Discussion
I've never really been a fan of helmet cams, mainly due to the guys on youtube making something of nothing. However after getting spat on and being called a 
on Friday by a rather pleasant van driver, and being driven rear ended whilst in stationary traffic today, I'm wondering if they're a necessary evil.
I'm currently looking at a DRIFT Stealth 2, but I'm worried I'll turn into the Traffic Droid before summer
Whats the PH general consensus? Do you guys use them for your commute?
on Friday by a rather pleasant van driver, and being driven rear ended whilst in stationary traffic today, I'm wondering if they're a necessary evil.I'm currently looking at a DRIFT Stealth 2, but I'm worried I'll turn into the Traffic Droid before summer
Whats the PH general consensus? Do you guys use them for your commute?
I don't, though fortunately my commute is relatively traffic-free..... Certainly no real built up areas
That doesn't mean I don't see st driving and get pissed off with people cutting me up for no reason occasionally. I've often thought about it, but I have yet to go for one.... Although I do have a dashcam in the car!
I would rather a helmet cam for when riding some lovely routes
... To look back on for nostalgia
That doesn't mean I don't see s
t driving and get pissed off with people cutting me up for no reason occasionally. I've often thought about it, but I have yet to go for one.... Although I do have a dashcam in the car! I would rather a helmet cam for when riding some lovely routes
... To look back on for nostalgia
I have a GoPro - initially bought for mountain bike races and snorkelling, but occasionally put it on the handlebars of the road bike for use as a "dashcam". Its only really if i think of it, rather than as a matter of course.
I should have it on all the time because if it is, then i have a trouble-free ride. If it isnt, then i get dangerous overtakes and/or verbal abuse from drivers! Its a shame - i could be earning millions from youtube revenue by now if i had video evidence of every incident. Oh well...
As i said, i have it mounted on the handlebars, rather than my lid, so its pretty discreet. Downside is the battery only lasts about 1.5 hours, which is fine if you can recharge via USB at work on commute days, not so good for longer weekend rides.
I should have it on all the time because if it is, then i have a trouble-free ride. If it isnt, then i get dangerous overtakes and/or verbal abuse from drivers! Its a shame - i could be earning millions from youtube revenue by now if i had video evidence of every incident. Oh well...
As i said, i have it mounted on the handlebars, rather than my lid, so its pretty discreet. Downside is the battery only lasts about 1.5 hours, which is fine if you can recharge via USB at work on commute days, not so good for longer weekend rides.
Personally I wouldn't bother. 10 years of commuting into London and I've not had a single incident of note.
It surprises me that some helmet-warriors seem to get so much action - most of the time they're over-reacting or simply bad riders (not suggesting you are BTW).
I also tend to think tt when I see one - can't help but think it antagonises drivers too.
It surprises me that some helmet-warriors seem to get so much action - most of the time they're over-reacting or simply bad riders (not suggesting you are BTW).
I also tend to think t
t when I see one - can't help but think it antagonises drivers too.E65Ross said:
I don't, though fortunately my commute is relatively traffic-free..... Certainly no real built up areas
That doesn't mean I don't see st driving and get pissed off with people cutting me up for no reason occasionally. I've often thought about it, but I have yet to go for one.... Although I do have a dashcam in the car!
I would rather a helmet cam for when riding some lovely routes
... To look back on for nostalgia
I'd have liked to have had one a few times now. I can't remember the moment of impact when a van hit me on a roundabout. I think I'd like to know if there was more I could have done to avoid that, even if I did have priority and he hit me because he (allegedly) "didn't see me". More as a learning tool than for uploading to Youtube.That doesn't mean I don't see s
t driving and get pissed off with people cutting me up for no reason occasionally. I've often thought about it, but I have yet to go for one.... Although I do have a dashcam in the car! I would rather a helmet cam for when riding some lovely routes
... To look back on for nostalgia
Mostly, though, I'd like one for those times when you see or experience something when there is no hope of whipping out a conventional camera/phone to record it. The 4ft grass snake crossing a road, the barn owl who keeps you company for a few hundred metres, the small herd of deer you chase round a field at night (it'd need to be IR or II for that though), or the day you round a corner to find a weasel about to pounce on a rabbit (sorry, but the weasel went hungry on that particular hunt), or spot a mink swimming across the canal.
Then there's the reporting crime thing, too. Not 'near miss' driving, but things like illegal (and dangerous) 'U' turns, fly tipping, criminal damage, etc. Most rides I now go out without a camera at all, and I've wished I had one only a few times. Mostly missed opportunities to grab a snap of a fabulous sunset, or a particularly well-lit landscape. I stopped taking a camera because I was interrupting my rides too frequently to nab pictures for the bad parking/crappy number plates/classic car spotted threads here on PH.
I prefer the form-factor of the Drift cameras for helmet mounting
Granted, the video quality isn't on a par with the latest and greatest GoPro but for pretty much anything I'm doing it's more than enough.
I'm not fussed about helmet cam footage at 4K, but I do use a GoPro for my Drone as filming at 4K means I can crop the footage in Final Cut Pro to 'digitally zoom' the footage
Anyway, I digress, what I like about the Drift as a helmet cam over the GoPro is:
Screen and speaker built in so you can review footage immediately
Waterproof strap mounted remote control with status indicators as standard
Waterproof to 9m without any additional cases
camera can rotate in the body so it doesn't matter what angle it's mounted at, you can keep your image the right way up
...and as a result of that, it's a much more discrete mount than the 'telly tubby' look that the GoPro mounts give.
4 separate buttons to control it so far easier to quickly change mode, settings and check status
In experience from testing 'stalk' mounted cameras I've had issues with them catching on branches and stuff when racing in forest areas, and the adhesive on these mounts are strong enough to hoist your helmet up so you're left staring at the chin piece when it catches on a branch at 60mph in a welsh forest (don't ask me how I know, I just know, ok?)
In a nutshell, the GoPro has the edge on video quality, but if you want something that's quick and easy to use, I prefer the Drift
Granted, the video quality isn't on a par with the latest and greatest GoPro but for pretty much anything I'm doing it's more than enough.
I'm not fussed about helmet cam footage at 4K, but I do use a GoPro for my Drone as filming at 4K means I can crop the footage in Final Cut Pro to 'digitally zoom' the footage
Anyway, I digress, what I like about the Drift as a helmet cam over the GoPro is:
Screen and speaker built in so you can review footage immediately
Waterproof strap mounted remote control with status indicators as standard
Waterproof to 9m without any additional cases
camera can rotate in the body so it doesn't matter what angle it's mounted at, you can keep your image the right way up
...and as a result of that, it's a much more discrete mount than the 'telly tubby' look that the GoPro mounts give.
4 separate buttons to control it so far easier to quickly change mode, settings and check status
In experience from testing 'stalk' mounted cameras I've had issues with them catching on branches and stuff when racing in forest areas, and the adhesive on these mounts are strong enough to hoist your helmet up so you're left staring at the chin piece when it catches on a branch at 60mph in a welsh forest (don't ask me how I know, I just know, ok?)
In a nutshell, the GoPro has the edge on video quality, but if you want something that's quick and easy to use, I prefer the Drift
sjg said:
The Fly6 one integrated into a rear light is unobtrusive at least, and saves a separate thing to keep charged. They do a Fly12 front light now too. Not cheap however.
I saw this - the fly 6 looks great (esp for the price), but I'm not convinced on the 12. I think you need it to be POV rather than bar mounted.Magic919 said:
Mount it somewhere else if you feel the need for a camera. I always think tt when I see the helmet mounted ones.
I wouldn't mount one on a helmet either. Aside from the tt when I see the helmet mounted ones. ttish image it portrays, they can stop the helmet doing what it's supposed to if you do come off. It's quite likely that Mr Schumacher's helmet-mounted Go Pro was a major factor in the outcome of his accident 
uncinqsix said:
Magic919 said:
Mount it somewhere else if you feel the need for a camera. I always think tt when I see the helmet mounted ones.
I wouldn't mount one on a helmet either. Aside from the tt when I see the helmet mounted ones. ttish image it portrays, they can stop the helmet doing what it's supposed to if you do come off. It's quite likely that Mr Schumacher's helmet-mounted Go Pro was a major factor in the outcome of his accident Also, some research I was reading a couple of months ago showed that the camera mounts absorb energy and are destroyed before the helmet breaks up so don't make the impact worse
I'll dig out the paper if I can find it
The BBC did a study as they use them a lot and do have to think about H&S risk assessments and the like.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/safety/resources/safetynews/w...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/safety/resources/safetynews/w...
BBC said:
In fact, in not one of over 70 tests on various helmet types, mounting types or mounting positions did the presence of the camera cause the helmet to ‘fail’ the injury threshold standards.
If you do decide to get one, Tesco Online were selling the basic Go-Pro Hero for £50 which is half price, battery life is 2-3 hours continual, they come with decent editing software if you ever want to do more than record road rage and their are endless mounts both genuine (read expensive) or after market on Amazon (cheap as chips) a cheap 16GB SD card will record about the same length at the battery life.
If the idea of a helmet mount doesn't appeal bar mounts and chest mounts are available - if you go for a chest mount get the genuine one, they have a larger plate behind them to spread the load in a crash - or a "trauma plate" as someone once massively over-sold one as.
If the idea of a helmet mount doesn't appeal bar mounts and chest mounts are available - if you go for a chest mount get the genuine one, they have a larger plate behind them to spread the load in a crash - or a "trauma plate" as someone once massively over-sold one as.
I'd echo some of the comments above about the types of people that tend to use them (that I see anyway).
Riding with confidence is fine, riding with the attitude of 'it's legal for me to be doing this, so I'm going to do it regardless of where anyone else is on the road and regardless of my own personal safety' - not so much.
Over the years, I've gone to the first attitude from the second, mellowing out from being an angry cyclist that would shout at anyone for doing something wrong, to being a little more chilled about the whole thing.
And unfortunately, most people with helmet cams haven't. They seem to get wound up at the slightest provocation and almost go looking for trouble just so they can post it on their pathetic little YouTube channels.
Don't get me wrong, I think in many incidents, they'd be invaluable evidence, it just seems that the type of people that use them at the minute are a little bit, shall we say, the end of a bell.
It's the same with those people that wear those 'POLITE' jackets that are meant to look like POLICE.
Riding with confidence is fine, riding with the attitude of 'it's legal for me to be doing this, so I'm going to do it regardless of where anyone else is on the road and regardless of my own personal safety' - not so much.
Over the years, I've gone to the first attitude from the second, mellowing out from being an angry cyclist that would shout at anyone for doing something wrong, to being a little more chilled about the whole thing.
And unfortunately, most people with helmet cams haven't. They seem to get wound up at the slightest provocation and almost go looking for trouble just so they can post it on their pathetic little YouTube channels.
Don't get me wrong, I think in many incidents, they'd be invaluable evidence, it just seems that the type of people that use them at the minute are a little bit, shall we say, the end of a bell.
It's the same with those people that wear those 'POLITE' jackets that are meant to look like POLICE.
Edited by Kell on Wednesday 27th April 15:09
Kell said:
I'd echo some of the comments above about the types of people that tend to use them (that I see anyway).
Riding with confidence is fine, riding with the attitude of 'it's legal for me to be doing this, so I'm going to do it regardless of where anyone else is on the road and regardless of my own personal safety' - not so much.
Over the years, I've gone to the first attitude from the second, mellowing out from being an angry cyclist that would shout at anyone for doing something wrong, to being a little more chilled about the whole thing.
And unfortunately, most people with helmet cams haven't. They seem to get wound up at the slightest provocation and almost go looking for trouble just so they can post it on their pathetic little YouTube channels.
Don't get me wrong, I think in many incidents, they'd be invaluable evidence, it just seems that the type of people that use them at the minute are a little bit, shall we say, the end of a bell.
It's the same with those people that wear those 'POLITE' jackets that are meant to look like POLICE.
Agree with thisRiding with confidence is fine, riding with the attitude of 'it's legal for me to be doing this, so I'm going to do it regardless of where anyone else is on the road and regardless of my own personal safety' - not so much.
Over the years, I've gone to the first attitude from the second, mellowing out from being an angry cyclist that would shout at anyone for doing something wrong, to being a little more chilled about the whole thing.
And unfortunately, most people with helmet cams haven't. They seem to get wound up at the slightest provocation and almost go looking for trouble just so they can post it on their pathetic little YouTube channels.
Don't get me wrong, I think in many incidents, they'd be invaluable evidence, it just seems that the type of people that use them at the minute are a little bit, shall we say, the end of a bell.
It's the same with those people that wear those 'POLITE' jackets that are meant to look like POLICE.
Edited by Kell on Wednesday 27th April 15:09
I've been having similar thoughts about getting one, but remain unconvinced. Yesterday it would have been good to have footage of the guy that performed a right turn into a bus lane in the wrong direction. But what would I have done with it? Would the Police have given a st as I was a few second too slow so avoided being run over. Suspect I'd put it on Facebook, call him a tt and that would be that. Not worth my time.
t as I was a few second too slow so avoided being run over. Suspect I'd put it on Facebook, call him a tt and that would be that. Not worth my time.I have a go pro session mounted on my bars using a k-edge out front mount and a garmin virb elite which sits under my saddle on a k-edge saddle mount. I wouldn't stick either on my bonce - I prefer my mounting solutions to be discreet and almost hidden on the bike.
I tend to use them for the occasional filming of rides on nice days rather than using them all the time and therefore take the cameras off when not in use.
If you edit your footage and upload the export to youtube be aware that it will cane the quality - see here (perhaps shouldn't have recorded and uploaded in 60fps):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xrookj8DNw (change to 720 60fps)
The quality of the raw footage is however really very good - more than good enough if you are after capturing evidence and pretty damn fine if you like putting the odd moody video together.
Im no camera warrior but they are great as general action cams (particularly with the kids etc).
Pot Odds
I tend to use them for the occasional filming of rides on nice days rather than using them all the time and therefore take the cameras off when not in use.
If you edit your footage and upload the export to youtube be aware that it will cane the quality - see here (perhaps shouldn't have recorded and uploaded in 60fps):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xrookj8DNw (change to 720 60fps)
The quality of the raw footage is however really very good - more than good enough if you are after capturing evidence and pretty damn fine if you like putting the odd moody video together.
Im no camera warrior but they are great as general action cams (particularly with the kids etc).
Pot Odds
Edited by Pot Odds on Friday 20th May 22:30
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