Cycliq Fly6 Review

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Introduction

• Manufacturer: Cycliq
• Model: Fly6
• Price: £99.99 (At the time of review)

Welcome to another Lifestyle review! These reviews showcase some of the coolest gadgets, and everyday products that really help you out in your general day to day life. From bags to portable batteries, play3r’s got you covered. Today we take a closer look at a piece of technology that has revolutionised cycling, we often think safety is “protection”, whether that be a helmet or knee pads but the Fly6 is an interesting device that has you covered should the worst happen. The Fly6 is both a recording device and an awareness device, it records everything going on behind the bike and doubles up as a rear mounted bike light. The Fly6 was designed to make other drivers more aware of you on the road, but to also record any “near misses” or accidents, so should the worse happen you have video evidence.

We really wanted to get the Fly6 in to review as its such an interesting piece of technology, we’ve tested action cameras, and smaller recording devices, but this product is something purpose-built as both a safety and awareness device. With eyes in the back of your head, the Fly6 constantly records behind the bike, as seen in the above videos.

I’m sure some people might be wondering why this all matters so much? Well let’s face it, driver cyclist relationships aren’t the best. And there is a lot of tension on both sides of the fence, the Fly6 has literally “Got your back”. I’ve got to admit as a cyclist I often get some anxiety due to having had some close calls with cars, so I feel the Fly6 also serves as a device to give the rider some confidence that should the worst happen, at least they have some evidence.

The amazing thing I found with the Fly6 was how easy it was to take out the box and setup, ready to record within a few minutes. Obviously people reading might be wondering why someone wouldn’t just get a gopro or an action cam and mount it backwards, well not only do these options take additional configuration but they don’t come with anywhere near the same amount of functionality.

With the Fly6 you simply choose the correct backplate, and use the rubber tensioners to keep the device attached to the bike. Along with the Fly6 there is a variety of backplates to support different seat posts which means you should be able to mount the Fly6 to almost any bike. The rubber tension system was something I found worked really well, I even tested the Fly6 for a week in the peak district which involved a variety of trails, road use and XC use. During the testing I didn’t feel worried the device was going to fall off, which is something I consider very important for a device that needs to always be recording, obviously this is designed first for road use – but we like to test products thoroughly.

Now it is worth noting the product is quite large, and does look slightly odd when compared to normal reflectors. However the size is required to pump out the 30 lumens of super bright LED light that the Fly6 produces. And you’ve got to remember the Fly6 contains a battery and a camera, so the Fly6 is quite small when you consider how much technology is really packed into the device.

Once setup you simply turn the device on and it will bleep to tell you the device is recording, but at the same time it the center light will rotate meaning footage is being recorded. You can also use the dimmer switch to change the brightness, pressing the power switch also cycles through different lighting patterns for different situations when more awareness might be required. It’s this simplicity that made me love the product.

Because of the positioning of the device, its completely waterproof. Which is something I tested going around trails, on the road, through puddles, it just kept on recording. I will say if the product does get water on the lens the video quality will be degraded and imperfections might appear from pieces of mud stuck to the camera, however this is not a flaw in the product, simply something that will happen.

The Fly6 comes with a huge 6 hour battery life and an 8gb SD card which provides several hours of recording, I did find it slightly odd that the device records in 10 minute slots however I imagine this is due to the limitations of SD card technology. You’ll also note that the footage is timestamped (once you setup the date in the configuration) so everything is accurate when replaying it. In the case you run out of space on the SD card it simply loops back around to continue the recording process, but the interesting thing about the Fly6 is its ability to turn off the device to protect footage if the bike is at a 45 degree angle for longer than a few seconds.

Obviously there must be a few things I don’t like about the product, well actually there was only one. However I believe it would be unfair to pick at this too much because of the price of the Fly6 due to it being relatively inexpensive when you compare it to the price of a gopro. And the only real downside I found to the product was the video quality at night was lower quality which became pixelated, however you could still identify cars and hazards when rewatching the footage. And at night-time the camera also picks up the light rotating around which gives for an interesting playback experience.

But with all of this technology combined, and what the product actually does? The Fly6 is something that I really think all cyclists should have, its one of the few products I’ve decided to give a full 5/5 rating on Play3r. I’m a passionate cyclist and I can’t find a fault in the Fly6 after weeks of testing, and I can’t imagine living without the product. My only hope for the Fly6 is that road users will perhaps become aware of the product to act as a further deterrent.

And it all began with this kickstarter campaign, so great job to all those who backed the project. 

I’ve decided to give this product the Platinum award, one of our most reserved awards. It’s for a number of reasons, the product is well built and designed to stand the test of time. But this product is designed to keep people safe, and you cannot put a price on that. 

You can find the product over on Cycliq.com.