there's that if it helps.

keraba2

Thanks for the app recommendation. I too have tons of old phones. I'll give it a try until I find my camera.

ztmlgr

Now I'm inspired to go ahead and mount rear and side facing phones with dashcam apps on my rear rack. The great thing about using old smart phones is that any phone older than maybe 3 years old, which all of my old phones are, is basically useless as they cannot be activated for cell service on any carrier anymore as the technology has changed so fast and the Sprint/T-Mobile merger basically obsoleted billions of phones instantly. Another plus is that, if the phone flies off the bike after hitting a pothole and gets smashed on the pavement, it's no big deal as the phone is worthless anyway. Yes, it's not as seamless and automatic as having a sophisticated 2-camera. bike-friendly dashcam, but at almost zero cost, it's worth a try.

Daniel4

It's probably just a personal preference for the camera to operate in dashcam or driving mode without having to deal with turning the record button on and off.

For my two action cameras, I have enough spare batteries for one camera to record for over 8 hours and the other about four hours due to the difference battery capacities. I also don't mind turning the record button on or off but I was perplexed at one time. I had just left the gym and had discovered one of my cameras was still on when my routine was to turn it off after parking and locking the bike.

Bald Paul

I have two GoPro Hero 8 Black cams on my bike (forward and rearward facing.) They can be set to "voice command" and will turn on/off, and start/stop recording with voice commands. Or, you can get the GoPro remote, and control both cameras with a single small unit.
Both cameras are powered by auxiliary power bricks, with internal batteries as backup. I've yet to run out of battery power in either on any of my rides.

The Virb is no longer made, so support may be iffy. I used to have a Rylo 360 camera, but they were bought out, the new company took the software (phone app) and dumped the hardware. Then my phone had to be replaced, and I could no longer download the software app. Hence the two GoPros.
One other thing to consider if one wishes to use a 360 degree camera - mounting. It must be mounted where it can get a clear, unobstructed view forward, rearward, and to the side facing traffic to be effective. I had my Rylo mounted at the very left end of my bars, near the bar plug, hanging down.

Viich

FYI I'm still using my Rylo as a 3D action cam, but using PC video editing software (HitFilm Express, but others work) - you can pull the video off the SD card, just can't use the highest resolution setting because it was a weird Rylo proprietary thing, no software I've found can access the rear camera video, you just end up with 180 (the video is there, it works in the Rylo app) Keep it down to 4K instead of 5.4 and it works fine.

Cameras are a funny trade-off. 2 GoPros is a little too rich for me to use on all my commutes, but cheap cameras don't have good enough resolution to ID license plates......

rm -rf

How visible would the rear view display be in sunlight?
And dashcams are wide angle, so they aren't as useful for seeing traffic approaching from the rear.

Sunglasses mounted mirrors are perfect for cycling: They work in bright daylight or dim light. A slight turn of my head sweeps the view across a wide angle, but I can still see far back along the road.

~~~
I wonder where a 360 camera or a front & back camera would be mounted to get a good view forward and back without being blocked by the rider?

keraba2

The trick to ID'ing plates is to take the frames of the video and "stack" them. The letters will emerge as the data piles up along their shapes. It is probably only something an OpenCV hobbyist would do, but in the case of a hit-and-run, I would think that if you gave a copy of the video to the police, they could pull out the plate fairly easily. Googling seems to produce lots of results.

CliffordK

Most of the newer cameras are either 4K, 5K, or 5.7K (seems to be some odd naming conventions).

1080p is 1920 x 1080.
4K is 4096 × 2160 (or so).
5.7K is about 5760 x 2880 pixels.

So, considering both directions, you end up with something that is about 4x or 5x as large.

One issue with a 360 mount is that it may need to be put on a level part of the helmet to get good 360 degree views.

I can't say about live rear view. I don't like looking down at my handlebars (and thus dislike handlebar mounted mirrors).

Keep in mind that dusk and dawn performance may suffer with many of the cameras. I had a Cycliq Fly6 (rear), and was very disappointed with the dusk and dawn performance, as well as the dark performance. I haven't tried the 12.

The Cycliq Fly6 and Fly12 are the best optimized for bikes. They have a unique feature of auto shut-off when laid on their side (with a delay).

I complain whenever I encounter Micro USB-B. I see the new 3rd gen Fly6 has a USB-C (which I hope is better). Is the Fly12 going through an update. Also with USB-C.

I'd prefer if it went to wireless + wireless charging (or 2-contact magnetic charging).

I am disappointed that Cycliq hasn't upgraded beyond 1080p, 32gb.

CliffordK

Yes, I've expected that technology should be available. Of course it works best with still frames. But, a rectangular box should be able to be manipulated to a standard view. GIMP has trapezoidal correction.

It might take some serious manipulation to a moving image on a 360 degree view, taken at an angle, and correct it to square, resize, and do the multiple image processing. But, someone has to have made that already.

CliffordK

I think some of the cameras including the new GoPro and the Insta360 may have either bluetooth or wifi to a nearby phone, and may be able to send video to the devices.

That may solve some of your rear view issues.