Replacing Fly 6 rear facing camera

[NHAero]

I was a relatively early adopter and this product has never measured up, in the sense that when I really want to get a license plate number off the video i can't read it. I recently bought a Gen 1 Garmin Varia which is nice and small and incorporates a good flashing light along with the radar function. I've read in some reviews that the latest Varia video is also not great at the level of reading the plate of a vehicle that just passed you with 4" to spare.

So, if the Varia I have covers the flasher and radar needs, and I only want a video cam on the back of the bike, what are my options? Assume complete ignorance of the GoPro world, etc.

Thanks!

[Veloo]

Prob not what you're looking for and I haven't even used it yet but I got a used GoPro Session cuz it's square and small and gonna set it up with a USB cable plugged into a small battery bank in the saddle bag.
I even bought extra doors for the GoPro SD slot area to cut out a hole for the USB-C plug to keep dirt out.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by Veloo

Prob not what you're looking for and I haven't even used it yet but I got a used GoPro Session cuz it's square and small and gonna set it up with a USB cable plugged into a small battery bank in the saddle bag.
I even bought extra doors for the GoPro SD slot area to cut out a hole for the USB-C plug to keep dirt out.

I was a Cycliq early adopter too. I had such a lousy experience with Cycliq and its awful customer support that I would never buy another Cycliq product. I’ve been considering the Varia RTL 715. If you’ve been using a Fly 6, you already are used to having a unit that doesn’t allow wireless transfers or immediate viewing, and you know how to view video on your PC. I’m not sure image stabilization makes a big difference. My understanding is that Cycliq also abandoned it in its latest Fly6 models to reduce battery drain and allow for longer run times.

Since throwing away the Cyclic stuff. I’ve been using a Varia UT800 front light and RTL 515 rear radar/light. Unlike the Cycliq garbage, the Varias work really well set up as a smart light network with my Edge 1040.

I was waiting to make a purchase to see if Garmin comes to market with a Varia front light/camera, and perhaps the next generation of the rear radar/camera/light. I don’t know if I will wait. I really like Garmin stuff, and Garmin always has been really good to me when it comes to product support and warranty issues.

[R3awak3n]

As a big fan of the varia, basically the best cycling accessory ever made imo bummed to read the camera is not great. I thought about picking one up but if it really can’t read plates easily it really defeats the point.

Cycliq is a mess, mine worked ok for a year but then just stoped working.

I really dunno of any other that would work well, go pros are a bit cumbersome and battery life sucks, but yeah could run it with a cable, its just a lot more work than just turn on and go. That said the new stuff is really good with exposure so it will expose automatically and do a great job and plates will be super clear so might be what you need.

[YesNdeed]

I've got my fingers crossed for a Varia cam V2 with improved everything. After reading mixed reviews, I decided to hold off because $400 is not exactly money I can spend on a so/so product. If it can detect an approaching car, I wonder if they can also get it to disable/enable the light and/or camera as cars approach to extend battery life. Kind of like the concept of cars that turn on and off automatically when coming to a stop. I'm probably just dreaming about more tech features to potentially break, rendering the whole unit useless. But just a thought. It would be nice if it could make me breakfast, too.

My Fly6 bit the dust after, maybe 10-15 rides? The front Fly12 seems to be hanging in there, although a lot could stand to be improved with that as well in terms of camera quality/battery life/bulkiness.

I looked in to rigging an eBay cam to the rear for somewhere from $80-$120 as I recall, but I just felt I'd be wasting money. You get what you pay for kind of reasoning.

I do hear great things about the radar feature of the Varia, so again, hopefully they'll make improvements to it. It's an expensive accessory, but if it alerts me as a car approaches and gets too close and perhaps save my life it's well worth it.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by YesNdeed

I've got my fingers crossed for a Varia cam V2 with improved everything. After reading mixed reviews, I decided to hold off because $400 is not exactly money I can spend on a so/so product. If it can detect an approaching car, I wonder if they can also get it to disable/enable the light and/or camera as cars approach to extend battery life. Kind of like the concept of cars that turn on and off automatically when coming to a stop. I'm probably just dreaming about more tech features to potentially break, rendering the whole unit useless. But just a thought. It would be nice if it could make me breakfast, too.

My Fly6 bit the dust after, maybe 10-15 rides? The front Fly12 seems to be hanging in there, although a lot could stand to be improved with that as well in terms of camera quality/battery life/bulkiness.

I looked in to rigging an eBay cam to the rear for somewhere from $80-$120 as I recall, but I just felt I'd be wasting money. You get what you pay for kind of reasoning.

I do hear great things about the radar feature of the Varia, so again, hopefully they'll make improvements to it. It's an expensive accessory, but if it alerts me as a car approaches and gets too close and perhaps save my life it's well worth it.

thats a pretty great idea, only starts recording when the radar beeps. I am good with the light being always blinking but would be nice to be able to choose, they could easily extend the battery life an hour, maybe even more for people that ride in more deserted areas.

My dude, don't wait for an all in one, get a varia now, it seriously is an incredible pieace of kit, specially if you ride alone. I would not ride without mine, like if I got up for a ride and the thing was out of battery, I would just stay home. Worth every penny

[YesNdeed]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

My dude, don't wait for an all in one, get a varia now, it seriously is an incredible pieace of kit, specially if you ride alone. I would not ride without mine, like if I got up for a ride and the thing was out of battery, I would just stay home. Worth every penny

Yea, seriously. These days I do 95% of my riding alone, and a camera isn't going to save my life. It just helps to hold drivers accountable if something does happen. I've got the front covered for now, sounds like it's time to get the Varia. Plus, in New Mexico license plates are not required in front, so for most vehicles it would be of little to no help from that angle. Good feedback.

[hellvetica]

Interesting to read this. My cycliq suddenly stopped working two days ago. I did get an assault on camera that I sent to the PD when I reported it, and it got the license plate but that was because I was stopped at a red light. Will look into the Garmin as possibly my next rear cam.

[redir]

I've been waiting for years for a solution like this, front and rear cameras, especially one that has tagging capabilities to make searching video easier. I've avoided cycliq just becasue of all the horrid reviews of it. Sometimes reviews are actually good help I guess.

I don't even really care about having a light, I just want the cameras. And of course they have to read plates that's a no brainer.

So I'm here posting just to be in this thread.

We are probably a small market but if someone could do this right they probably could make a small niche business out of it.

[NHAero]

So is the issue with a GoPro or similar that they don't have good battery life?

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by NHAero

So is the issue with a GoPro or similar that they don't have good battery life?

A GoPro has about 1/3 to 1/2 the battery life of a Cycliq 6 set at maximum frame rate and resolution. My Cycliq 6 is about 5 years old and it's doing just fine. People who have a beef can be loud online,

[NHAero]

Originally Posted by bikinchris

A GoPro has about 1/3 to 1/2 the battery life of a Cycliq 6 set at maximum frame rate and resolution. My Cycliq 6 is about 5 years old and it's doing just fine. People who have a beef can be loud online,

Mine still works too, Chris, it's just that when I have needed to pull a plate number it doesn't have the resolution.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by NHAero

Mine still works too, Chris, it's just that when I have needed to pull a plate number it doesn't have the resolution.

That's kind of like dashboard cameras. Pretty much all of them use exactly the same sensor and you can't read license plates unless your inches from their bumper.
A GoPro WOULD offer much better quality image, but people complain about the battery life on Cycliq already.

[Spaghetti Legs]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used this one for one ride a year ago. I have several bikes and had it mounted to a GoPro quick release handlebar mount attached to my seat post. First (maybe second but hadn’t downloaded any video yet) ride I hit a hard bump on a semi fast descent and the camera bounced off the bike, off the pavement, over a railing and into the Moorman River. The video quality messing around the house was good.

My Fly 6, which I never had issue with, was on its deathbed then (about 5 years old) and has since died. I’ve been thinking about the Varia, but might give this another shot - $90 after coupon applied.

[eippo1]

I'll. Heck my varia too. Took a look at vids before and everything seemed clear but I wasn't checking for plates.

I had the first iteration of the Cycliq and it died so I got the latest generation, but that I've died after about a year and 30ish road rides.