Alternative Camera To Cycliq Fly12

Broono83

Was going to post in Road Buying but as it’s for my commute thought I’d ask in here.

After being knocked off by a driver last year I’m after a couple cameras. Almost sold on the Fly 6 camera and light combo as price is about bearable and could always use an additional rear light.

But for a front camera I’m baulking a bit at the price and already have 2 good front lights. If I could buy the camera alone without the light for 150 I’d go for it but feel I’m paying a lot for a light I don’t need.

So any alternatives to the Fly 12 (or the 6 )? Main requirements, although I’m far from a camera expert:

Long battery life (>4 hours)
Loop recording over older data, as will be solely for incidents/insurance
1080p quality, 720 minimum

TIA

elbowloh

Sorry, don't have an alternative, but I do have the Cycliq 12CE. I bought it through Cycle2Work, as it qualifies as a light, rather than as an action camera at Cycle Republic.

I think its a great camera and light, with good battery life and view quality. It has a good feature where in the case of an incident, you press the Q button and it will lock that 15 minute segment of video so it won't get overwritten. It also has accident detection, so if it detects you getting knocked off (angle from vertical) it will also lock that segment of video.

I really hate the mounts however, both the basic one included in the box and the outfront/garmin mount i paid extra for. They both come with various size shims, but none of them fit my bikes properly even though they have standard diameter bars. I've had to fashion shims from cut up tubes which is not ideal. I also broke one when i tried to remove the light, but Cycliq did replace this for free when I emailed them.

I also have the 6 (the old one) and that's good too.

wolfsbane2k

Drift Innovations Ghost X with the added Battery Module (if you can find it) for 8 hours recording, or 5 hours without.

With the battery pack it's bang on £150.

kingdav

Last year around March the non CE version of the fly12/fly6 came down to about £135 and £60 respectively, seemed to be clearing old stock along side selling the newer versions. I bought both older versions then and use them daily. Might be worth keeping an eye out to see if there is another refresh on the horizon.

Broono83

Thanks for the replies.

I’d looked at ghost cameras before but I think whatever model I was looking at was discontinued. I think the standard model without the added pack would do me. Do you have it Wolfsbane? Looks ideal, any issues with it? Does it come with a decent mount?

Kingdav, I remember seeing the old fly 6 very chap and really annoyed I didn’t get one! Not seen many non CE ones about recently.

Elbowloh, thanks for the advice. Is the mount for the fly 6 equally poor? As I said I’m kinda nailed into buying one as it stands.

elbowloh

Broono83 wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

I’d looked at ghost cameras before but I think whatever model I was looking at was discontinued. I think the standard model without the added pack would do me. Do you have it Wolfsbane? Looks ideal, any issues with it? Does it come with a decent mount?

Kingdav, I remember seeing the old fly 6 very chap and really annoyed I didn’t get one! Not seen many non CE ones about recently.

Elbowloh, thanks for the advice. Is the mount for the fly 6 equally poor? As I said I’m kinda nailed into buying one as it stands.

The Fly 6 doesn't have a separate mount it's a velcro strap integrated into the unit. It works fine and I have had no problems with slippage or anything. However, they do come with a shim that you can use dependent upon the angle of your seat tube which is a bit rubbish really as it doesn't fix to the unit and just comes off every time you take off the light. I took to sellotaping it to the unit, but that's not ideal. In the end i lost it, but the light is ok without it really.

slowbike

I've got the Fly6 Aldi knockoff - and whilst generally it's a good camera/light - it's nearly useless at this time of year - because I commute both ways in the dusk/dark and the number plates of the vehicles going by are unreadable. Needs a "Night mode" really.

For the front I've got the equivalent of the Halfords Chilli cameras (currently £10) - but it's got a better mounting system - even then I had to adapt it as it was a bit clunky - I currently don't use it on the commute - but I should do - again, night vision isn't great, but it should pick up number plates lit by my front light. Oh - another downside is that the audio isn't great on this one.

shamrock134

I have the 1st gen Fly12.

It's a bit chonk but otherwise functions well. I paid for the official Cycliq combo out-front mount for neatness of mounting it under the bars with a Garmin above... that failed after 6 months. Got a refund. The standard mount is fine as it doesn't have to support the weight of both camera + Garmin but is cluttering my bars. The new CE is meant to be lighter at the cost of battery life.

I've managed to get the police to send out one NOIP so far but often incidents don't look as bad on the camera as reality.

elbowloh

shamrock134 wrote:

I have the 1st gen Fly12.
I've managed to get the police to send out one NOIP so far but often incidents don't look as bad on the camera as reality.

I've noticed that a couple of times myself. I've been commuting in and had some numpty almost take me out, thinking to myself "feck me that was close, i'll look at the video later" and when i do it looks no where near as dangerous as I perceived it to be.

shamrock134

The one I submitted was a car doing an RLJ so really obvious in the video.

Other incidents of dangerous driving appear less bad on the footage so unless you get knocked off (I try to avoid this obviously) I doubt the police will do anything.

slowbike

I've submitted 4 close pass videos to Operation Crackdown - they've reported they've sent a letter to the registered keepers - which as I didn't actually get knocked off is better than nothing I guess.

What's annoying is that I've just walked down the road - including a section where there is no footpath - so I walk on the right side - a double decker bus comes towards me - and despite there being no other vehicles around - makes no move to give me any clearance ... is it that difficult to turn a steering wheel?! and this is a "professional driver" (ie he gets paid to drive)

-Dash

Slowbike wrote:

I've submitted 4 close pass videos to Operation Crackdown - they've reported they've sent a letter to the registered keepers - which as I didn't actually get knocked off is better than nothing I guess.

I've used Op Crackdown and Surrey/Met processes. While Op Crackdown will invariably send a letter they have never done more even in extremely close passes while Surrey / Met have started NIP processes.

wolfsbane2k

Broono83 wrote:

I’d looked at ghost cameras before but I think whatever model I was looking at was discontinued. I think the standard model without the added pack would do me. Do you have it Wolfsbane? Looks ideal, any issues with it? Does it come with a decent mount?

No, I don't have the ghost, but it's been my "I want" for a helmet mounted camera for a while, based on the video's I've seen online when compared to others.
At present I use a shimano CM-1000 unit on the helmet, a kitvision escape 5W handlebar mount, and a aldi version of the fly6 - together they seem to do the job. (Yes, I should probably just give up cycling if I feel it's that scary...)
The kit vision's got the best low light performance of the lot by miles, but still misses numberplates, whereas the aldi camera normally picks them up only because I've got a co-located very focused light beam in the form of a Meteor Shield X, which in flash mode gives out enough for the number plate to glow through the headlights when about 5 to 10 m behind.

The helmet camera is good because, even though fish eyed, it shows the handlebars and vehicle as they pass, which can then be measured (for me, in terms of hand distances). Rear mount cameras typically don't include part of the bike as a visible reference point, and I've had reports rejected because you can't tell how close they actually are.

I'm currently trying the kitvision mounted on the right hand drop facing backwards, as again that gives a reference point to measure between - my legs and the vehicle as it passes - and it also makes it damn obvious to drivers that it's on camera, and I've actually had significantly less close passes in urban environments since it was fitted.

Broono83

Thanks for that. Interesting points!

sgt.pepper

I got a couple of polaroid cubes because the design doesn't clash as much as my 10 speed. They're actually pretty good - small, light and decent picture quality. Battery life isn't the best though, and the various accessories aren't very stable - most people end up taping them to things instead.

kingrollo

If you can still get the original fly 12 for around £130 -£160 thats the one to buy. On warranty I got upgraded to the CE apart from being smaller I thought it had gone backwards from the original. A truly shocking mount for a £200+ device - very buggy, dark picture and mostly annoyingly doesn't hold charge when switched off.

Search about for the original fly 12 would be my advice.

elbowloh

kingrollo wrote:

If you can still get the original fly 12 for around £130 -£160 thats the one to buy. On warranty I got upgraded to the CE apart from being smaller I thought it had gone backwards from the original. A truly shocking mount for a £200+ device - very buggy, dark picture and mostly annoyingly doesn't hold charge when switched off.

Search about for the original fly 12 would be my advice.

Agree on the comments about the mount, but i've had no problems with the camera itself, picture bright and holds charge just fine.

awavey

elbowloh wrote:

kingrollo wrote:

If you can still get the original fly 12 for around £130 -£160 thats the one to buy. On warranty I got upgraded to the CE apart from being smaller I thought it had gone backwards from the original. A truly shocking mount for a £200+ device - very buggy, dark picture and mostly annoyingly doesn't hold charge when switched off.

Search about for the original fly 12 would be my advice.

Agree on the comments about the mount, but i've had no problems with the camera itself, picture bright and holds charge just fine.

daylight it seems ok, though its surprising comparing to a GoPro how dead slow it makes me look even at the same 60fps, theres definitely some action camera stuff going on with GoPro footage, but nighttime, its better than the Go Pro I had, but still seems pretty poor fwiw

shamrock134

I've finally found a dual Garmin/Fly12 mount that seems robust enough although time will tell. The Bar Fly 4 Prime...

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/tate-lab ... rime-mount

I don't think the footage on the Fly12 is that bad for it's purpose. It's not going to be nice enough to make a cool montage of your trip to the Alps or something though.

Here is a recent one from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaa5M9u ... e=youtu.be

awavey

shamrock134 wrote:

I've finally found a dual Garmin/Fly12 mount that seems robust enough although time will tell. The Bar Fly 4 Prime...

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/tate-lab ... rime-mount

I don't think the footage on the Fly12 is that bad for it's purpose. It's not going to be nice enough to make a cool montage of your trip to the Alps or something though.

Here is a recent one from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaa5M9u ... e=youtu.be

yikes that last one, you managed to stop in time ? what settings do you use for interest ? as Im wondering if its the image stabilisation thats making it look all slow motiony with mine. I mean I dont want some super cool montage video of riding a bike,they arent that interesting, its just to be good enough to capture clear enough images of cars/number plates if I need them to report them to the police.

shamrock134

I still hit the car, just not very hard thanks to my hazard anticipation. It could have been a lot worse if we were pushing the pace!

I'd have to check my app but I don't think there is an image stabilisation option on the original Fly12? I think I've got shooting set to 1080p/30FPS.

kingrollo

shamrock134 wrote:

I've finally found a dual Garmin/Fly12 mount that seems robust enough although time will tell. The Bar Fly 4 Prime...

https://winstanleysbikes.co.uk/tate-lab ... rime-mount

I don't think the footage on the Fly12 is that bad for it's purpose. It's not going to be nice enough to make a cool montage of your trip to the Alps or something though.

Here is a recent one from me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaa5M9u ... e=youtu.be

You seem to be giving it plenty of welly in those vids....were they filmed with the winstanley mount ?

winstanley are now saying available to pre order - how long did you wait ? - is it a dual mount - ie garmin and fly 12 ?

shamrock134

kingrollo wrote:

You seem to be giving it plenty of welly in those vids....were they filmed with the winstanley mount ?

winstanley are now saying available to pre order - how long did you wait ? - is it a dual mount - ie garmin and fly 12 ?

Those vids were actually on the stock mount as I hadn't received the Bar Fly yet. I did stop pedaling when I noticed the car but still didn't really expect him to pull out like that. Of course he said he couldn't see me! :?

It was in stock when I ordered mine. It might be worth waiting as I don't think it's that cheap anywhere else. It's a dual mount for camera and Garmin (has mounts for Wahoo and other computers)...

kingdav

I have three combined garmin/cycliq mounts I use on different bikes with my fly12. All work fine, thought they are all metal construction and I've needed the odd bit of loctite threadlock on some of the bolts to keep them in check. I think the weight helps any vibration to loosen them.

1. Moon from Merlin £27.95
https://www.merlincycles.com/moon-handl ... 04696.html

2. Superstar x-long + ebay gopro mount adaptor approx £30 (22.99 + 5.00 + nuts&bolts)
10mm M3 countersunk bolts from accu.co.uk which sit in the superstar garmin
plate, go through the mount and into the gopro adaptor with some M3 nuts on the
end. I always use the lanyard tethers on my garmin and camera so if the bolts fail it shouldn't be a catastrophe.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122974006474
https://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/ ... n-1000.htm

3. wiggle lifeline out front for garmin edge and action camera. £20
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-out-f ... on-camera/

wolfsbane2k

kingdav wrote:

<snip> I always use the lanyard tethers on my garmin and camera so if the bolts fail it shouldn't be a catastrophe.
</snip>

Thanks for the reminder, I've lost mine... off to buy some.

wolfsbane2k

Just bought a Drift Ghost X after this mornings assault...

kingrollo

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Just bought a Drift Ghost X after this mornings assault...

more info....?

wolfsbane2k

kingrollo wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Just bought a Drift Ghost X after this mornings assault...

more info....?

viewtopic.php?f=40012&t=12573143&p=20481146#p20481012

elbowloh

kingdav wrote:

3. wiggle lifeline out front for garmin edge and action camera. £20
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-out-f ... on-camera/

Just a note. I've just received my lifeline out front mount and it doesn't come with any attachments for actually mounting your specific action camera (in my case a Cycliq Fly 12CE), so you'll have to buy this separately (which i hadn't).

The specific Cycliq out front mount that i bought for a different bike came with various attachments for mounting different types of camera.

slowbike

What does it come with then? It shows the GoPro style mounting lugs - which I'd assume it comes with?

elbowloh

Slowbike wrote:

What does it come with then? It shows the GoPro style mounting lugs - which I'd assume it comes with?

The one i got comes with nothing apart from some shims to attach the mount itself to the bars. There were no other attachments/lugs to fit the camera to the mount.