The advantages of a Go Pro

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
I like the idea of a camera, both for my own protection and just for recording rides. That said I think the practicalities (or lack of) would kill it; no helmet to mount it to and I'm not so sure about bar-mounting (low viewing angle, vibration, sea-sickness inducing left/right motion due to steering corrections).. plus it's one more thing to have to ensure is charged / working / turned on, then the cost (although used they don't look too bad) and necessary HD storage space..

A mate has one of those rear-facing light / cameras; sounds like a good idea and as he says a good silent witness if he gets hit from behind by someone who fails to stop.
 

Slick

Guru
I like the idea of a camera, both for my own protection and just for recording rides. That said I think the practicalities (or lack of) would kill it; no helmet to mount it to and I'm not so sure about bar-mounting (low viewing angle, vibration, sea-sickness inducing left/right motion due to steering corrections).. plus it's one more thing to have to ensure is charged / working / turned on, then the cost (although used they don't look too bad) and necessary HD storage space..

A mate has one of those rear-facing light / cameras; sounds like a good idea and as he says a good silent witness if he gets hit from behind by someone who fails to stop.
I have both. Do not mount a camera to a helmet and the bar mount is an excellent view although if your looking for maximum impact to highlighting close passes and the like it probably needs to be lower and further back. Mine is mounted for a bit of fun and just record certain rides I may never do again and the bar mount is perfect with a camera with inbuilt stability control.
 

DSK

Senior Member
I couldn't be bothered to mount the garmin early this morning as I was in a bit of a rush to get out on my training ride. At 06:00/06:30 the traffic is low and drivers seem patient enough so thought, I won't need it. Sod's law the one time I didn't have it, it would have captured a close call.

06:45, I'm sticking to local main roads and quiet backstreets. As I approach a T-junction on a very quiet street that I use daily and loop x3 for its epic shattering climb, I keep my ears open for any noise to indicate potential motor vehicles, pedestrians foot steps or the claws on an animal etc. I do this as you have no option to slow right down and stop to check. In a vehicle you have to stop and then creep to be able to see left right due to the tall hedges on the corner and narrow foot paths. At this T-junction, a Toyota Hybrid (new prius?) comes around the corner, turning of the main road onto this residential road and onto my side of the road where I'm positioned to the right of my lane as I intend to turn right.

I quickly managed to unclip my right foot and whizz to the left of the road in a panic. I noted the driver had a Royal Mail jacket on, so perhaps off to work. Good job nothing happened but, If this resulted in a hit & run, I'd have no chance of tracing the vehicle.
 
Last edited:
Hi,
I've been using my Go Pro camera on my bike now for a few weeks. After slowly getting my head around of how to use it (I'm not very technically minded) it's been great to record rides through the countryside. The battery lasts around 1 3/4 hours so it records most of my rides except for the longer ones.
It also comes in very handy for evidence against idiotic drivers should it ever come to that.
Today was such a case out on my ride. A real close pass happened whilst out enjoying the sun. It was a van and it came to close to comfort in my eyes. When i got home i replayed the footage and got a clear view of the reg and the company's phone number on the back if the van. Taking information like this in the heat of the moment would of been virtually impossible but the little Go Pro had got it all.
Once home i gave the small company a call and told them all about it and that I'm considering sending the footage to the police as it was unacceptable driving.
As soon as i mentioned the incident had been recorded the voice on the other end soon retracted there defensive attitude and owned up to being the driver making up a load of excuses followed by a wrath of apologising.
My answer to him was "in this day and age you don't know who's filming you or your bad driving. Even cyclists have dash cameras these days"
Hopefully he's now got the message that bullying vulnerable road users can not be got away with so easily nowadays.
All the very best,
Johnny 👍
You do have to be careful not to say or do anything too extreme in reaction to the poor driving though. The term “hoisted on your own petard” comes to mind:laugh:
 
Cameras are handy to have though.


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=3UCOaH7BHYY

This is a short bit of a ride I recorded the other day, when I rode through a park, some of it was segregated cycle and walking, some of it was shared space. The bit on the shared space showed (pretty much) every risk you’re likely to find, in the space of a few seconds. Dogs off their leads, not under control, on the path, being one of my biggest bug bears. Kiddies being kiddies ( they really are unpredictable some times). It’s actually less stress to ride on the roads, in preference to the parks and paths.
 
Top Bottom