Dual-camera bicycle setup

I've been researching dual camera (front+rear) solutions for use on my bicycle, and so far coming up frustratingly short. The most promising setup I've seen so far is the Viofo MT1 covered by Nigel here:


However, it appears this system is brand new (still working out bugs) and not widely available at least in the USA. Power is also an issue, necessitating DIY voltage adapter for a USB power bank for bicycle use.

My rides average 2 hours with some all-day rides up to 6 hours, and I need something that will last the entire ride in both battery and recording time. Up to this point I've been using an old GoPro Hero 3+. With a 64gb card I can record the full day rides, but the internal battery only last about 90 minutes. So, I started using a USB battery pack to power the camera, which offers more than sufficient battery life for the all day rides. There is a big problem though: if the USB cable to the battery pack becomes severed or disconnected, the GoPro powers off without shutting down, and the current video file is lost. I suffered a hard crash on my bike in 2017, and the footage was lost because of this. So, this setup will be of no use in the event of an accident.

I thought of switching from the GoPro to an actual dashcam, powered with a USB battery pack, would be a good solution. But, the issue is that it appears that few if any of these can be natively powered via USB without some type of complicated DIY voltage regulator/adapter. Then there is the issue of weatherproofing, car cameras are not suitable at all for outside use.

The issue of loop recording is not as important with a bike camera. While loop recording would be nice, to me it's not a big deal to simply format the card before every ride. So in that sense, two older model GoPros would work fine for me if I could solve the USB power cutoff vulnerability.

I've looked at the purpose-built bicycle cams (like the Cycliq), but in all truthfulness the high number of negative reviews and problems reported for all of those has made me shy away from them. Hoping for some insights here.
I’ve been using Cycliq fly12 ce and it’s very good, no issues and battery life is good enough for the amount I ride
 
Make sense to combine camera with light.
 
I’ve been using Cycliq fly12 ce and it’s very good, no issues and battery life is good enough for the amount I ride

How long does the battery last?

Phil
 
I think it is 7 H just camera and 5H with lights on.
 
That's pretty good and more than most riders need.

Phil
 
It do get a bit long in the teeth when you spend that long in the saddle, as i kid i dont think i have done 12 hours, but over 10 hours i probably have done back in the day.
If you are not used to a race bike saddle, you will have a price to pay,,,,, actually you can even have that if you are used to one of those.
 
Do any of you use the Cycliq Fly6 (the rear-facing bike cam)? Amazon reviews show a lot of reported problems (short battery life, leaky seals) and defective units with that one. I see they are relaunching in August though.

With a Fly12 and Fly6, you're looking at $530 USD total cost. By comparison, the MT1 is ~$350 plus the cost of the battery pack (at least converting to USD from the $499 AUD price tag). I already have good head+tail lights on my bike, so all I need are the cameras.
 
With a Fly12 and Fly6,
Looking at the technical specs on their website, both of those have surprisingly small batteries, 2000mAh for the Fly6 seems small even without having to power the lamp. With the lamp, it is not much more than a GoPro. If I was spending that much on a camera then I would want it to record all day.

This would be an issue for me:
" Max microSD card size: 32GB "

And then the Fly6 is only rated IP56. In UK weather where it may stay damp all day, that could mean a short life after water slowly seeps inside and then on a cool evening condensation forms on the electronics.

So if "Amazon reviews show a lot of reported problems (short battery life, leaky seals)", I would tend to believe them. Of course it depends on your use, if you only go cycling on nice days then you don't need to worry about the seals.

I do like the idea of being able to remove the cameras from the bike easily, but again, it depends on your use. For me having the MT1 permanently and very solidly attached is fine.
 
Blackvue-level price and apparently with equal issues :eek: I'm sure better could be done for less.

Wish I has a 3D printer (and knew how to program one) because it would be relatively easy to buy a couple small reliable cams like B1W, F1, or Mobius then put the guts into your own case(s), design your power system using existing parts, then print cases to suit. It's easy to do LED lighting- components can be sourced easily including drivers with emitters, reflectors, whatever.


Once you had that sorted and de-bugged you could see if a cam manufacturer would take it on, or perhaps get someone to mold the cases and do a business making these yourself. Parts cost would be under $300 including 3D printing service and probably nearer $200 for an established manufacturer to build, maybe less. Should beat Cycliq for performance and even with a hefty profit tacked on you'd beat their price. With retirement coming soon and a need for added income then, I guess I should start investigating 3D printers because I've got lots of viable ideas if I could only bring them to fruition...

Phil
 
(y) Yes, sometimes manufacturers “reinvent the wheel” and do something ridiculous that this is surprising.o_O
Although simple solutions lie on the surface.
 
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