Best motion cameras for cyclists 2024: Record your trip for all to see

The greatest motion cameras for cyclists assist you to movie your trip, whether or not that is since you fancy producing video for social media or simply desire a file in case one thing goes awry.

But selecting the perfect motion digicam for cyclists is difficult, as there are such a lot of decisions, codecs and capabilities accessible. You need one thing you can trip with simply, both connected to your bike or your self and that offers sufficient runtime for an prolonged cycle trip. Image stabilisation is necessary too. Some cameras double up and performance in addition to the perfect bike lights.

Once you get dwelling, you could get pleasure from spending hours within the enhancing room, getting the right lower, or you could simply need to obtain your footage and do the minimal to maintain a file. 

Some motion cameras include in depth enhancing software program, others include none and some assist you to get issues executed rapidly and simply.

Keep studying for our choose of the perfect motion cameras for cyclists, and beneath that, you will discover a purchaser’s information with a number of the key issues when choosing an motion digicam on your wants.

Quick listing

Best motion cameras for biking

Best motion digicam for biking

The tiny Insta360 Go 3 weights simply 35.5g and is a good, low-profile choice for cyclists. It makes use of a magnetic mount to connect to your clothes, however you may hyperlink it as much as the Action Pod to show it right into a extra customary motion digicam format, full with a touchscreen that folds upwards for a selfie view. 

The digicam itself sits in a recess within the entrance of the Action Pod and is detachable. The 2.7K30fps picture high quality is not pretty much as good because the Insta360 X3 (see beneath), however the Insta360 Go 3 makes up for that with its tiny dimension and flexibility. You may buy the Go 3S, which is able to shoot at 4K30fps.

Without the Action Pod, runtime is simply 45 minutes, though that extends to 170 minutes when the pod is used.

Insta360 additionally makes enhancing very easy, with an online app and a cellphone app. The latter is intuitive to make use of to edit and export clips, though there is a restricted alternative of in-app music. 

We did really feel that the Insta360 Go 3 is extra of a secondary digicam although, for which use it is costly. 

There are extra particulars in our evaluation of the Insta360 Go 3.

Best for video high quality

The Ace Pro is Insta360’s present prime digicam and has all of the bells and whistles a budding filmmaker or skilled might ask for. Compared to Insta360’s 360 cameras, modular design or with tiny type components the Ace Pro is much extra standard. There are nonetheless loads of novel design options, together with larger high quality and class-leading picture stabilisation.

The Insta360 Ace Pro might not reinvent the wheel, nevertheless it takes every part you’re keen on about motion cameras and elevates the expertise. Yes, it does 8K recording, nevertheless it most likely can be overkill for many. While different cameras supply app enhancing and accent compatibility, the Ace Pro stands out by seamlessly bundling all of the important instruments a content material creator wants into one user-friendly package deal. It’s not flawless—some minor tweaks are nonetheless wanted—however what it delivers is undeniably spectacular. Capture your self with crystal-clear audio, experiment with inventive angles, and shoot beautiful cinematic scenes when inspiration strikes. Then, effortlessly rework your footage into a refined story proper in your cellphone, able to share in your favorite platform.

The Insta360 is not wanting add-ons, together with exterior mics, chilly shoe and GPS Remote controls. It additionally comes with a plethora of mounting choices, though the digicam makes use of a magnetic adapter somewhat than a finger-style motion digicam mount or threaded digicam tripod mount. You can select from all kinds of mounts, it is only a two-stage course of somewhat than on to the digicam when mounting it to your handlebar or helmet, strap it to your chest, or holding it through a grip.

It’s an expensive choice, which is why we advocate this extra for the professionals who’re paying for the additional particular high quality. If do not want the high-end options however nonetheless need most of Insta360’s nice ecosystem, inventive instruments and nice high quality you could be higher served by the usual Ace.

Check out our full evaluation of the Insta360 Ace Pro for extra particulars.

Best for compact 4K

GoPro has packed its tech right into a smaller package deal with the Hero. It’s half the load of the Hero13 Black however can nonetheless shoot 4K video at 30fps. It’s additionally made it simpler to function, a plus when driving. 

The lens is protected by a replaceable, water repellent cowl. The built-in mounting fingers make it straightforward to hook up beneath an out-front mount as effectively. The Hero has a single rear touchscreen and wi-fi connectivity to an optionally available distant in addition to voice management. 

The Hero mechanically uploads footage to the cloud whereas charging and GoPro is about to launch computerized enhancing to ship a highlights video to your cellphone. 

There are some compromises although, principally a non-swappable battery that GoPro says will shoot for as much as 92 minutes. The Hero does not help TimeWarp video and different fancy shoot modes and you’ll’t connect a large angle lens. There’s additionally no in-built picture stabilisation, with this sorted out post-shoot within the enhancing software program. 

Best for 360 footage

If you’ve got gawped on the exploits of Safa Brian, they’re shot with the Insta360 X4. While the older Insta360 X3 stopped at 5.7K/30fps, the newer X4 ups that to an astonishing 8K.

We rated the Insta360 X4 for its ease of use each when taking pictures whereas driving and post-ride enhancing. It shoots 360 diploma video, which you’ll be able to then body in enhancing to chop your self out or in, relying on how good you look. 

The enhancing suite is a giant power of Insta360’s choices, permitting you to attach wirelessly and rapidly body and lower your footage each on a pc and a cellphone.  You nonetheless produce 4K video post-edit. 

So too is the power to stuff it in a jersey pocket, pull it out and, with the 360 diploma protection, simply shoot pointing it anyplace then body later. Image stabilisation and horizon lock are nice too.

There’s additionally slo-mo accessible at a most 3K/100fps and the claimed runtime is as much as 81 minutes.

Options embody a motorbike bundle with an out-front laptop mount, a lens guard and an invisible selfie stick. It is an expensive choice although, with the X3 providing virtually as a lot for lots much less outlay.

For extra particulars, take a look at our evaluation of the Insta360 X4

Best for fundamental trip recording

If you need to file your mate being taken out by a kangaroo, the Fly12 will do it for you in the event that they’re in entrance. It gives related performance to the Fly6 and incorporates a light-weight as effectively, though it is not bought all of the options of the perfect motion cameras like horizon lock, wi-fi knowledge switch or enhancing – your footage is in your Mini SD card. 

But the Cycliq Fly12 does supply picture stabilisation and a long term time of seven hours, which is helpful for cyclists. It might be mounted both above or beneath the bars and you’ll overlay the footage with Strava knowledge. All the configuration of the sunshine and digicam is completed through the app, though there isn’t any capability to regulate it out of your biking laptop.

The mild is now 400 lumens, down from 600 lumens, which can be just a little low for night time driving however might be sufficient as a daytime working mild. On the opposite hand, there’s now a better digicam decision. At 148g, the Fly12 is on the heavy aspect too.

You can learn our full Cycliq Fly 12 Sport evaluation for extra particulars.

Best for rearward trip recording

Cycliq’s Fly6 is not fairly an motion digicam within the conventional sense, however when many cyclists look to motion cameras, it is not the 4K footage, stay streaming functionality and deep-sea diving compatibility of the digicam they’re searching for. Much of the time, the perfect motion cameras for cyclists supply a easy perform of having the ability to file the trip, within the occasion of an incident or accident. Now in its third era, that is precisely what Cycliq’s Fly6 gives. 

Integrated right into a 50-lumen rear mild, the digicam gives extremely stabilised 1080p / 720p footage at as much as 120fps, taking pictures at a 135-degree angle. The footage is saved on a detachable SD card (suitable with as much as 32GB), which when it fills up, will mechanically wipe the oldest footage to offer a steady recording of the newest footage. 

However, the Fly6 Gen 3 comes with what the model calls ‘Black Box’ know-how — computerized incident detection that auto-saves footage when a crash is detected. This means it can cleverly protect the footage from the incident and never overwrite it, so you may relaxation assured it can nonetheless be there if you return dwelling.

Best for crash detection

If you are already a Garmin consumer, then this addition to its ecosystem may very well be a welcome sight. Not solely is the Garmin Varia Radar a superb rear bike mild in itself, however the rearview radar informs you through your bike laptop or many smartwatch fashions of automobiles approaching from behind and might flash to alert them to your presence.

You may management it remotely out of your head unit (dependent upon which mannequin you are utilizing), and use the identical apps you are already accustomed to to obtain your footage. 

Similarly to the Cycliq Fly6 listed above, Garmin’s Varia Radar RCT715 additionally gives computerized incident detection, which isolates the necessary footage from the remainder and preserves it whereas the recording continues to loop and overwrite older footage. Compared to the Fly6, the Varia Radar is extra inexpensive and comes with plenty of system and app connectivity potential. For many, this may occasionally look like a no brainer.

However, it is necessary to notice that it does have some downsides. It lacks 4K video, to maintain the battery life maximised, and the important thing difficulty our reviewer found was that in low-light situations, the dearth of picture stabilisation meant that it was unattainable to decipher automobile quantity plates, which might show to be unhelpful do you have to be concerned in an incident after sunset. 

Still, it is a worthwhile funding that our reviewer had plenty of reward for in our Garmin Varia Radar RCT715 evaluation.

Best for battery life

DJI dietary supplements its drones with a spread of motion cameras. While the Osmo Pocket vary incorporates a gimbal, the Osmo Action 5 has a extra typical GoPro type, making it a greater choice for mounting to your bike or your self for pictures when driving.

DJI claims superior efficiency for the massive format sensor within the Action 5, in addition to longer battery life than GoPro, which provides the choice to file an entire trip, not simply highlights. Other options embody topic monitoring and HorizonSteady and RockSteady 3 picture stabilisation. There’s additionally SuperNight for low mild shoots.

As is common with most motion cameras, you may accessorise to your coronary heart’s content material, with an extended life battery, a selfie stick, a distant and a lens protector enticing choices. The street biking combo package deal provides a handlebar mount and a seat rail mount to the digicam. 

How to decide on the perfect motion digicam for biking

Modern motion cameras might be simply mounted to virtually something, with an array of mounts included or accessible as extras which regularly embody cycling-specific choices. 

They’ll file your adventures in 4K video or higher with built-in stabilisation, which might be shared straight to social media. Most can even shoot at excessive body charges for slo-mo pictures or you may select decrease decision for longer runtimes and smaller file sizes.

350 diploma cameras are additionally accessible. They may give you panoramic pictures, however until you mount them in your helmet, a major proportion of the picture can be you. Editing software program permits you to slender down the sphere of view although.

The most necessary consideration when shopping for a brand new motion digicam is what you intend on utilizing it for. While most cameras can file high-quality video and take photographs, you will need to think about what different options are a precedence. 

A wide selection of video, photograph, time-lapse and connectivity choices in addition to stabilisation, waterproofing and construct high quality make this choice extra difficult.