Got my Cycliq Fly12 - now w/ mini review

[velomonkey]

Got my Cycliq Fly 12. I backed these cats with the original Fly 6 and I backed them with the Fly 12. They do good work and when I had an issue with the battery they replaced the entire Fly 6 no questions asked and no postage due. Good peeps.

Charging battery now and will go on ride and post a review. A few notes. It's kinda heavy in a dense way. Think of the old Nikon cameras. I weighed the unit and mount - 248 grams.

I aint digging the included mount cause it put the unit upright, I tried swinging it under my bars and the cables got in the way. I can't stand seeing stuff on my bike - I'm the dude that went back to a Garmin 500 on my stem cause all the other units are too big.

Here's some pics - dudes do good work. Crayon is in there for size reference and cause, well, I gots kids and they leave crayons all over. Now to take it out and record those pesky bike riders impeding those good horseless auto drivers.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1679/26715132325_65ed25eca0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/GGJ36K)IMG_0583 (https://flic.kr/p/GGJ36K)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1560/26715132805_a4f502ae74_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/GGJ3f2)IMG_0584 (https://flic.kr/p/GGJ3f2)

[carpediemracing]

Looking forward to the review.

On a side note, are the crayons decoration? Or do you have kids that don't use them? I've never seen pristine crayons last any length of time near age appropriate kids (like our Junior).

[radsmd]

Do they mount using the standard GoPro mounting system? If so, you have plenty of options including the mount from K-edge that works for both your garmin as well as a camera using the GoPro mount system.

http://www.acecosportgroup.com/k-edge-go-big-go-pro-hero-camera-mount/combo-mounts/garmin-combo-mount.html

http://www.acecosportgroup.com/k-edge-go-big-go-pro-hero-camera-mount.html

[AllanVarcoe]

Nice! Post some video when you get a chance.

[Spdntrxi]

I got mine as well.. Also a fly6 supporter .. And I think I am somewhat responsible with the mount. As I was vocal about a tether and it being beefed up since I had my rideye fly off at 45mph.


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[djg21]

I look forward to your review. I also use a Fly6. My initial one had an issue and was replaced under warranty. The replacement has worked flawlessly. I'm really interested to see how the Fly12 works.

[shovelhd]

Another Fly6 customer waiting for your review. I got mine as a Christmas present last year when they were $129. I hope it never needs to be used as intended, but in the meantime the club is loving the hammerfest vids. I'd like a front camera to compliment it.

[R3awak3n]

the fly 6 is ok. I like mine and think its pretty nice for a V2. Needs a few things. One of the most annoying things is that you cant turn of the light and film at the same time. No reason to have the light on during the day here and could save some bat life. Also wish it was smaller but I understand that to pack a camera and light it needs to be a bit bigger but the quality is so bad that I don't really understand why they could not make it smaller.


I don't think I am going to get the 12 but I am looking forward to your review.

[Spdntrxi]

Mine is charged up and ready to go for tomorrow. Agree with the op about the weight .. Unit has heft to it.
The light is pretty impressive for 400l .. Enough for my type of riding anyways .


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[drewellison]

I've been using my Fly6 for a few months and I really like mine. I use mine with lights on even during the day. I don't mind as it's just extra precaution, like daytime running lamps on cars.

Up front I use the original Garmin VIRB and separate lights. For lights, I really like Orfos Flares, which are great be-seen lights (not so much for visibility). And the Orfos up front does not hang on the handlebar. It attaches (magnetically) to the head tube.

Looking forward to the review!
Drew

[djg21]

Another Fly6 customer waiting for your review. I got mine as a Christmas present last year when they were $129. I hope it never needs to be used as intended, but in the meantime the club is loving the hammerfest vids. I'd like a front camera to compliment it.

The only thing the Fly6 lacks from my perspective is the ability to sync the time and date (for purposes of the date stamp on the video) with my PC. I'm not sure how often I have to manually set the date and time, but I haven't regularly been plugging my Fly6 into my PC or downloading video. Rather I charge in on a USB wall charger. Last week when I did look at some video, the datestamp had the wrong date and time, which would not have helped had I needed to use it for evidentiary purposes. I have yet to figure out how often I need to set the date and time, which requires editing a TXT file while the unit is plugged into my PC. I figure I'll check it every couple of days from now on.

I like the flasher to be on during the day, and you can turn all but the circular light around the camera lens off. I'd actually like it brighter during the day than it is now. But a brighter light would be at the expense of battery longevity and it's plenty bright now, especially at dusk when it's darker.

Overall, I like my Fly6. I'd like a front camera without the light, but am definitely considering the Fly12.

[Elefantino]

I have the Fly6 and think they made some real improvements between versions. Will be interested to see of they adapt to similar feedback with the Fly12.

[shovelhd]

The only thing the Fly6 lacks from my perspective is the ability to sync the time and date (for purposes of the date stamp on the video) with my PC. I'm not sure how often I have to manually set the date and time, but I haven't regularly been plugging my Fly6 into my PC or downloading video. Rather I charge in on a USB wall charger. Last week when I did look at some video, the datestamp had the wrong date and time, which would not have helped had I needed to use it for evidentiary purposes. I have yet to figure out how often I need to set the date and time, which requires editing a TXT file while the unit is plugged into my PC. I figure I'll check it every couple of days from now on.

I like the flasher to be on during the day, and you can turn all but the circular light around the camera lens off. I'd actually like it brighter during the day than it is now. But a brighter light would be at the expense of battery longevity and it's plenty bright now, especially at dusk when it's darker.

Overall, I like my Fly6. I'd like a front camera without the light, but am definitely considering the Fly12.

Hmm, I'll have to check that out. I do charge mine via USB to the laptop.

I'll run the flasher depending on the ride length, time of day, and the weather.

I would also buy a Fly12- without the light.

[velomonkey]

OK, just posted a video (https://vimeo.com/164773830) - so go check it out. I'll post a more detailed review later on - I overlaid the strava stuff, so speed, power and gradient - I didn't have my HR monitor so I picked gradient.

More to follow.

[Shadwhand]

OK, just posted a video (https://vimeo.com/164773830) - so go check it out. I'll post a more detailed review later on - I overlaid the strava stuff, so speed, power and gradient - I didn't have my HR monitor so I picked gradient.

More to follow.

It seems either the resolution or the camera quality makes things particularly grainy.

[velomonkey]

Quick Review (pics below)

For Starters I like my stems flat - my cables neat - I gotta ride Campy and get that nice flat transition from the bars to the hoods - my steerer tube trimmed and the only computer I can handle is a Garmin 500 on my stem and even that ruins the aesthetic that I want. Out front mounts and, horror of horrors, Iphone mounts make my stomach turn.

So I aint digging the Fly12 sitting on top, but am confident at some point I can get it below my stem. It does use the standard gopro mount. Anyway . . . .

Light is nice, was cool riding along and seeing a speed limit sign and something was reflecting off it and thinking “oh yea it’s the light.” The instructions these dudes included are great. Packaging was nice. The unit is fairly heavy at over 250 grams. You get to set all the controls for the unit in the iphone app which is great - or you can do it the hard way on the unit. Light has blinking, steady and pulse and then low, medium and high output. It connects to your phone via bluetooth or WiFi. The video.

The video you have to be connected via WiFi and you look at 5 minute segments of the video on your iphone - in low quality. It’s kinda hard to see the exact location of your ride given the quality, but it can be done. It’s all time stamped too. You then mark the video and say if you want the strava overlays or the lines showing 3 feet for a car (settings on this are really well thought out - it gets it down perfectly). Your iphone then goes and processes the video and puts in the overlays. The Strava info seemed to be off by a second or 2 - but hey, it’s awesome it works. If you watch the video you can see I am shifting through gears on a slight uphill and it says "0" for the wattage and then a few more gears and then 500 watts - as we all know with mechanical your spinning if you're shifting - so it's off but, like I said, it's cool.

I posted some video (https://vimeo.com/164773830) and I’m thinking there is an issue - cause the quality is lower than the Fly6. Which is hard to reconcile given this is newer and a lot bigger and heavier than the fly6. I also had the video on the highest setting. They did release a new firmware yesterday and I installed it - wonder if that’s the culprit. I’ve emailed the team at Cycliq and given their history I am confident they will get back to me. So . . . . for now withholding judgement.

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1485/26626334282_3cdbe3758e_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/GySVx1)IMG_0587 (https://flic.kr/p/GySVx1)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1612/26116043703_1abe1a3c87_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/FMMxVz)IMG_0586 (https://flic.kr/p/FMMxVz)

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1557/26116045633_ac419904b0_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/FMMyuR)IMG_0585 (https://flic.kr/p/FMMyuR)

[R3awak3n]

yeah, something is wrong with that video. It looks really bad. It looks like the compression is all sorts of messed up. Could be vimeo's compression? but I dunno, definitely not right and I am sure its not how it should look.

Nice review. That thing is HUGE. I am surprised you don't like out front mounts. They make things look better and now with the garmin on top and go pro on bottom mounts actually makes riding with a go pro not that bad (and you can easily take the go pro out when you don't want it.


I think we are still a bit far from having a camera small enough that will look good on the bars and have footage that looks good. Main problem is actually battery life. As batteries get better, sizes will get smaller and more manageable.

[sandyrs]

What could someone with a penchant for a "clean" "cockpit" possibly have against an out front mount?

[velomonkey]

What could someone with a penchant for a "clean" "cockpit" possibly have against an out front mount?

Sandyrs . . . my boy. Surely you know the old rule with fit (sure we're talking wicked old, but it still works with my new modern-fitted bike).

Look down and the front of your stem should line up with the front hub.

Out front mounts screw that all up. Plus did you see those wheels? Elder spud built Ambrosio with silver record hubs - why cover that up?????

[Elefantino]

I would prefer to see that thing below, too. Would it work with the Garmin combo mount, I wonder?

[tigoat]

That camera looks bigger than I thought it would be. If the light was chopped off then the light would be much smaller. Wish they would offer just the camera without the light. I have been pretty pleased with my Fly6 and have been wanting a Fly12 to compliment it. I might still buy it though but I would flip it upside down from this setup. Thanks for the review.

[OtayBW]

Nice, but this thing seems too big (YUUUGE!) right now - especially top mounted - but I suspect there soon will be better mounting options. For me (strictly safety/security/documentation), the rear-view (Fly6) seems to be of more value. Thanks for the review.

[djg21]

The dimensions are reported at 4" x 2" x 2". That's not too large considering. You don't have perspective in the photos. I'm tempted, but want to see how it goes with you early adopters.


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[FlashUNC]

Dat thing is huge.