Home > Clothing-Gear-Tools

IB15: Cycliq Shows Updated Fly6 and Impressive New Fly12 Lights with Integrated HD Cameras

15 Comments
Support us! Bikerumor may earn a small commission from affiliate links in this article. Learn More

fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (3)

There has been a lot of talk lately about the concept of “car shaming” – the act of filming cars that put your safety at risk while riding your bicycle, and then posting them online. And why wouldn’t there be? There have been a number people killed or seriously injured while out riding their bikes recently, and we’ve all been out on a ride when a driver intentionally tries to buzz you, or worse hit you, throw things at you, shoot you with a paintball gun… Whatever the scenario, there’s a lot of stupid things that could put your safety at risk while riding.

For Andrew Hagen, the CEO of Cycliq, the answer may not be in the filming itself, but in the threat of any cyclist having an onboard camera. In his mind, if enough riders start reporting dangerous drivers to the police, the threat of having video evidence against them may make drivers think twice before trying to intimidate a cyclist.

To make this as easy possible, Cycliq has introduced two cycling lights with integrated HD cameras that film on continual loop. Since the camera is always on, you know that if you do have an altercation the camera will have captured it. And if you don’t have an altercation, well, the lights probably did their job and you can head home to charge for another ride. We’ve seen the Fly6 rear light previously and while it does get some improvements, the real story is the impressive functionality of the forthcoming Fly12 front light…

fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (1)

fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (5) fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (4)

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Cycliq is in the process of finishing production on the companion for the Fly6. Named after the concept of having a fly on the wall to see your movements at your six (rear) or 12(front), the Fly12 combines a full HD camera with a 400 lumen headlight. Using the same microchip you will find in many GoPro cameras, the 12 is capable of filming 1.5hrs of footage at 1080p x 45fps and supports 16 GB Micro SD cards. The camera captures footage in five-minute chunks and will record continuously as long as the battery is charged. The built-in rechargeable battery claims to provide 10 hours of filming on the camera only, six hours of filming with the light on flash, or two hours of filming using the full 400 lumens. Compare that to the average recording time of an action camera, and it’s quite impressive.

Based on the footage we were shown from the prototype, the video quality is up there with the best action cameras, but Cycliq is taking it one step further with one of the best video processing apps we’ve seen. Connecting to the camera via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the app not only allows you to see what is being filmed, but it will allow you to control every detail of the light and camera as well as posting directly to social media. One of the more interesting features is the ability to add “tram lines” to your footage which is based on the 3 foot law. You can set the location of the tram lines based on where the camera is positioned, and they will give you a video representation of the 3 foot (1m) boundary for you on the road. This is a very intriguing feature not only because it will give you the video proof that a driver was too close to you, but it will also prove to you in situations that very Driver may not be as close as you thought.

And while you hope to never have to use the camera for reporting reckless driving, because the camera is HD you can use it for filming your adventures the rest of the time. Not to mention always having a light with you on your bike. The app will also allow you to integrate your footage directly with Strava for some cool overlays including speed and other cycling data.

Expected to be available this January, the Fly12 will weigh a claimed 230 g, and will sell for around $329 – 349.

fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (8)

fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (7) fly6 fly12 light hd video cameras safety (6)

At the back of your bike, Cycliq will keep you covered with a new version of the Fly6. Now offering a six hour battery with 30 lm of light. The camera also includes revised clips for improved footage quality and ships with two in the box plus additional rubber straps for round and aero seat posts. Priced at $169, the Fly6 is available now.

cycliq.com

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

15 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
rick
rick
8 years ago

Cars don’t put people in danger…people operating cars put cyclist in danger. Quit letting the humans off the hook ! Cars can’t do anything without a human operating it.

DelBoyIRL
DelBoyIRL
8 years ago

I have the Fly6 and love it; I use it daily on my commute and have taken it off road a few times too where it works surprisingly well.
Really looking forward to getting my Fly12 as a few incidents have been forward rather than rear.
Being able to load directly onto a phone is great as you really only want to watch a clip directly after it happens and its a pain to have to wait until you get home.
The tramline option sounds like a winner too.

RAB Share
RAB Share
8 years ago

Being able to connect to the phone is also handy if you want to show the police footage at the scene and don’t have an SD slot on your phone, which seems to be the trend.

BikeHoarder6
BikeHoarder6
8 years ago

I would also like to see these cameras come with some type of universal mount that would allow you to use them as a dash-cam/rear-cam for your car. Double duty.
The news last night said that L.A. has over 6000 hit and run incidents per year.

Dmitri
Dmitri
8 years ago

@BikeHoarder6 It utilizes a GoPro mount so you should be able to get a mount for your dash no problem?
I have the Fly6 and a Fly12 on preorder. Quite excited for it!

Ace
Ace
8 years ago

First off let me say I am from an area of wealthy people of which I am not one of ,and over the years I have had several people squeak past me, graze me and flat out hit me and nearly run me over,I have had people cut me off and I have run into them damaging their cars,luckily the metal on cars are so soft I just got a little bruised and my bicycle suffered no real damage ,but quite frankly with no witnesses and my word against theirs I was always a little hesitant to make a big fuss.But now with these there can be no doubt who was to blame.

Velo
Velo
8 years ago

Is there a 3rd version of the Fly6 out?
I have the 2nd version. The video quality is very often not good enough to discern the plate numbers of the offending motor vehicle… even in daylight. They really should use a better sensor.

Durianrider
Durianrider
8 years ago

Video quality of the fly6 is sh*t house for what they are charging.

Cycliq should put people before profits and actually install a proper camera that will show up detail for accident scenes etc.

I can buy 1080p 60fps camera off fleabay for pennies for anyone that says the ‘technology is too expensive’. You know what is too expensive? A camera that doesnt always do what it was purchased to do. That is potentially class action lawsuit in some countries.

I love the concept but the camera is sh*t right now. I wouldnt use one and just use a gopro 4 with a Bontrager Flare R. The best light + the best camera. #sorted

Frank
Frank
8 years ago

Have to agree with @Durianrider here. This is a classic case of trying to make a product that does two things and doing neither of them particularly well. Early iterations of the Fly6 featured a puny 15 lumens in the taillight and only offered 720p resolution. And resolution is only part of the story, as a comparison with an similarly priced GoPro will show. Granted, the rear light has been improved over three, versions but it would be a shame if the new Fly12 takes three (or more) versions to finally iron out the shortcomings.

Cycliq
8 years ago

Hi Durianrider – the footage from Fly6 is actually pretty awesome! Check out these examples provided by our customers: Here is a car traveling at over 60mph showing the number plate very clearly:

and here is another video recently submitted of a car crash showing how great the video quality is:

As you can see the quality is excellent and when you get this with a 30 lumen flashing light in one unit that lasts for up to 6 hours for $169, it does represent awesome value – especially when compared to the other products you mentioned. I should say that we are not trying to compete with action cameras – Fly6 is designed specifically for cyclists which is why we include incident protection and nano-technology.

Of course our products are not for everyone and we know you can purchase cheap cameras with 1080 resolution however none of them are designed for us cyclists and none of them will last for up to 6 hours. In our latest model, we have improved the camera sensor, camera lens and camera module providing sharper footage as well as reducing the retail price last year to only $169.

If your Fly6 is not performing as advertised, then we will replace it. We stand by our product and want to make sure every customer is happy with their product. Please contact our friendly and responsive support team at support@cycliq.com and request to deal with me personally and I will make sure your concerns are addressed or your product replaced.

Thank you for acknowledging how much you like our camera & light concept but to say that it is less than your standards is not to accept all of our very happy customers and the videos they post on our website https://cycliq.com/videos

Thanks for providing your comments as they help us improve our product offering. Regards, Andrew, Cycliq CEO

Adam
Adam
8 years ago

Frank and Durianrider – Bear in mind this was created by two local Perth guys who had an idea and had to get started somewhere. It has to be commercial to make it worthwhile – even GoPro had to start somewhere and got better over time!

Having said that, I find the Fly6 very good. I’ve even submitted footage to Police after one particular incident resulting in a warning for a motorist’s conduct.

eezis
8 years ago

I’d like to counter a couple recent comments above, one in particular. Regarding the concept of putting people before profits, I feel compelled to point out that Cycliq generously provided ten cameras to support the Close Call Database. They were provided free of charge. These cameras were sent with no strings attached, and no implied quid pro quo. The CEO simply contacted me out of the blue and said he wanted to support the project. He asked for my address and a package showed up at my door. I distributed them to different cyclists in the community, carefully placing them with many different types of riders in different areas in order to maximize coverage. I’d like to share an excerpt from the email that started day off this morning:

“I asked R____ for your email so that I could personally thank you for the camera for the close call database project. As R____ stated this is a great tool to have while cycling. I bike commute to Lakewood from Denver and so far have not had an issue but it will be great to have this just in case. I let my husband borrow the camera and he wanted one so I bought one for him and we have prepurchased the front headlight as well. ”

I have dealt with over 300 reports about aggressive drivers that have been submitted from several different countries in the past 11 months. The simple fact is that these cameras are working and they are leading to driver citations. My own personal footage just earned someone a citation last week. Hundreds of people that I have dealt with over the past six months are using the FLY6. I am not going to claim that any camera on the market right now is 100% perfect. This is an evolving market using evolving technology. What I will say is that I personally love the camera that I use, I would never ride without it, and if it suddenly disappeared tomorrow I would buy a replacement straight-away without any hesitation at all.

There are some wonderful people entering the cycling advocacy space with an entrepreneurial spirit and some novel solutions. Encourage or discourage them. It’s your choice. I hope my efforts and my comments speak pretty clearly about my choice.

Philippe from Kinomap
8 years ago

We made the first recording using the new Fly12. Amazing autonomy for such video recorder indeed. Video is available on http://beta4.kinomap.com/watch/vvphcw

Now you can ride the Sydney Harbour Bridge while training indoors. You can even view the interactive map while watching the video.

Velo
Velo
8 years ago

The Cycliq Fly 6 (new version) has a better form factor, is easier to use, and has a much better battery life than action cameras. But I stand by my statement that the video quality is often too poor to discern plate numbers.

> the footage from Fly6 is actually pretty awesome!

No, it’s often poor. The footage linked to was in semi-overcast conditions where the camera does best. In full sunlight high-contrast conditions, it doesn’t do as well.
In low light, forget about it. Or if the vehicle has a high closing speed, forget about it.

How many $$$ would it cost to upgrade the design to a Sony sensor?

Looking forward to a version 3 of the camera.

Cycliq
8 years ago

Hi Velo – in defense of the camera itself, it is awesome. It is the conditions as you mentioned. We have got heaps of examples where it works well in all sorts of conditions:
Dusk:

Night (urban):

Sunny Day:

Sunny day:

Sunny day:

What I’m trying to show is that the camera is performing the same but the conditions are different which results in different outcomes.

Of course, our next model will be better again as we take on all the comments and try and improve on it again. Please keep the comments coming as they are a great help to our future product development.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Sign up to receive BikeRumor content direct to your inbox.