The Aussie company have revamped both the Cycliq Fly12 and Fly6, promising sharper footage capture, a wider lens angle and brighter lights.
The front-facing Fly12 CE weighs 195g, 49g lighter than the original version. the light pumps out an impressive 600 lumens on full beam, and up to 8 hours of battery life taking 2.5 hours to fully charge. The lens has now improved from 100° to 135° angle for a better field of view,and the 1080p HD camera records at 60FPS with audio capture too. ANT+ support means that you can now connect the Fly12 CE and Fly6 CE lights to your Garmin, as well as Cycliq’s app via Bluetooth.
The rear Fly6 CE has 100 lumens of brightness and has up to 7 hours of battery life. It’s got various dimming settings and light modes and weighs in at just 110g. It also has the improved 135° wide lens view.
Both lights have a ‘Homesafe’ mode, that turns video recording off and continues to run the light for up to 1.5 hours to get you home, and built-in bike alarms that flash and automatically start recording incidents while alerting you to it via the Cycliq app. As with the first-gen Cycliqs, the MP4 video format records in either 5, 10, and 15 minute segments.
The Fly12 will retail at £255 and the Fly6 £169, with both available to buy from 30th November. Our reviewer George Hill was impressed with the original Fly12 last year, and we’re expecting the new versions in the office shortly. Check back for a preview and review soon…
31 thoughts on “Cycliq launch new Fly12 CE and Fly6 CE light/camera combos”
They do look very swish
They do look very swish compared to the old ones. I’d be tempted if the 6 now had the same 60fps/1024 choice as the 12 as well as the wider lens view (and if they did a bundle deal).
LarryDavidJr wrote:
From what we’re told the Fly6 does have the 135° wide lens view (sorry article edited that should have been clearer!), and the spec list just says it’s 60FPS for all recordings.
Jack Sexty wrote:
Might be quite tempted by a new 6 on its own then. It would be handy if I could then use the old one hoisted up on a backpack or something, as the only downside I find right now is that due to the angle, you don’t usually get a shot of the person driving. And that can make the difference to a driver not daft enough to say to the plod on the doorstep “oh yeah that was me”.
Thats if you can get them to pay a visit in the first place….
I still think the Fly 12 is a
I still think the Fly 12 is a bit expensive and I wish they would do one without light.
cdamian wrote:
I was thinking the same but then how much weight does the light add, a bit more plastic casing and a lens and an LED, pretty negligible. Even if you don’t intend to use it and keep all the battery for recording time (as I would) that light might come in handy as a backup should youtr main fail.
Notsofast wrote:
I was thinking the same but then how much weight does the light add, a bit more plastic casing and a lens and an LED, pretty negligible. Even if you don’t intend to use it and keep all the battery for recording time (as I would) that light might come in handy as a backup should youtr main fail.— cdamian
Actually, for me, there’s a distinct advantage in it having a light. It saves on handlebar space.
cdamian wrote:
Thing is, once you’re cycling after dark, you really need a co-axial light for the camera to be any use at all. Without the light, you can’t make out number plates, for example. The Cycliq is a really well-designed bit of kit.
Now I realise that the gopros
Now I realise that the gopros I have bought won’t loop and record over old videos, meaning I have to format the card via the app (can’t be done on the camera), I wish I had gone for these.
Bikebikebike wrote:
Mine is set up to Protune off, 1080p 60fps, wide with a 64GB card.
That’s giving me 4 hours on an SD card. Two days of commuting. I’m not sure it’s all that tricky to fire up the app, delete etc. Takes about a minute or so. Loop would be better, but it’s not all that much of a ballache. Could even stick a 128 in there and record most of the week!
also, not sure which you have, I have a session 5. Formatting sd on camera is about 6 button presses
bendertherobot wrote:
I’ve got a session. It is one more thing that needs to be done, and one more thing that can go wrong. I’ve got one pointing back and one on my helmet, so that’s twice it needs to be done.
If for some reason you don’t have your phone, then you can’t do it either, as it has to be done through the app.
There is enough complication in my life without another irritating task. It’s a pretty basic function that the camera should have.
Bikebikebike wrote:
session should be same as session 5. Not the menu button, scroll through to delete files?
I have a Fly 6 and would
I have a Fly 6 and would replace it within days if it broke. Some meathead in a big black Merc close passed me on Monday morning, then forced me off the road to lecture me about my cycling. Fly footage was spot on, so were the Met, amazingly they sent an NIP to the registered keeper within 24 hours of receiving the evidence.
I’m also relatively happy with a GoPro Session on the front, but was amazed to find that GoPro don’t really understand the concept of looping and the card keeps filling up. Luckily I work on a PC, and can format the card while charging (need to press the little button to get the PC to ‘see’ the GoPro), so not as bad as having to use the app.
Vermilla2008 wrote:
as I said above, isn’t the session same as session 5? Press menu on back. Display on. Cycle through to format sd, press button on top.
bendertherobot wrote:
I have a Hero 4 Session, and that would have been the sensible option, but unfortunately not, there’ s no ‘Format SD’ option on the camera, need either the app or plug into a PC.
Good job I’ve not just bought
Good job I’ve not just bought the old Fly 12 then… fingers crossed they’ll start flogging the old 6 off cheaply.
Fuck me. Dodged a bullet
Fuck me. Dodged a bullet there. Tried to order the existing model just a few days ago. I wondered why so many retailers seemed to be discounting it.
My wife has the Fly12 and
My wife has the Fly12 and likes it. Simple operation – just turn it on and off. Battery lasts for hours, so that is a main reason to use it vs. a sport cam. Only issues are the weight, very heavy. And the mounting is a bit of a pain – you cannot quickly move it from bike to bike. A quick mount option would be awesome.
Augsburg wrote:
The original has a standard GoPro mount, so get another mount.
I have a Bar Fly 4 Prime mostly aluminum mount on my other bike, so it’s easy to unscrew the Fly 12 and move it between bikes. The problem with the Bar Fly is that the retainer nut can fall out, so maybe get an all aluminum mount such as from Cycliq or any of the numerous mounts available from Chinese manufacturers.
Another Martin H wrote:
My wife has the Fly12 and likes it. … And the mounting is a bit of a pain – you cannot quickly move it from bike to bike. A quick mount option would be awesome.
— Another Martin H The original has a standard GoPro mount, so get another mount.
I have a Bar Fly 4 Prime mostly aluminum mount on my other bike, so it’s easy to unscrew the Fly 12 and move it between bikes. The problem with the Bar Fly is that the retainer nut can fall out, so maybe get an all aluminum mount such as from Cycliq or any of the numerous mounts available from Chinese manufacturers.— Augsburg
Because the original Fly12 is so heavy, I’ve found the bladed “GoPro” type mount must be tightened super tight on the Fly12. I have to use a wrench to tighten the thumb knob to keep the Fly 12 from moving around when hitting bumps. This makes switching the Fly12 to another bike troublesome, as you cannot just unscrew with your fingers to move it. The quick mount on the Fly12 CE version solves this problem.
Cycliq seem to ignore the
Cycliq seem to ignore the fact that the life of the battery (i.e the time until a battery won’t hold a charge) was abysmal. I had a Fly 6 which lasted for a year of commuting. You’ll look in vain on their website for anything on battery life. Until they make some sort of declaration on whether or not they’ve fixed the problem then I’m out at that price. And I’m not prepared to faff around trying to replace a fixed battery, although there are guides on the internet
nniff wrote:
Yes, this was an annoyance with my Fly 6 (one of the first proper production units). I had it about a year, with only occasional use, and it was fine.
However, fast forward to when I started bike commuting and it lasted about 6 months with just over an hours use each day. Checking the Cycliq forums, quite a few people had this issue with earlier units. Some of them seemed to get a replacement.
My reward from Cycliq for being an early adopter was a ‘discount’ (and I use the term loosely) of £10 on a new one. Not impressed.
So instead, I bought a replacement battery and fitted it myself. Been grand so far, lasts ages. I don’t trust my soldering skills though so I only charge it when I’m nearby and awake 😉
I should probably say though, that I got a Fly12 which has now done a couple of years of commuting and still going strong (lasts all week if I don’t use the light), so I suspect that this shouldn’t be an issue any more.
nniff wrote:
I experienced the same with the Fly 6, got about 14 months out of it (4000 ish miles) and the battery gave up. Just wouldn’t hold a charge for more than a few minutes.
I bought a branded replacement battery from a well known supplier and managed to fix it with a bit of soldering to switch over the JST pcb connectors for £17. Very carefully mind you, I was sure to buy a cell with built-in short circuit protection and pre-wired as soldering to a lithium battery is dangerous.
I have to say though, it is a brilliant bit of kit.
It was reliable up until that point, apart from the mount, but they’ve sorted that now with the Velcro strap design.
I ended up concluding that even with it costing £90 and only lasting just over a year, the monthly cost of about £6.50 was still worth it for the piece of mind it gave me. Knowing that if the worst happened, I would have some evidence.
Aldi
If you can find one still, Aldi were selling off their Maxtek Fly6 clone for £29.99 in store. It was £39.99 originally. Or get one on eBay.
They updated the firmware a few weeks back fixing the common issue people had with it switching off mid ride due to “inactivity” though that also lost the auto off function. I’m guessing they just disabled the motion detection features. Still, £130 cheaper than the Fly6.
aegisdesign wrote:
Or don’t.
The Aldi light switches itself off after a few minutes of darkness (15-20mins). When do you need a rear light? Of course, when it’s bloody dark!
don simon wrote:
Or don’t.
The Aldi light switches itself off after a few minutes of darkness (15-20mins). When do you need a rear light? Of course, when it’s bloody dark!— aegisdesign
The Aldi one doesn’t do loop recording which, as noted above, is a pain.
The Aldi one doesn’t do loop
The Aldi one doesn’t do loop recording which, as noted above, is a pain.
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Mine does!
don simon wrote:
Or don’t.
The Aldi light switches itself off after a few minutes of darkness (15-20mins). When do you need a rear light? Of course, when it’s bloody dark!— aegisdesign
…but as aegisdesign points out, they fixed the switching-off problem in the dark with the firmware update. Mine is fine now. Really pleased with it. If the firmware update has removed the auto-off function, I haven’t noticed as I always remember to turn it off!
Too spendy for what you’re
Too spendy for what you’re geting even in the ‘uprated’ version.
My ION air Pro records at 1080p/30fps and 720p/60fps (The upspecced variant does 120fps @720 and 60fps @1080+ image stailisation), 170deg field, water-resistant to 10 metres depth, 142grams and can connect wirelessly to send the data on the fly (see what I did there).
You can also turn it at different angles (in 90deg segments) and the software automatically rights it, mounting it on the seatpost is doable if not a little ugly but you can undersling it on your bars upside down (less likely to damage if you have a spill) and have it face backward, you could even clamp it to the drops, if you have a kink in your downhill bars that is the only space left that’s not a problem either due to the ball joint mount. Comes with helmet mount and you can even use them on surfboards and the like or even in your car.
Down side is that battery life is only 2.5 hrs and no over record/loop function but at £60 it was a steal and is extremely well built.
Personally I don’t want a light and camera integrated but I do like the look of the rear facing camera but there’s no way I’d want to spend even half that.
Do these things have decent
Do these things have decent light settings or only useless comedy flash mode? I like the idea of an integrated unit but only if it has a good strong steady output.
andyp wrote:
Fly6 is a fine rear light. You will have no worries there.
Fly12 does kick out a fairly decent amount (old400 v new600 is a useful upgrade). one caveat is that the full 400lm on mine does drain the the battery, but still good enough for a couple of hours easy. the main aspect of it that is limiting, is the use of a fresnal lens with is more suited for ‘safety’ light than a proper night which projects some distance.
I find both excellent for their intended purpose and these new versions will be a marked improvement.
Cycliq Fly 12 CE
Disappointed in these guys. They are taking orders and were supposed to despatch mid December (which is pretty late for early December payment) and on 13th Dec it was changed to “early January”. Waiting for response to my request for refund. Not particularly interested in what the problem is. I’d rather get it off the shelf next year if/when it gets there, instead of paying ahead for a shifting delivery date and financing their operation. NEXT day update Cucliq has responded offering a full refund which is perfectly reasonable….