GoPro or Contour HD for Mountain Biking?

[james239]

Looking at getting one of the above.

Main uses will be track days and mountain biking. Both cameras seem good for track days but anyone got any preference for mountain biking?

Contour seems better for helmet mounting being the bullet shape, but not sure this will be good for cycling as I'd probably be filming me looking at the floor a lot.

GoPro seems good as it can be chest mounted (not sure if the contour can?) which seems it would give better shots.

So - anyone got either?

[robpearson]

I have a contour hd and love it. They do mounts for everything now. The best cycling footage I have seen comes from attaching the camera to the front fork, not sure either come with this option without judicious use of cable ties. The stock helmet mount needs careful setup otherwise as you say, you end up with loads of footage of your handlebars and not a great deal else.

[hughjayteens]

I have a GoPro 960HD and a mate has a Contour. I think for mountain biking, the GoPro on a chest mount gives the best action footage as you can see what you and the bike are both doing, but it does vibrate somewhat on the bumpy stuff whereas the bike or helmet mounted footage I've seen is much smoother but generally doesn't give much feel to what's going on.

The GoPro has a wider angle lens I believe and comes with a waterproof housing.

Horses for courses, but I'd go for the new GoPro HD2 which will have an option to view footage on an iPhone which could be good fun on a day out with your mates!

Few of my clips can be seen here

http://www.youtube.com/user/cjkpre (the Alps ones show how bumpy it can get although that was on some very bumpy stuff at times and my body armour meant it didn't sit so flat)

When snowboarding, the GoPro helmet mount makes it quite sticky-outy and I knocked mine off when going through some trees off piste so could be a consideration if using it for more than just biking. Amazingly I retraced my steps and found it but sadly the battery had died 5 minutes before or the footage could've been quite amusing!

Edited by hughjayteens on Thursday 29th March 22:59

[Digga]

Was thinking about a camera myself. Just to confuse the issue further, there's another option which seems pretty good, for helmet mounting at least, which is the Drift camera: http://driftinnovation.com/

Go Pro 2, on a chest mount, does seem to be the #1 choice, money-no-object, but the Drift is a lot less costly and apparently you can fit it to a Go Pro chest mount.

[a11y_m]

I've been debating buying a camera for MTBing for months and in a similar situation. The Contour appears better for helmet mounting but the shape of it makes it less suitable for a chest mount. I was initially put off the idea of a chest mount as I thought the strap/harness would feel restrictive, but I tried a mate's harness on on Tuesday night and TBH couldn't tell it was there (I also wore a Camelbak at the same time).

A major benefit for the GoPro Hero 2 is the external mic socket - allows alternative positioning of an external mic which could be good for recording sound from elsewhere on a trackday, for example.

[Freakuk]

I've got the new Hero2 and use it for MTB most of the time, I've got a handlebar mount and the "chesty", below is a video from the chesty which as you can see cuts the top off slightly due to the angle at which your body is, just needs a tweak of the angle/bracket to get that right next time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SLRa6RauI0&fe...

Here's one from the handlebar mount

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLzoljLUARQ&fe...

Not used a helmet mount on my MTB but have when snowboarding a few weeks ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQJ1WO7uHeM&fe...

The range of accessories for the GoPro is amazing, I also bought a GoPole LOL for my snowboarding trip (you can see the helmet mount in the video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qHbkH4sl14&fe...

[CoolC]

I wonder if you could modify the goPole so that it fits onto the back of the saddle of your MTB to position the camera over the rider's shoulder?

That would be a great shot.

[Rob_T]

i have the contour hd but have only used it to mount to the helmet for mtb and skiing. the helment mount is far less obstrusie. i think when you have the go pro on the helmet you look a bit like a teletubby and there's always the danger of it getting caught on a branch etc. you learn to adjust the angle of the camera so you don't film the floor. i certainly had no problem there.

on the chestmount front, you can get one for the contour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUqEOYj2Rvc

all the attachments seem outrageously expensive though. picture quality i can't see anything in it.

[james239]

Thanks. GoPro certainly seems the way to go and the handlebar mounted footage worked much better than I thought it would.

Anyone got any videos of the camera mounted to the fork?

[jj.]

Freakuk said:

The range of accessories for the GoPro is amazing, I also bought a GoPole LOL for my snowboarding trip

No matter about 'stacking it', at least you ride your snow board the correct way ...! I've been trying to 'educate' everyone about riding the correct way, everyone tells me I'm wrong tho...
jj