Top Ten Christmas Gifts

Shopping for Your Next Cycle Helmet Camera

Your bicycle is prepped, your pack is full, and your calendar is clear until Monday, so you just need to find a new cycle helmet camera. After that, there’s only 50 miles of mountain trails on your “to do” list for the weekend. Finding the right camera, by the way, is simply a matter of setting your priorities and your budget. Once you’ve decided what you want and how much you’re willing to pay for it, the rest is pretty easy.

Hunting for the Right Cycle Helmet Camera

For instance, if you want professional grade videos which are easy to edit, the widest lens angle possible (170 degrees), a variety of easily attached mounts, and an impact-resistant, waterproof housing, the GoPro HD Motorsports HERO Camera will meet your needs for about $300.

This three pound camera packs in the largest storage capacity you’ll find in any wearable camera (32 GB capacity for over nine hours) and will allow you to capture all the crazy details by recording in full HD video up to 1080p.  The GoPro also has the ability to film 60 frames per second, which will provide you with silky smooth slow motion play back. That should come in handy when you’re trying to recreate exactly how that branch left the tree and jumped in front of your bike all on its own.

If you like the GoPro HD Motorsports but would like a device which is specifically intended to be a cycle helmet camera rather than a helmet/hood/rollbar/belly button model, then GoPro has another option for you. It has the same quality build, the same video capabilities, the same gadget factor, and an identical price. The GoPro Helmet HERO Camera also has a more specialized set of mounts intended to fit every possible kind of helmet.

If a GoPro cycle helmet camera sounds pretty good but the $300 doesn’t impress you, there is still another option. Drift Innovation’s HD170 Stealth Action Camera offers the same quality HD recording, slow motion capabilities, wide angle lens, and even the same multiple mounts as the GoPro Motorsports model. The one difference which would have my attention is that Drift Innovation’s model is not waterproof. Another difference which may get your attention is this high quality, low humidity model is $75 less than the GoPro models.

As with everything else in life, there really isn’t one “best” cycle helmet camera on the market; they each have their own strengths, weaknesses, and price tags. Because if it’s video capabilities and quality build, GoPro is a very popular brand which has garnered many “editor’s choice” type awards from the publications and websites which are geared toward outdoor adventures. Naturally, being well known, well made, and heavily awarded comes with a rather large price.

The Drift innovation model is available for $75 less, but that means that it is missing $75 worth of features. If you don’t typically ford streams face first and you only have one type of helmet, there probably won’t be a need for you to work around GoPro’s price tag. If, however you share my excessive helmet collection and my specific set of talents which do not include balance or coordination, then the GoPro Helmet HERO might be the cycle helmet camera you’ve been looking for.