4 ms·

I’ve looked into helmet cams since I had an accident that cost me a tooth (sideswiped by another cyclist). It seems that most of them only have about 2 or so ho

I’ve looked into helmet cams since I had an accident that cost me a tooth (sideswiped by another cyclist). It seems that most of them only have about 2 or so hours of record time on a charge. That doesn’t seem sufficient. Don’t need the additional lights, though.

reustle 9y ago
Since you're on a bicycle, you should be able mount a reasonably sized battery on the bike to keep it charged? Any common usb phone battery bank should work fine
- stevenwoo 9y ago
  I've used lights on a bike and it's a necessary nuisance to have battery packs with cords - more cords and attachments is enough to discourage usage.
- Finnucane 9y ago
  I have a dynamo hub that could recharge it on the fly, with a USB adapter. It would mean wiring it to the handlebar, but I suppose I could live with that.
wtallis 9y ago
Battery life is definitely a challenge. At CES last year I saw a big brand demonstrating an action camera for bikes and it was also around 2h life. I just laughed at them. My bike trips usually consist of 5-6 hours of riding each day, and it's not always convenient to recharge overnight on multi-day treks.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  You do realise you are an extreme outlier, that most people think of 30 minutes as a long ride.
  - Lio 9y ago
    Do you have any evidence to support the “extreme outlier” assertion, speaking as someone in a large bike club who regularly does long rides. I understand most commutes are under 3 miles but I think many serious club riders would ride between 50-100 miles in a single ride most weekends (might be stops for coffee and cake along the way :). Sadly, we get close passed and threatened every week it seems. Edit: From Strava (which would probably show more serious cyclists) UK ride figures for 2015: http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/strava-reveals-average-british-cycle-commute-length/018882 http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/strava-reveals-average-brit... That gives the impression that 2 hour plus rides are not that uncommon although, that will be skewed by the kind of rider who records their journeys.
    - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
      From https://www.cyclinguk.org/resources/cycling-uk-cycling-statistics https://www.cyclinguk.org/resources/cycling-uk-cycling-stati... "The average length of a cycle trip was three and a half miles, while the average length of a car trip was about eight and a half miles" Most people aren't club riders. Sadly, we get close passed and threatened every week it seems. I know, I ride more than 100 miles a week.
stevenwoo 9y ago
The Fly 12 (front model of the rear Fly 6 mentioned in the article) has 8+ hours of recording time and with a small memory card only keeps the last two hours (discarding older video), also, less video time if used as light.
bazzargh 9y ago
"2 or so hours of record time on a charge. That doesn’t seem sufficient." I'm not sure why the blackbox style of camera hasn't caught on more. (like eg http://www.rideye.com/ http://www.rideye.com/, but I'm sure there are others). My rides are commonly 100miles plus at a time - slowly - and often overnight. Not only is that too long for the camera at decent resolution, it's too long for batteries; last time I tried that, a GoPro with a 32Gb card that might've taken 8h of video died after 4h. A 5 min rolling window of decent resolution footage is all I want for crashes or highlights. But more than this, it'd be nice to have some standardisation on bike accessories running off a single power bus, not their individual batteries. My dynamo gear is great (I use a SON hub, Edelux 2, and a Secula rear) but why was this not semi-standard; I'm in northern europe and lights are needed most of the year. And once the cabling is there, why aren't bike gadgets aimed at bus power rather than more and more batteries?
- flyinghamster 9y ago
  Bushch & Müller makes a device that can be used to power gadgets from a SON hub (adjustable from 2.8 to 13.3V). http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ewerk.php http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ewerk.php Based on the information provided, it is NOT plug-and-play; you must manually adjust voltage and current for your device, and if it's not amenable to voltage sags/stoppages, you have to add a buffer battery.
  - Finnucane 9y ago
    I've been tempted by this one: https://www.sinewavecycles.com/products/sinewave-revolution https://www.sinewavecycles.com/products/sinewave-revolution

reustle 9y ago

Since you're on a bicycle, you should be able mount a reasonably sized battery on the bike to keep it charged? Any common usb phone battery bank should work fine

stevenwoo 9y ago
I've used lights on a bike and it's a necessary nuisance to have battery packs with cords - more cords and attachments is enough to discourage usage.
Finnucane 9y ago
I have a dynamo hub that could recharge it on the fly, with a USB adapter. It would mean wiring it to the handlebar, but I suppose I could live with that.

wtallis 9y ago

Battery life is definitely a challenge. At CES last year I saw a big brand demonstrating an action camera for bikes and it was also around 2h life. I just laughed at them. My bike trips usually consist of 5-6 hours of riding each day, and it's not always convenient to recharge overnight on multi-day treks.

tonyedgecombe 9y ago
You do realise you are an extreme outlier, that most people think of 30 minutes as a long ride.
- Lio 9y ago
  Do you have any evidence to support the “extreme outlier” assertion, speaking as someone in a large bike club who regularly does long rides. I understand most commutes are under 3 miles but I think many serious club riders would ride between 50-100 miles in a single ride most weekends (might be stops for coffee and cake along the way :). Sadly, we get close passed and threatened every week it seems. Edit: From Strava (which would probably show more serious cyclists) UK ride figures for 2015: http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/strava-reveals-average-british-cycle-commute-length/018882 http://www.bikebiz.com/news/read/strava-reveals-average-brit... That gives the impression that 2 hour plus rides are not that uncommon although, that will be skewed by the kind of rider who records their journeys.
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    From https://www.cyclinguk.org/resources/cycling-uk-cycling-statistics https://www.cyclinguk.org/resources/cycling-uk-cycling-stati... "The average length of a cycle trip was three and a half miles, while the average length of a car trip was about eight and a half miles" Most people aren't club riders. Sadly, we get close passed and threatened every week it seems. I know, I ride more than 100 miles a week.

stevenwoo 9y ago

The Fly 12 (front model of the rear Fly 6 mentioned in the article) has 8+ hours of recording time and with a small memory card only keeps the last two hours (discarding older video), also, less video time if used as light.

bazzargh 9y ago

"2 or so hours of record time on a charge. That doesn’t seem sufficient." I'm not sure why the blackbox style of camera hasn't caught on more. (like eg http://www.rideye.com/ http://www.rideye.com/, but I'm sure there are others). My rides are commonly 100miles plus at a time - slowly - and often overnight. Not only is that too long for the camera at decent resolution, it's too long for batteries; last time I tried that, a GoPro with a 32Gb card that might've taken 8h of video died after 4h. A 5 min rolling window of decent resolution footage is all I want for crashes or highlights. But more than this, it'd be nice to have some standardisation on bike accessories running off a single power bus, not their individual batteries. My dynamo gear is great (I use a SON hub, Edelux 2, and a Secula rear) but why was this not semi-standard; I'm in northern europe and lights are needed most of the year. And once the cabling is there, why aren't bike gadgets aimed at bus power rather than more and more batteries?

flyinghamster 9y ago
Bushch & Müller makes a device that can be used to power gadgets from a SON hub (adjustable from 2.8 to 13.3V). http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ewerk.php http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ewerk.php Based on the information provided, it is NOT plug-and-play; you must manually adjust voltage and current for your device, and if it's not amenable to voltage sags/stoppages, you have to add a buffer battery.
- Finnucane 9y ago
  I've been tempted by this one: https://www.sinewavecycles.com/products/sinewave-revolution https://www.sinewavecycles.com/products/sinewave-revolution