Adding an AliExpress Dashcam to a Brompton P Line Commuter

Cycling · Published 11/23/2022 ·

I added a dashcam to my friend’s Brompton — the one he commutes on.

I bought it off AliExpress.

Shipping took about three weeks, which is pretty much par for the course with Ali. It’s that magical kind of shop where your order shows up right around the time you’ve forgotten you even bought it.

These days it doesn’t really feel like it’s coming all the way from China — more like I just ordered from a store that happens to ship slowly.

The build quality is better than I expected. The mount uses a GoPro-style fitting.

The Brompton M bar doesn’t leave you much room on the handlebars, so anything you mount has to take up as little space as possible.

Luckily, this bracket doesn’t have a wide grip.

That’s roughly how thick it is. If you really grab it and twist, it’ll rotate, but it won’t come loose during normal riding.

This is how the whole thing sits once mounted.

I’m planning to pop one side of the stem bag off for a moment, get it mounted, and then fasten everything back up.

Looking sharp. Here’s hoping for an accident-free commute — though if something unexpected does happen, it’ll have to be the one to act as his lawyer.

Done — secured all the way down to the stem bag.

Gotta find that flattering angle…

Here’s the daytime footage.

And the nighttime footage.

As you’d expect, there’s a big gap compared to gear with image stabilization like a GoPro.

I think you really have to treat this as something you only pull out when there’s an actual problem. The shaking is so bad it’s tiring to watch — more of an issue than the image quality itself.

That said, once you factor in the bike’s vibration and the state of the road, it makes sense. My friend rides this thing almost every day, and what I’m really curious about is how well it’ll hold up to his weight and his all-out riding style.

I’ll post a one-month update too.

—Bought it with my own money—

#BromptonPLine #Brompton #BicycleDashcam #BromptonDashcam #BikeCommuteDashcam #AliExpressDashcam

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