New Fly6 CE and Fly12 CE Camera's

[Retrobyte]

I'd expect a camera designed for using on bicycles to be weather resistant. Pretty poor if that's not the case.

[trailgumby]

I'd expect a camera designed for using on bicycles to be weather resistant. Pretty poor if that's not the case.

I've found mine to be very good, but clearly there are some variations in manufacturing quality.

[Comedian]

So, the other thing about the Fly6 Gen3 is that I only get about 4 hours runtime without the light. Camera only.

That's probably OK in summer but it's going to be a big problem next winter. The Fly6ce which is at least two years old has more battery lift by a good margin.

[queequeg]

So, the other thing about the Fly6 Gen3 is that I only get about 4 hours runtime without the light. Camera only.

That's probably OK in summer but it's going to be a big problem next winter. The Fly6ce which is at least two years old has more battery lift by a good margin.

this was also a major reason i swapped to the Varia. It lasts 10+ hours with the light running in High Visibility mode. My Fly6 would last barely 4 hours in high vis flash mode, so i’d only have coverage for half my ride. turning the light off would squeeze another 90min out of it at best.

[Comedian]

So, the other thing about the Fly6 Gen3 is that I only get about 4 hours runtime without the light. Camera only.

That's probably OK in summer but it's going to be a big problem next winter. The Fly6ce which is at least two years old has more battery lift by a good margin.

this was also a major reason i swapped to the Varia. It lasts 10+ hours with the light running in High Visibility mode. My Fly6 would last barely 4 hours in high vis flash mode, so i’d only have coverage for half my ride. turning the light off would squeeze another 90min out of it at best.

Looks like they need external power.. which is painful and impossible in the wet.

[trailgumby]

My Fly6 carked it today. A couple of hours after a wet ride. Looks like the rear-facing bezel wasn't glued properly to the case and has let water in. Just submitted a warranty claim.

The fact I had it off the bike and sitting on its back may have contributed to the electronics failure, but still a clear fault with the waterproofing of the case. Will post a photo when I can find a hosting site.

[jasonc]

Will post a photo when I can find a hosting site.

postimg.cc is the current one i use

[Comedian]

My Fly6 carked it today. A couple of hours after a wet ride. Looks like the rear-facing bezel wasn't glued properly to the case and has let water in. Just submitted a warranty claim.

The fact I had it off the bike and sitting on its back may have contributed to the electronics failure, but still a clear fault with the waterproofing of the case. Will post a photo when I can find a hosting site.

Don't be hard on yourself. Water ingestion seems to be the #1 big problem for these units. I had mine take on a heap of water. I knew it was raining and double checked the rubber cover. I looked when I got home and I don't think it got in through the cover... the only other place is the speaker. I taped over that.. haven't ridden in the rain since.

Early on cycliq support were being pretty difficult about this but a friend had hers replaced no qualms recently. It appears this only affects people who have ever ridden in the rain with their fly6.

[trailgumby]

Hi All. After some recent frustrations with Cycliq equipment I'm looking for recommendations for alternative brands of cameras.

Requirements:

• *reliably* waterproof without needing to use water housings
• better than 4 hours runtime, preferably 6+
• good number plate capture
• decent low light performance
• auto-overwrite of old files (ie, like a dash cam)

Nice to have:

• user-replaceable battery
• GoPro style mount
• Able to be used rear-facing from say the saddle as well as from the bars
• integrated lights nice but not essential

What have you got, what has your experience been, and what do you recommend?

[Andy01]

I got some cameras late last year, and they would tick some of but not all of your boxes;

DJI Osmo Action (original, not Mk 2) - I use this up front

Up to 4K. I use 2.7K/60 and number plates are easily readable.
I haven't tried it much in low light, but it looks fairly decent (as action cameras go)
User changeable batteries
Waterproof to 10m without a housing
The included frame has a GoPro style mount
You could mount it anywhere you want with the appropriate mounts

Probably around 80-90 minutes at 2.7K/60 with stabilisation on on a battery. There is a port on the side (behind a removable door) that you could plug in a USB C power source, but I don't know how this would affect the waterproof-ness ?
It does have a "Loop" feature, but strangely it doesn't actually overwrite older files. I manually delete the oldest ride after each ride when I change the battery.
No integrated lights.

Mobius Maxi - I use this at the rear.

Theoretically it does 2.7K but I find that 1080P/60 is about the best. Number plates are mostly readable, but it depends a bit on the lighting.
I think it will do around 2.5 hours on an internal battery. The battery is user replaceable apparently (perhaps with some basic skills). You can easily connect it to a powerbank so it could run all day on a moderate powerbank.
It is actually quite popular as a dashcam so it loops seamlessly.
It comes with a little tray that it slides into. The tray has a standard tripod style screw hole, so it is fairly easy to attach to to a GoPro style arm if you get the intermediate screw mount. I have mine mounted up under my saddle - nicely out of the way.
Apparently low light performance is acceptable, but I haven't tried. There is lots of reviews online of this (for dashcam use).

Not at all waterproof, and I don't think there is a housing available. It is something I am aware of but not a big deal to me as I am a fair-weather rider.
No integrated lights. It is far too tiny (a little bigger than a standard matchbox)to have integrated anything.

They do the job for me, but my rides are typically less than an hour and in dry weather during daytime.

When I was searching I can't remember finding anything (perhaps anything available in Oz and "reasonably" priced) that had the features you want - except the FLY cameras and I wasn't going to touch them after reading the large number of poor reviews about very poor reliability and poor customer support.

[Cyclophiliac]

Yes, I certainly don't plan to ever buy one of the Fly cameras. After following this thread (and the previous Fly cameras thread) since its inception, I'm not exactly impressed with their reliability.

[queequeg]

Yes, I certainly don't plan to ever buy one of the Fly cameras. After following this thread (and the previous Fly cameras thread) since its inception, I'm not exactly impressed with their reliability.

I am seeing a lot of Varia radar taillights out on the road these days. Mine is going strong. Lasts an entire 200km+ ride with the light going. It gives what the the Fly6 can’t…warning of danger. No reliability issues either.

[warthog1]

I am seeing a lot of Varia radar taillights out on the road these days. Mine is going strong. Lasts an entire 200km+ ride with the light going. It gives what the the Fly6 can’t…warning of danger. No reliability issues either.

Very happy with mine too.

[Comedian]

I am seeing a lot of Varia radar taillights out on the road these days. Mine is going strong. Lasts an entire 200km+ ride with the light going. It gives what the the Fly6 can’t…warning of danger. No reliability issues either.

Very happy with mine too.

I've just been given a warranty fly6 replacement for my last one which was 8 months old when it was drowned by one wet ride.

Anyway.. I just thought I'd mention that the new one appears to certainly have far higher image quality than the old new one. Looks like they have done running improvements.

The smaller size fits well with the varia. Will have to see how the battery goes.

[caneye]

still using the Fly6CE. I tape mine up with a duct tape if wet weather is expected.

have also seen many riders using the Varia. feels safer when there's one in each bunch ride (you don't need more than 1)

[fenn_paddler]

Is there any love for the Drift Ghost XL as a Cycliq replacement?

I wrap my Fly 6 CE in a sandwich bag secured with a rubber band whenever there's a sniff of rain (and it's lasted well as a result).

I replaced my Fly 12 with a GoPro Hero4 Session, but deteriorating battery life forced a replacement. Cycliq wasn't considered for many of the reasons outlined in this thread, so I'm trying the Ghost XL on the front. I don't think it is necessarily great on numberplates or in low light, but it is waterproof, has up to nine hours runtime, auto-overwrites files, and has a gopro style mount.

[Andy01]

Is there any love for the Drift Ghost XL as a Cycliq replacement?

I wrap my Fly 6 CE in a sandwich bag secured with a rubber band whenever there's a sniff of rain (and it's lasted well as a result).

I replaced my Fly 12 with a GoPro Hero4 Session, but deteriorating battery life forced a replacement. Cycliq wasn't considered for many of the reasons outlined in this thread, so I'm trying the Ghost XL on the front. I don't think it is necessarily great on numberplates or in low light, but it is waterproof, has up to nine hours runtime, auto-overwrites files, and has a gopro style mount.

I looked at those and they are not a bad option, but the video quality didn't seem to be the best 1080P out there and obviously only 1080P, which as per the Mobius Maxi, is marginal for number plates.

[Cyclophiliac]

Is there any love for the Drift Ghost XL as a Cycliq replacement?

I wrap my Fly 6 CE in a sandwich bag secured with a rubber band whenever there's a sniff of rain (and it's lasted well as a result).

I replaced my Fly 12 with a GoPro Hero4 Session, but deteriorating battery life forced a replacement. Cycliq wasn't considered for many of the reasons outlined in this thread, so I'm trying the Ghost XL on the front. I don't think it is necessarily great on numberplates or in low light, but it is waterproof, has up to nine hours runtime, auto-overwrites files, and has a gopro style mount.

I looked at those and they are not a bad option, but the video quality didn't seem to be the best 1080P out there and obviously only 1080P, which as per the Mobius Maxi, is marginal for number plates.

The problem is: once we get past 1080p, battery life tends to go down, and may not last for the entire commute/trip.

[trailgumby]

I've just received notification that my order for one of these has just shipped. Supposed to be more thoroughly waterproof, long runtime and better low light performance that the Fly6. Competition for Cycliq has arrived.

https://www.tooocycling.store/products/ ... 2086235371

[Comedian]

I've just received notification that my order for one of these has just shipped. Supposed to be more thoroughly waterproof, long runtime and better low light performance that the Fly6. Competition for Cycliq has arrived.

https://www.tooocycling.store/products/ ... 2086235371

Watching with great interest!

[Andy01]

I call BS on the recording time - 24,000 minutes (400 hours) of 1080P on a 128Gb card - either compressed to the point of being completely useless or a typo with a couple of extra zeros. I get about 750 minutes of 1080P/60 video on a 128Gb card using my Mobius Maxi so 24,000 is a bit of stretch It is fairly easy to get the video size down but the quality suffers hugely.

I have found this with my Arlo Pro 1080P security cameras - they are still technically 1080P but Arlo has pushed through firmware updates that has increased the video compression (to save them on server space I presume) to a point where it is sometimes hard to recognise a person that you already know never mind read a number plate. My Arlo 1080P video (for reference) would now give me 31,000 minutes of 1080P on a 128Gb card and I can tell you that it is pretty useless - blurry and pixelated - I have never tried it with a number plate but I would be astonished if you could read a number on a stationery vehicle at 10m with it, nevermind a vehicle doing 60km/h past a "bumpy" bicycle doing 30-40km/h.

Also, 105° lens is probably adequate but not very wide compared to most other dashcams or actions cams (which are 130-170°). I have no idea what the Fly6 is.

I didn't see any mention of image stabilisation, which though not "required" does improve the video quality and ability to read number plates. I reckon that the DJI Rocksteady is the primary difference in video "quality" between my Osmo Action and Mobius Maxi when both are set to 1080P/60, with the Osmo being quite noticeably clearer for number plates.

Likewise, 80 lumens light (assuming it is not over-stated like the recording time) is marginally adequate for night use, but probably not too good for daytime use. My Giant Recon TL 200 is OK but not blinding at 200 lumens. I think it may be a stretch to say that you would visible at 1.6km away.

I will be very interested to see how this performs against the stated specs and what the video quality is like.

[AUbicycles]

It points up…..


But seriously, cycliq made a good splash and even though they became very quiet, I would have expected a lot more genuine competitors to have jumped in. Car Dascams are big business and automation, convenience and affordability in bike versions can really push for more interest among riders.

Will have a look too… keep me posted!

[Comedian]

It points up…..


But seriously, cycliq made a good splash and even though they became very quiet, I would have expected a lot more genuine competitors to have jumped in. Car Dascams are big business and automation, convenience and affordability in bike versions can really push for more interest among riders.

Will have a look too… keep me posted!

Cycliq really did a good job of hitting a market niche. A unique product that meets a need. One that is big enough - but no so big that lots of competitors pile into. A premium price, but one many are prepared to pay for a unique product.

I think everyone genuinely wishes them well too.. an Australian company and all. They just seem to have been dogged by quality issues. Either what they are doing is really hard, or their suppliers aren't doing a good enough job. Maybe they need to switch manufacturers or switch country of supply. People I know in electronics manufacturing were bemoaning how their Chinese product started out being what they wanted, but unless someone was living there and watching over the factory quality would decline.

Personally I would happily pay $50 more if my fly6 lasted a long time.

[trailgumby]

Will have a look too… keep me posted!

'
Scheduled to arrive the day after Easter. Will keep you posted.

[foo on patrol]

Re batteries in the 12's. You can pull the originals out and re-new with new ones, it's not a big job.

Foo