Using phone as handlebar camera

[pythonmegapixel]

I cycle a lot and would like to mount my phone to the handlebars so that I can record from the front of the bike. I've looked at handlebar mounts for phones but they all seem to be designed to make the phone screen visible to the rider, rather than to make the camera face forwards. I'm not bothered about being able to see the screen (I don't use navigation apps or anything like that, so it would be more a pointless distraction than anything else) - I was envisaging I'd just hit record, put it in the mount and then take it out when I'd finished and stop recording.

 

I don't anticipate recording all that much. This means that firstly it needs to be inexpensive - I don't feel it's really worth investing in a GoPro or anything like that as I wouldn't have a use for it most of the time - and secondly it's important that I can easily attach and detach the phone and preferably the whole mount from the bike!

 

Any suggestions for something that would allow me to do this?

[vertigo220]

Don't really have any suggestions for what to use for this, just a warning about doing it at all. You want to keep it inexpensive, but that only works until the first time your mounting solution fails or you crash and your probably not inexpensive phone is broken. A GoPro may be worth the investment, and I'd bet you can get a good deal on a used one.

[pythonmegapixel]

10 hours ago, vertigo220 said:

Don't really have any suggestions for what to use for this, just a warning about doing it at all. You want to keep it inexpensive, but that only works until the first time your mounting solution fails or you crash and your probably not inexpensive phone is broken. A GoPro may be worth the investment, and I'd bet you can get a good deal on a used one.

Fair point! Looking for a used GoPro hadn't really occurred to be for some reason - I thought it was a bit niche for there to be a significant used market, but looking online that seems not to be the case.

 

(And now I think about it, if I did happen to crash, I really don't like the idea of potentially not having my phone available to call for assistance...)

[Lurking]

A dedicated camera also may have better battery life. Unless you can find a way to turn off the phone screen for recording 

 

People succesfully use the phone as a bike computer. But I always would be concerned about rain, vibrations, and crash damage. I know people also use them on motorbikes, but I'm paranoid and alway would think it ca fall off (even if it doesn't). 

[vertigo220]

19 minutes ago, Lurking said:

A dedicated camera also may have better battery life. Unless you can find a way to turn off the phone screen for recording 

 

People succesfully use the phone as a bike computer. But I always would be concerned about rain, vibrations, and crash damage. I know people also use them on motorbikes, but I'm paranoid and alway would think it ca fall off (even if it doesn't). 

Yup, even if it never falls off, you'll always be paranoid about it while riding, which will be distracting. I just don't have enough faith in mounts for doing this sort of thing. I'm sure you can get one of high quality that will work, but then may as well spend that money on a GoPro that's designed for this. And rain is a good point, too. Also, remember, there's a lot of sh*tty people out there, so whatever you go with, make sure you can easily remove it so it's not stolen.