In my adventures in trying to dress up as Lala from the Teletubbies I’ve found the ATC Mini Helmet Camera to be an irreplaceable accessory.

Teletubby impersonations aside, what does the ATC Mini Helmet Camera by Oregon Scientific offer cyclists?

High quality HD video

In tests with the ATC Mini helmet camera for cyclists, I’ve found the video quality to be excellent. The camera doesn’t suffer from curved recording edges, you can see licence plates and there haven’t been any issues where the recording has been too dark. Although, it’s not quite the level of the more expensive HD Hero helmet camera, it should be enough for most uses.

However, there is a downside to this high quality of video. For every one minute of video you are looking at around a 100mb file. On a 25 minute commute, you’d therefore have 2.5 gigs of data. You can buy 32GB Micro SD cards which costs around £30 and that should prevent you from running out of juice. The battery lasts for approximately 1.5 hours.

There is one further consideration. If you’ve got an older laptop then it may struggle to edit the HD video. You’ll find that converting the video to MP4 format will dramatically reduce the file size while maintaining the quality.

Wide Range of mounting options

The ATC Mini Helmet Camera has an excellent range of mounting options. Especially, when coupled with the ATC Mini Handlebar Mount. Thanks to the low weight of the unit it shouldn’t be a problem to place it on the helmet. I found the helmet mount provides the most clear angle for bike rides.

What really stood in my review of the ATC Mini is that you can make some excellent micro adjustments to get the recording angle just right. This is thanks to the design of the mount. Out of all the helmet cameras I’ve tested, I’ve found the mounting system in the ATC Mini the most useful.

Despite the lack of an LCD monitor it wasn’t too hard to guess where the camera was pointed. I found that from the first ride my guesses were pretty accurate.

(The video at the end of this post demonstrates the benefit of multiple mounting angles)

Easy to use

The ATC Mini helmet camera is designed to make life simple:

• To upload video you just plug it in to your computer without needing any additional software.
• There are just three buttons on the unit (On/Off, Camera, Video) all of them easy to press even with gloves
• Mounting is quick and painless (just don’t forget to tighten the screw that holds the camera in place!)

Waterproof

With water resistance of up to 20 metres you’ll have to seek out a pretty deep pothole to be in any difficulty. It’s great that this is something included straight out of the box with the ATC Mini, rather than having to invest in additional accessories.

Video Review

Review of the ATC Mini Helmet Camera

Overall, there’s a lot to love about the Oregon Scientific ATC Mini. Waterproof, competitively priced, high quality video and excellent mounting. Any let downs? 1.5 hour battery life may not offer enough juice for all purposes and when mounted to your helmet you do look a little silly!

However, the idea stuck with me. I couldn’t help thinking that I’d been a little too quick to judge and actually they would be pretty useful. In particular, if you need to tap your iPhone or mobile phone screen when it is in a bike mount. As I often do when I’m following a new route somewhere.

I looked around at a couple of different companies that sell these types of gloves and came across the eGlove eXtreme (it’s all about capital letters in strange places). I was impressed by the quality and the price seemed about right so I’ve added them to our London Cyclist eShop.

With the cold weather we are mid way through at the moment I thought it would be a good time to announce their addition.

If you are looking for a pair then have a look at the size chart at the bottom of this page because they are designed to have a very snug fit (time to ask around for a tape measure or ruler!) I’ll end this post with this random fact: I have a 19cm hand.

Just when you think you’ve seen everything in the big wide world of bicycle accessories, along come the folding mudguards.

Full Windsor QuickFix Folding Mudguard review

This British Made Full Windsor Folding Mudguard is a lazy (wo)mans mudguard. As there’s not actually that many days of the year that we are caught cycling in the rain it can be a useful accessory to have to hand. Especially as installation takes seconds as shown in the dodgy home made movie below:

My awful pre-conception of the mudguard would be that it would be flimsy and a pain to install. I was very much proven wrong.

The Full Windsor QuickFix comes in two editions. You can have the zip tie edition or the clip edition. I much preferred the clip edition which makes things quicker and easier to install and remove, and doesn’t waste precious zip ties.

You also have a choice of colours. For testing I was sent the white and yellow edition but I’d probably prefer the slightly less conspicuous black edition. Although, whichever edition you choose, you are going to stand out a little. If that’s in a good way or a bad way I leave to your own sense of reality to decide.

On my test ride in yesterdays petrol soaked London roads I was impressed. The folding mudguard kept my back dry and free of horrible road spray.

When we arrived at the destination (Lock Tavern!) I was a little confused as to whether I should be taking the mudguards off or leaving them on. I chose to leave them on and they were there when we returned after 5 pints a quick non-alcoholic beverage. However, priced at £14.99 on Wiggle I probably wouldn’t leave them on the bike for an extended period. This creates the problem of folding them up and putting them in your bag. Something that isn’t too desirable when they are covered in road muck.

I really like these origami style mudguards. I think they are a clever idea that has been well designed and manufactured. If you always ride your bike with mudguards then you really don’t have any use for them. However, if you want a mudguard that can be installed and removed in seconds for rain related emergencies then these get the big thumbs up from me!

This morning I took a ride to see the Trafalgar Sun. Other than providing a nice bit of publicity for Tropicana, I thought it would also be a good chance to test out to ATC-Mini Helmet Camera.

The ATC-Mini Helmet camera costs £123. Which is a bit of bargain considering the high video quality. However, the price does hop up a little when you throw in the handlebar mount at £25 and a £5 micro SD memory card.

What immediately does stand out is the quality of the mount. This gives a good range of mounting options and allows you to adjust the position to perfection. It is also very easy to use, although you can’t really make adjustments while you are riding.

On first inspection the 720p video is clear enough to see licence plates and doesn’t suffer too much from road vibrations. This should make the camera great for recording mountain bike rides as well as for safety during commutes.

The video below shows the ATC-Mini Helmet camera during the night and daytime. I’ll have a full review on London Cyclist in the next few weeks.

Also, if you are interested in the Trafalgar Sun then I’ve upload some pictures to the London Cyclist Flickr. If you’d like to go and see it for yourself, then it should be there until the end of today.

Please note: Competition provided by Zalando

Please note this competition is now closed! Julie is our winning entry!

To celebrate the first year of Zalando in the UK, they have a £75 voucher up for grabs for one lucky London Cyclist reader. Read on for details on how to enter.

Zalando sell a selection of sports wear for men and women including kit for cyclists. To find all the cycling gear on offer, simply hover over Sports and choose all sports. Then, choose bike in the left sidebar.

Whilst the site specialises in sports shoes, they also sell other cycling gear such as gloves, helmets and great looking waterproof jackets. The last one being an essential item for this time of the year! The company offers free returns and have a free support line if there are any issues.

Competition

Entering the competition is easy. Simply add a comment in the section below with one tip you’d give a new cyclist who’s just started cycling in 2012. Anything that you’ve learnt from your experiences that you feel would be useful to someone else. We’ll pick our favourite answer and then contact the winner to send them the £75 voucher that can be spent on anything they want on Zalando.

Please note that this competition is only open to UK residents. It will run from today until 8 p.m. on Wednesday 18th of January 2012 at which point it will be closed to any further entries. The winner will be announced on this post. One entry per person.

If the winner doesn’t respond within a reasonable amount of time then the person in second place will be contacted.

For a free £5 voucher to spend on Zalando you can also sign up to their newsletter. This is located at the bottom of the Zalando website.

Good luck with your entry!

Heading to the grocery store? Would you like a little extra boost up the hill on the way home?

The Ridekick gives you a top speed of 19mph and can ride a maximum of 12 miles. It has a throttle that gives you control of the speed.

At $699 (£454) the Ridekick isn’t cheap but it is far cheaper than buying an electric bike.

(Via DVice) – Ridekick.com

Sports Tracker

This free app allows you to track your cycling and then upload it to Nokia Sports Tracker Online. On the screen you can either see a map view of the ride or take a look at stats such as distance travelled, time and speed. You can also bring up rides you’ve completed previously. You can also share rides on social networks such as Facebook. It should be a good app for those looking for motivation to ride more.

Outdoor Navigation

A really beautifully designed bike app for Windows Mobile. It allows you to view different types of maps including open cycle maps and Google. It also has a very useful offline map mode which should be useful for conserving battery or when visiting locations without much mobile signal. You can follow your route on a map, add any points of interest and you can also draw out a route. Data can also be exported to sites including Facebook. You also get bike computer functionality to display details such as average speed and so forth. Great app that does a lot for the $4.99 price tag.

Workout Tracker

From the early days on a bike such as the Townsend bikes or as you move up onto a full road bike you inevitably have an obsession with how fast you are going. The Workout Tracker will tell you. The app also integrates with trainingpeaks.com and also allows you to share .GPX files of your rides which should make it possible to upload them to most websites. It is simple to use but does cost $0.99. You can view details on rides you’ve done such as speed, elevation data and distance travelled.

Trax

Another great cycling app for Windows Mobile for GPS tracking your rides. Can run whilst in the background and doesn’t crash.

Cycle Log

Another GPS tracker but without map capabilities which may result in better battery efficiency as less data is being downloaded.

Cycling News

Keep up to date with Tour De France and other cycling news with the RSS aggregator.

Bicycle Gears

Well designed Windows Mobile app for calculating the gear ratio of your bike.

London Cycle Hire

Find the nearest bicycle hire docking station and track how long you’ve been cycling. This very useful app will be a must have companion for any Boris Bike user. Out of all the apps available to do this job it seems to be the best one. Also has offline mapping capabilities which dramatically speeds up load times.

Endomondo

The Endomondo app is available on pretty much every phone ever made. Windows Mobile phones are no exception. It is a nice little app which is easy to use and has most the functionality anyone would need.

All of these bike apps can be found in the Windows Mobile Marketplace.

If you know of any other good bike apps for Windows Mobile please post them in the comments below.

See also:

• Bike apps for Android
• Bike apps for iPhone

Read about a cycling adventure to India

Currently the best selling cycling book on the Kindle. This book is called “You’ve gone too far this time, Sir!” A teacher decides to cycle 15,000 kilometres from the UK to India. Eating sheep’s brain, dancing in front of a packed stadium and overcoming troublesome border controllers. This is all the inspiration an armchair adventurer should need. On the Kindle it costs less than £1 to instantly download.

Pedalling around France

A favourite getaway for London cyclists is to go on a cycling holiday in France. The Kindle book Cycles, Tents and Two Young Gents will definitely provide some amusement and reminiscing to readers. The authors travel from Cherbourg to Perpignan and along the way meet a host of European characters.

Behind the scenes reporting on the Tour de France

Ned Boulting is a Tour De France reporter. In this book he gives an insiders account on falling in love with the tour. For anyone who follows the TdF closely this book will be of much interest and amusement. You’ll discover the history of the TdF and the trials and tribulations of the reporters who cover it.

Greece on two wheels

The book provides an insight into pedalling around Greece. The author weaves in plenty of interest with stories of local characters as well as the history and legends of Greece. Plenty of inspiration for those who are fans of Greece or would like to one day visit.

Around the world on a bike with a tiny budget

This still remains one of the most interesting books I’ve read on around the world travel. Alastair Humphreys hops on his bike, pedalling through danger, beautiful scenery and meets incredible people along the way. I was gripped from the beginning to the end and would recommend it.

The Bicycle Book

For those obsessed with the bicycle, Bella Bathursts book will entertain, inform and provide you with plenty more boring bike related facts for discussions at the dinner table!

It’s all about the bike

Robert Penn’s book is one for the bike builders. He goes out on a search to build the perfect bike for him. Along the way he details the fascinating history of different bike manufacturers.

Compliments ahoy

Let’s start with the looks, because this jacket is going to attract plenty of them.

The Bomber Jacket can just as easily be worn off the bike as on the bike. The cut has however been tailored towards cyclists. With a longer cut at the back and good length cuffs you can lean towards your road bike handlebars and still have a comfortable fit. Rapha have also included a reflective strip for night-time visibility.

When off the bike, I’ve been the welcome recipient of many compliments on the Rapha Bomber jacket. Well, if you are not going to be complimented on your cycling prowess, then you may as well receive some compliments on your choice of cycling gear. The jacket has a smart, urban look, with well placed subtle features such as a Rapha embroidered logo on the left arm. In short, it looks great.

Taking on the winter chills

This morning I awoke to a teeth clattering 2 degrees Celsius. Needless to say, I was pleased to be reaching for the Rapha Bomber jacket to keep me warm. Combined with a base and middle layer, the Rapha jacket is perfect for short rides of up to around 7 miles. For anything longer, I tend to remove the middle layer to keep my body at the perfect temperature.

When we reach the end of the long British winter and temperatures start to rise above 13-15°C (55-59°F) the jacket will be a little too warm. This isn’t one of the most breathable jackets available to cyclists. However, it is excellent for the cold winter months for both short and long rides.

Whilst we’ve had an uncharacteristically dry winter to date, I’ve had the chance to test the Rapha Bomber Jacket during a few downpours. Under both circumstances water was deflected by the durable water repellent finish. The jacket is designed to be water resistant and not waterproof.

Excellent comfort and features

The Rapha Bomber Jacket has two zipped side pockets, an external zipped breast pocket and zipped pocket for your keys with a lanyard. In practise, the most useful pocket is the breast pocket. This is a great place for your mobile phone or music player. As it is situated outside of the main zip you have easy access to it at all times. This means you can quickly check directions on your mobile phone when you are stopped at the traffic lights.

The keys pocket near the wrist is also very useful. I’ve found myself attaching the keys to the lanyard so I can quickly lock my bike when I reach my destination.

Another feature of note is the tough construction of the shoulder fabric. When riding around with a bag on your back this means the shoulder straps won’t rub.

Luxurious in pink

The Rapha Bomber Jacket feels comfortable and luxurious in every way. Exactly what Rapha is famed for. On a basic level you get a jacket that looks excellent on and off the bike. Beyond that you appreciate the more subtle features. The way the jacket doesn’t ride up your back, the comfortable lining and the well placed pockets. It is clear a lot of thought has gone into this and it’s a jacket that will be appreciated during the winter months.

Available from rapha.cc. Image via rapha.cc.

The problem of cold feet can party be solved by getting a warm pair of winter cycling socks. Generally these are made of merino wool and are thicker than the socks you’ll wear the rest of the year. Picking yourself up three pairs should be enough to get you through the winter.

Winter cycling socks that are designed for cycling tend to command a higher price than perhaps can be justified. If you are on a budget therefore, a trip down to the local discount store could save you some money. The crucial word here is “could” as a lot of retailers have decent discounts on cycling socks bringing them well within the affordable range.

The best pair of winter cycling socks will keep your feet at a good temperature and not cause them to sweat. They’ll also be comfortable enough to wear on a long ride and dry quickly. If the shoes you wear for cycling are very tight then you may have an issue with the slightly thicker size of the socks.

The winter socks I’ve selected below should satisfy all the above criteria.

The Surface Clothing Crew Socks cost just £6.99 and provide excellent comfort and warmth. Whilst the designs may be a little too funky for some, at least they’ll be easy to spot in your sock draw when you are rushing to get ready for the commute into work.

The DHB Merino winter cycling socks offer a rare combination. They are both thin and warm. Along with that they are also very comfortable. For winter cycling this is a great pair of socks for £9.89.

If you really want to step up the war on cold feet then the Pearl Izumi Elite Tall Wool socks will appeal. They are longer than your usual sock providing extra warmth when it is needed. The insulation of merino wool keeps things nice and comfortably toasty. These winter cycling socks are a little expensive at £16.99.

The DeFeet Woolie Boolie 2 socks are an improvement in both warmth and comfort of their older siblings. They provide a good fit and will give you many years of good service.

Don’t be a afraid to give your feet a little pampering. As one of the main contact areas with the bike, it is important to keep them comfortable. If the socks don’t solve your problem then you should also look towards getting a pair of leg warmers as people have suggested in the comments below. Additionally, overshoes can add additional warmth as can getting cycling specific shoes.

See also: How to stay motivated to cycle when you look out the window and see this