Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Fly6[v] HD Rear Bike Camera and 30 Lumen Tail Light

Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2017

Pros:
- Incredibly easy to install and use. It takes 5 seconds to securely attach it to my bike, which is great because I switch back and forth from my road bike to my commuter, sometimes multiple times a day. Just wrap the strap around, hold down the button for a second and you're ready to go!
- Taillight is ridiculously bright - I think it's the brightest taillight I've ever seen. Seriously do not look directly at it.
- Easy to review the video in nice little 10 minute chunks - it's actually pretty enjoyable to watch
- Video is clear and high quality. You can easily identify make/model/color of cars. I live in a state where we don't have front license plates, so it doesn't matter to me that this camera doesn't read plates very well. (I also think that if a car actually hits you, it would be close enough that the camera might read the front plate if it has one. Someone else's review mentions that it can't read plates from 30-40 feet away, but why would you need it to do that?? A car 40 feet away didn't hit you.)

Cons:
- Still haven't figured out how to set the date/time. Seems like it should be easy but it's not - it doesn't seem to be set up for Chrome and that's all I have
- Video cuts out sometimes
- Only comes with Quickstart guide that doesn't explain how to get the best life out of the battery. I found a full instruction manual online that mentions you should run the battery all the way down between charges. That's a REALLY important piece of information and they should put it in the Quickstart guide!!

Note: This would not fit on your bike if you ride with the saddle all the way down. On my bikes, I have a small saddle bag for tube/tools, and this camera fits perfectly below it, but my saddles are higher than a lot of people have theirs. This camera needs a couple inches of seatpost space.

Overall, this is a fantastic product and I hope it lasts a long time - I ride close to 4,000 miles a year in all weather conditions so it's going to get a ton of use, and I will update this review if I find the camera doesn't have lasting quality.
------
UPDATE: 4 months/1,200 miles of use and abuse - rain, 100F heat, and 25F cold. I don't take good care of the battery - I don't run it down like you're supposed to, deciding that rather than worry about it, I'd buy a new camera whenever needed since the $140 isn't cost-prohibitive. I've also never reformatted it, which you're supposed to do regularly. VERDICT: The camera is working AWESOME, and it's one of the best pieces of bike equipment I've ever invested in. I have not ridden without it since I purchased it. The video cutting-out issue I mentioned above turned out to be an issue with my computer, not the camera.

--------- UPDATE - 18 months and 4,500 miles - This camera is still 100% awesome. The battery will die when the temp is less than 20F, but I believe that's the case with this type of battery no matter what equipment it's in. Rain, sleet, heat, all good. I don't run the battery all the way down between charges and I don't format the card as often as I should. It works great. I've seen reviews on the newer model and they aren't as good - if I had to replace this, I would get the same model again.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rich

Great picture quality

Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

Great picture quality. I replaced the included 8g SD card with a 16g card and it will easily record 3 hours before it begins overwriting. The taillight isn't the brightest compared to other taillights, but the main purpose of the device is to record video, and it does that very well. I run a second, much brighter taillight off my seat bag and turn off the Fly's light to extend the battery life. My rides are typically 3-4 hours and I haven't run out of battery yet. The "incident" feature that preserves the most recent recording in the event of an accident, is an important feature considering how many distracted drivers are out there. I haven't used the Fly6 at night so I can't comment on what effect headlights might have on it. Considering this is the newer, smaller redesigned model, it's still fairly large. As such, it can be somewhat challenging to mount if you have a low seat position and an under seat bag as I do. The bottom of my seat bag is visible at the top of the picture, but it still captures approaching cars and their license plates. The picture quality as I said is great and you can easily read a license plate or identify a driver. If you ride through dirty water, you'll probably need to stop and clean the lens if you have a road bike without fenders. Its mount is designed to fit a seat post, nothing smaller. It can also be addicting to watch the videos after rides. lol

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Consumer

Urban cyclist's necessity. GREAT video in daylight conditions (mediocre to poor video quality during darkness).

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

The taillight/camera combination saves valuable real-estate on my seatpost. I have been able to try the first generation silicone band mount with rigid hook-type appendages on the camera body and I think this updated iteration is a DEFINITE improvement! The slots on the rear of the case allow the tacky, velcro strap to tightly hold the camera in a fixed vertical position. As for the video capability: The quality is good in bright daytime conditions but quite poor during darkness.
I used the camera during an early (one-hour before "sunrise") morning urban/rural ride and found that when there were no oncoming headlights, the automatic sensor captured enough detail about my surroundings that landmarks could be seen and, reviewing the footage, I could easily re trace my route based on the video. If a vehicle approached from behind with its headlights on, the camera's sensor was overcome and the entire image suffered to the point that any hope of reading the licence plate number (or easily identifying the vehicle make and/or model) was dashed. That being said, once dawn was approaching, the sensor began to work quite well at picking up details such as roadway reflectors, street signs, and, of course, vehicles. Cars became easily identifiable once the ambient light became sufficient. I chose to purchase a SanDisk Extreme PLUS 32GB card to maximize the captured recording time (for those longer rides). I am very pleased with this purchase and I would NOT discourage ANYONE from getting one of these for ANY cyclist you know who rides ANYWHERE near traffic. Vehicular traffic (in most cities) is the cyclists' worst danger. The Fly6 can't prevent an accident, but should one occur, it will be the impartial witness to the events AS THEY HAPPENED. I now simply press the power button and ride as usual, knowing the Fly6 "has my back". I haven't tested the battery capacity yet, but will update once I have had sufficient time with it.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Clarence

Not so great image quality.

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

I've been doing about 150 to 200 miles per week of cycling with this camera since May of this year. My primary reason for this purchase was to be able to read the license plate of a vehicle in case of a accident. Unless that vehicle hits directly from behind for a close up view of the plate, you might be out of luck. Due to the image quality, there's only a 50% chance of getting the license plate of a car in the passing lane. So if you get sideswiped, you're left with only the vehicle description. In my home state of NY, it's easier to see the black type on white license plates. The black type on yellow plates are almost impossible to read in the passing lane, and sometimes even when directly behind you.

It's good for viewing the riders behind you on group rides or races. With the adapters, it mounts easily on the oval teardrop type seat post of my Ridley Noah, Cervelo S2 and the round seat post of my Litespeed. The rubber grips on the straps rally help to keep it locked in place over rough roads, and the variable brightness setting of the flashing lights are perfect. I haven't felt the need to use the highest setting coming home at night from a late evening ride… but, I also have a flashing light mounted to the back of my helmet which is better for alerting drivers at a greater distance. On my Bear Mountain (95 miles) and Port Jefferson (130 miles) rides in July I got about 6 hours of video, so battery life is pretty good compared to my Contour HD cam which is good for only 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Although, the Contour 1080p image far outshines the Fly6's 720p. If you're on a Mac, you have to go through the extra step of converting the files before editing… which kind of sucks.

Overall, my only disappointment in the Fly6 is the image quality. But at $140.00 it's not such a bad deal. If they upgraded the video to 1080p, and included a Mac friendly file format, I might buy another one if its in the same price range.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Dave

Poor video quality -- too blocky to be useful

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2017

Verified Purchase

I purchased this after a number of cyclists had been deliberately run over in my area. I didn't expect GoPro-quality footage, but I figured it would at least allow me to capture a license plate or driver description. Unfortunately, the Fly6 appears to use a very low bitrate for its video capture. As a result, the final video is blocky and so heavily compressed that you can't make out any important details.

I've attached several screenshots from a ride I took last week. Notice how none of the license plates are visible, even when the truck is only a car length behind me. The video quality is so poor, you can't even make out the text on the relatively large, high-contrast "for sale" sign. If there was an actual incident, the best description I'd be able to give would be "a dark truck" or "a gold car" -- not nearly enough for law enforcement to be able to track down the driver.

While this is a great idea, it's hamstrung by the fact that the video quality is simply too poor to be useful. You'll definitely be able to capture footage of someone doing something behind you, but you won't have enough detail to be able to identify the driver or specific vehicle. The video quality from my $40 off-brand action camera is vastly superior. You're far better off purchasing a separate action camera and bike light.

11 people found this helpful

Helpful

skidave

Helped police track down a driver in a hit-and-run!

Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2017

Verified Purchase

UPDATE 10/17/17
I'm now a believer in this tail light / camera! A couple months ago I was hit on my ride home from work and the driver took off. I was worried that I didn't capture anything with the camera since I was right-hooked and the car was never behind me, but sure enough I went through the video frame-by-frame and the camera ended up catching the license plate as my bike was flying through the air. The Fly6 is the reason the police were able to track down the driver. Pretty awesome!

I've been recommending this camera to all my cyclist friends now - you never know when you'll need the video footage. The best thing about this camera is that no additional work is required compared to the standard bike tail light that I had before this - just charge it every few rides, and it automatically records whenever it's on.

Now all I need is a Fly12 to have video covered from all directions!
---------------
ORIGINAL REVIEW
All in all a great camera for the price and size. I've noticed however that it has a lot of difficulty with image quality when it's sunny - license plates are generally readable in cloudy weather but when the sun is out almost no license plates of passing cars are readable (then again these are cars giving me a good amount of room...they would potentially be readable if a car came close enough to hit me!). So far in bright sunlight I've ridden only around noon, so this might have something to do with having the sun overhead. The photo of the Subaru passing me is the frame where the license plate was the clearest (where it clearly is not readable).

As far as the issue of using this with a rear saddle bag goes, I've had no issues attaching the light below the bag directly under the seatpost clamp (YMMV depending on your seat height and frame design). In the camera's location in the photos, the camera has a clear view out the back with nothing obscuring the video.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Techie1234

This rear camera/light combo is very nice. I got it as insurance incase I need ...

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2017

Verified Purchase

This rear camera/light combo is very nice. I got it as insurance incase I need to document an incident on my bike but it's fantastic to take video of fellow riders or my family on a group ride. It is a little heavy but the features are great (sure beats having two separate items: a light and gopro). The built in 8gb memory card gives you about 100 min of 720p recording - supports up to 32GB (400 min - that's a long ride). Battery life is fine for up to 5 hours (that's a pretty long ride).

16 people found this helpful

Helpful

Burke1

Try something else

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2017

Verified Purchase

Worked somewhat ok for a two months than crapped out. There are times when I think its recording only to get home and find out it recorded for a few minutes. Battery life is average(cameras should have replaceable batteries) and video quality is mediocre.I also have the Fly 12 with is now gathering dust at home.

Helpful

Marilyn

I do like having the security of capturing bad behavior on a ...

Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2017

Verified Purchase

After being tailgated in the bike lane for the 1000th time on my 15 years of road riding I decided to to invest in this camera. I do like having the security of capturing bad behavior on a memory card, even if it doesn't force a change in poor driving habits. It does what's promised and my critique is mostly nitpicking, but for me it's the difference between it being OK and being a 5 star product.

My feedback for product improvement: The light is held on with velcro straps. This is a pretty good solution that fits many applications, but it also requires charging which necessitates taking it off the bicycle regularly. putting it back on requires adjustment to ensure it's positioned accurately. I would prefer it have a permanent mount to my seat post and have a lock of some sort to slip it in and out of. It would be faster and require less time to mount it to the bike. Additionally, velcro wears out. I assume i'll be looking for a new strap after a year of use. Time will tell.

The rubber tab covering the charging port/memory card has a tiny tab to pull it away from the device. As a person who doesn't let their finger nails grow, grabbing the tiny rubber tab is a PITA. I generally stick something sharp in there and pry it off.

Resolution: 720p is promised and it delivers. With the proliferation of 1080p, I think they should be working on upgrading resolution.

As I said, these are nitpicks, but relevant to me if I was going to consider the device to be a five star product. Regardless, I'm happy I can now have evidence of bad behavior occurring behind me. I hope I'm only watching those videos for entertainment purposes for the remainder of my riding habit.

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

Murvy45

So I'm really torn on this product, I certainly like it, but didn't keep it. Here's why.

Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2017

Verified Purchase

So I'm really torn on this product, I certainly like it, but didn't keep it. Here's why.
I love the idea of this product, a constantly running "eyes in the back of my head", except it isn't that at all really. You really only can use the footage past tense, which only helps once something bad has happened. That's helpful if there had been a bad accident and you need info on what happened. Great, except the footage, isn't really that clear that you can clearly see details. It would greatly benefit from 1080p to help that, but the price would go up, which I would be ok with to a certain extent.
Then there's the size, it's bigger than you think it is, this thing is pretty bulky. I'm not a weight weenie, but it's certainly not light, and just looks huge on the back of my bike.
I love the battery life, 6 hours is great, most people will get 2 or 3 rides a charge, that's very good. Much better than go pro, but they can't compete in resolution. So big trade off.
In the end, I will wait for this product, I think its still coming into its own, some day it will be 1080p and be smaller, then I will have this thing with me every ride.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

Fly6[v] HD Rear Bike Camera and 30 Lumen Tail Light

›

Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Fly6[v] HD Rear Bike Camera and 30 Lumen Tail Light

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Fly6[v] HD Rear Bike Camera and 30 Lumen Tail Light › Customer reviews

Customer reviews

Fly6[v] HD Rear Bike Camera and 30 Lumen Tail Light

Top positive review

Top critical review

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

From the United States

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

There was a problem loading comments right now. Please try again later.

Questions? Get fast answers from reviewers

Fly6[v] HD Rear Bike Camera and 30 Lumen Tail Light

›

Customer reviews