My Contour video camera, which I’d previously used to “film” quite a few of our local and not-so-local roads, didn’t make it back from France, apparently a victim of the TSA or whomever does the security when flying from CDG back to the USA. Not sure if it was actually stolen by them or just fell out of the bike case and didn’t make it back in during inspection. Whatever the case, the Contour was pretty high on the “cool” factor, but what I’ve replaced it with, the Hero 2, is anything but. To say it’s “dorky” is an understatement. But, it does have the advantage of taking better video, especially when combined with an alternative bike mount, in this case, the K-Edge. Amazing what a different the mounting makes, especially on a bumpy road!
First time out with it was Sunday, with a bit of fine tuning for Tuesdays ride. Neither produced viewable video; way too much shaking. But yesterday my E-Edge Hero bike mount arrived and wow, what a difference! There’s no doubt this is a more-capable camera than the Contour but again, really, really dorky! How dorky? Well, it looks like you’ve got an import Instamatic (yes, there really were cameras made in the USA back in the day!) bolted to your bike. But I’ll be displaying results shortly that demonstrate how well this new gadget works.
Will you ever be able to buy one at Chain Reaction? Doesn’t look too likely; they don’t like to talk to you unless you’re going to be buying at least 10 at a time, maybe more. But we will probably sell quite a few of the mounting systems!
Is the mount better simply because it is a more solid attachment between camera and bike?
Brian: The K-Edge mount is better for 3 reasons. First, it’s aluminum instead of plastic. Second, it connects directly; there’s no secondary “pivot” between where the mount clamps and the camera. This ensures that the camera’s alignment is correct, reduces complexity and vibration. And third, since the mount directly connects to the camera, it’s much lower profile, basically sitting right on top of the bar, further reducing vibration. It’s hard to believe GoPro doesn’t offer a similar mount themselves; like Contour, they try too hard to be “universal” and make something for all manner of bar diameters. The 31.8mm standard for bicycle handlebars is so commonly used, and the bike market large enough, it makes sense to optimize for it.
The downside to the new rig is that I’ve got to get out and re-ride everything from the original videos I made! I’ve also got to get a spare battery to get more running time; the Contour could easily go three hours, but looks like I’m getting just under two with the GoPro. –Mike–