Last week we covered the basics of helmet cams (or outdoor camcorders if you will), with a how-to guide of what you need to take high def video action. This week sees a review of one of the market leaders at the moment, the ContourHD hands-free video camera.

I have been interested in getting a hands-free camera for some time and it was a hard choice between the GoPro and Contour ranges. I did a lot of research and both are clearly excellent pieces of kit but each had strong and weak points, there was no clear winner; both could quite easily claim to be the poodle’s pendulums, but ultimately it depends on your specific use.

In the run-up to Christmas I noticed that the ContourHD prices started to fall… dramatically (they have since risen again) and so Santa filled my sack with an incredible bargain from Amazon marketplace.

The ContourHD can best be described as a lightweight wearable camcorder that on-the-go is incredibly easy to use with the minimum of fuss, but there is much more to it than that.

What is in the box ?

• Camera
• Battery
• Goggle mount and flat surface mount with spare flat surface mount sticker
• Two fixing tags (they attach the cam to the mount so in the unlikely event that it gets knocked out of the mount you do not lose it)
• 2GB microSD card with standard SD adapter
• USB cable (for charging and file transfer)
• Quick start guide

Note; Santa also gave me a 16GB class 6 microSD card.

The first thing that strikes you about the ContourHD is its size and weight. It is tiny, will fit into a 4”x2”x1” box and weighs only 4ozs.

To change the default settings requires Contour Storyteller which you download from the Contour website. Contour Storyteller allows you to setup the camera (I think I am still using the default except for the film quality switch), download your videos to your PC and upload them to the Contour user community site for viewing. I only use Contour Storyteller to change the camera settings.

Ease of Use

Out on the trail the ContourHD could not be easier to use as there are only three user controls.

One control is under the rubber cover; this slides up and down to let you select between low and high quality, this is set in Contour Storyteller and currently I have opted for WVGA and HD:720P/60fps. The other controls are external and are used when the cam is mounted; one is to switch the cam on/off (it will also switch itself off after 15 mins of inactivity), and the other is a larger sliding control on top that enables you to start and stop recording.

Both the external ones can be used easily on the trail, while riding, even on a cold frosty morning when wearing two pairs of gloves. Very nice.

Another neat touch are red lasers! The cam has a rotating lens, you can mount it at any angle, and every time you switch it on two red lasers light up for a short period enabling you to check that the lens is horizontal, unless taking videos with trees at 45 degrees is your thing.

Mounting the Contour HD camera

The included mounts are a flat surface mount and a goggle mount. The flat surface mount may suffice for – say – fixing the cam to the dashboard of your car or the side of a wardrobe(?) but the goggle mount will be the main one that I use.

At first I thought; WTF ! is this all you get? but then I realised just how adaptive and flexible the goggle mount could be. By using cable ties, velcro strap or similar you open up numerous places to fix the cam. It is currently on my helmet but there are other locations on the frame where I can use this method to give a different perspective, the most obvious is forward facing on the steerer tube.

It’s not essential, but I also used pieces of old inner tube to keep the cam tight in the mount and to cushion and raise the mount on the helmet.

Contour HD video quality

The ContourHD uses the .mov format so if you are editing on a Mac then you are going to get better quality than via Windows and products like Windows Live Movie Maker due to conversion. Also bear in mind you always lose some quality when uploading as the bitrate gets reduced by hosting sites, more so with YouTube than with others.

The videos I have posted on YouTube so far are in WVGA and I think they look okay, but the playback on my PC with one at 720P/60fpsHD is superb.

Tips for using the ContourHD

The most important thing is getting the angle of the camera right, especially when it is mounted on your helmet. You will probably need to aim the camera above the horizontal to allow for the fact that even though you look forwards, you may well be leaning forward as well. E.g. in my deer video the cam is too low and I corrected it before the Swinley ride.

Be aware that the camera needs a short time to adjust when you go into the woods or move in or out of direct sunlight. The settings such as brightness and contrast can only be changed on a PC, so plan accordingly if these may need changing while away from your base.

General tips on recording with a helmet cam

• Cam shake is your enemy, so ensure that your cam is fixed tightly in the mount and the mount is fixed tight on your helmet or bike.
• Try to have an idea or theme or song in your mind first before recording as it will help you frame your shots.
• Mix short sections of film together, maybe with the same spot filmed from different angles or a mix of on and off-bike action. Try wide shots followed by close shots; above all, experiment!
• Try not to move your head around too much when filming (I am still learning this).
• Remember you are filming; staring too long at Dolly or Daisy will be noticeable on playback!
• If you are going to be editing before publishing keep footage short, it makes editing a lot easier to be working with smaller video files and does not affect final quality. Joining separate segments together is child’s play, because I can do it.

What next? Well, I’m still learning; when Spring gets here and with it hopefully dry trails, I intend to try 1080P, different mounts and filming in low light, plus get my head round working out what makes a great video.

Contour HD accessories

There are many after-sales accessories available; e.g. waterproof cases, different mounts etc. but be aware that some of them are expensive, so look for alternative options such as Velcro straps and cable ties; want an extra battery? – it is the same one as used in some Nokia phones for example.

Contour HD review summary

The ContourHD is a fantastic camera that has potential beyond just being a helmet cam. The main pros are; size, weight, ease of use and the rotating lens, but the payback is an inability to change settings like brightness without a PC.

Also note that the ContourHD would probably not be the best choice if a chest mount is a ‘must have’.

Apparently the 2.1 is a little thicker than version 2.0 and that version is a little bit refined from the version that Matt first reviewed.

Basically it fits the same way, 5 velcro straps securing it to the stanchions and fork arch, and once fitted doesn’t seem to move. As you can see it’s seen some mud over the last few months and it does it’s job of stopping the mud flying forward and up, only to land on your face a second later. One major added benefit that not all mud guards provide is that it keeps most of the mud away from the suspension stanchions.

I run mine with a  conventional Crud Catcher and seem to come away nearly as clean as with the Shockblade.

So, in summary, it’s light, cheap and it works. Grab one!

I’ve also noticed on Mucky Nutz Facebook wall that they are developing a rear, seat mounted version. This looks really interesting for the full suspension riding, short legged rider with a dropper post, who can’t mount any other sort of rear mudguard… i.e. me!

If you ask any mountain biker to name the single most effective development in their riding career, the chances are that they will say – with very little hesitation – that making the switch to hydraulic disc brakes was the best thing they have ever done.

We all know the fear which comes with knowing you are not going to be able to stop in time. An obstacle appears, the trail tightens unexpectedly or someone slows in front of you, requiring a panic-y grab at the brakes.

Then there’s those other occasions when you’re riding downhill and slowly – but surely – the momentum starts to build. What starts as a steady descent becomes increasingly wayward until you are just hanging in there for dear life with your backside way off the back of the bike.

Well, hydraulic disc brakes won’t stop any of that happening. Those scenarios can happen whatever brakes you are using. Physics is physics at the end of the day as many of us have discovered the hard way after putting too much faith in our skills and equipment.

But without doubt, disc brakes provide a much, much wider performance envelope in which to operate. This is a truism that every mountain biker knows but it wasn’t always so. In the early days of disc braking there were many who doubted it would ever have a value beyond downhill racing with many XC riders clinging to their V-brakes for years after most ‘normal’ riders had made the switch.

Now it’s the turn of road riders to have the same debate.

There’s quite a rumpus going on at the moment in the world of road cycling over the possibility that there may be a move to disc brakes for road bikes, despite no manufacturer actually having a disc brake set up to sell. What’s so striking to me is that all the arguments against are pretty much identical to the arguments made against disc brakes on mountain bikes over ten years ago.

Up to now, the issue just hasn’t been there. Pro road cycling, governed by strict rules on the type of equipment allowed for racing has banned disc brakes; so no disc brakes, or rather, they’ve never been explicitly authorised. Added to which the technology just hasn’t been there to build a lightweight hydraulic setup into the cramped confines of road ‘brifters’ (combined brake and shifter units).

With manufacturers gaining expertise – and following a relaxing of the disc ban on cyclocross racing – UCI (the sport’s governing body) have let it be known the only reason discs are banned is because no-one has seriously petitioned them to lift the ban. So the stage is set for disc brakes on road bikes.

Manufacturers are making noises about developing hydraulic disc brake models for road bikes (expected to be for the 2013 model year), with SRAM and Shimano’s braking expertise looking to be a strong advantage. Campagnolo certainly lack this at the moment but interestingly Magura have just launched a hydraulic rim brake for the new Cervelo P5 time trial bike. Quite an investment unless you have long term plans in this market.

For the benefit of the roadies then (who may have stumbled across this article), what are the benefits of hydraulic disc brakes?

Arguments for hydraulic road disc brakes

1. Power. Much, much greater power than you can ever generate using a cable set up which will stretch and absorb more of your braking input. But we all know that anyway.
2. Modulation – hydraulic brakes are very responsive and provide great feel through the lever, meaning you can finesse your braking efforts very accurately. The combination of increased power and greater delicacy allows a rider to brake much later into turns and carry more speed through to the next straight.
3. Consistency. The performance remains pretty much constant whether it’s wet or dry or anything in between. It is possible to boil the fluid on long off-road descents but that is now increasingly rare on MTBs and road bikes will unlikely put anywhere near those levels of heat into the system. Compare that to over-heated, sticky, grabby brake pads on rim brakes.
4. Weight. Yes, really. A complete top end Magura MT8 disc brake for MTBs is 310g including a 160mm rotor and fluid, whereas Shimano Dura-Ace road brakes come in at 285g plus the shifter/brake units of 366g. When you’ve averaged it all out there would be little difference between the two systems I’d predict. And throw into the mix the opportunity to save weight off the wheels, which don’t need braking surfaces at the rim – for example, a relatively low cost, everyday, aluminium MTB wheelset can easily weigh under 1650g these days and that’s not without turning to carbon technology which saves even more weight.
5. Reliability. Disc brakes rarely go wrong. OK, so the odd fluid bleed from time to time to keep them working at their best but that’s once in a blue moon stuff. I’ve had brakes that I haven’t touched for years at a time. As for pad wear, properly bedded in brake pads will last for many, many miles.

I’m sure I could go on but you get the picture. Disc brakes are a mainstream technology for MTBs and no-one I know would ever seriously argue against them – be they professional racer or the proverbial weekend warrior.

Looking at discussions on road oriented websites though you’d think it was 1999 all over again as in the face of all these benefits people are variously arguing that.

Arguments against hydraulic road disc brakes

• I’m not putting ugly discs on MY road bike. They’re a hideous abomination against the purity of the traditional road bike. Nasty. And I bet they’re not aero-dynamic!! (Hmmm, I guess. Never seen an ugly fast bike though…)
• They will make it slower to change wheels in a race as nothing can be as fast as rim brakes to change (would that be rim brakes which require the new wheel/tyre to be deflated BEFORE inserting it into the dropouts? Versus drop in and go?)
• Don’t want the weight penalty (neither do I and I doubt there will be one)
• I’ve never needed more power from my cable rim brakes (well maybe, but power is nothing without control)

And so on. You can read a representative discussion on the road.cc website where they were discussing Dura-Ace rumours recently. Obviously I’ve paraphrased for effect – I apologise for mocking – but really these arguments are nearly identical to everything we’ve heard before.

It works both ways of course (not every mountain biker is convinced by carbon for off-road bikes) but I can’t help feeling disc brakes are the way forward for roadies, especially when they see how much time they will save on those Alpine passes.

What do our readers think I wonder?

Cold. Very, very cold but, thankfully, fine and dry. That was the weather today down in deepest, darkest Surrey where the moles gathered for some riding around Pitch and Holmbury Hills. Thanks to a clear skies overnight the temperature was hovering around 2° at the Walking Bottom car park where we met for the morning’s ride.

I think I’ll end the weather report there as there’s not a lot else to say. Basically it was perfect for mountain biking, with the brisk chill making sure we kept moving. By the time we’d sorted out Jez’s puncture we had a group consisting of DaveC, Big Al, JonH, JohnR, PaulM, Keith, Karl and myself, making 9 in total.

Amazingly I haven’t ridden the area for a long time so I was feeling a bit more excited than usual at the prospect of some Peaslake trails after some gloopy Ranmore rides recently. After a late night faffage session last night I felt I had my shock pressures near right, as well as new pads in my front brake and the old ones rotated to my rear brake. The rear lever felt a bit spongy but it seemed to work!

So Big Al led us out of the car park, with several of us glowing in our new Muddymoles shirts. Yes, they’re very green but at least they are distinctive!

There followed the obligatory long climb up Pitch Hill. Immediately the sandy surface showed itself to be fairly dry but there were definitely puddles of water to contend with too. Near the top we turned left and headed for the start of Roller Coaster. Within a few hundred yards though I could feel that back brake was a bit suspect as compared to the front it needed such a long throw to work. Ah well, what can you do?

Roller Coaster was fast typical of much to today’s ride – the surface was good for some fast riding but wet roots and peaty puddles were everywhere to it was very much a case of brake in a straight line and try not to steer on the roots. I was soon enjoying putting the hammer down on the Five which – despite needing a bit of TLC; see brakes and gear cables – is basically a very well dialled bike. In particular it felt as though I’d tweaked the fork pressures just right after an alarming ride on Wednesday on less testing terrain.

Back on the fireroad there was plenty more winching to be done with the slightest incline giving JohnR the chance to scamper off ahead but pretty soon we were back into the trees again on T-0 and T-1 all the way down to the triangular green. Phew!, hard work, especially chasing Jez’s tail who remained just that fraction faster than me all the way.

After regrouping and catching our breath it was off to Death Star, Dave’s favourite I think although it’s not even on my list of fun trails. I find it a bit intimidating whereas Dave loves the challenge I think. So I was giving myself plenty of space to Karl ahead and carefully picking a clean line down the deeply walled gulley when Karl took a minor tumble as so often happens down here. He fortunately managed to spring back up before I reached him as I would have been forced to stop which meant I managed it all dab free.

As the trail opens out I headed for the left, coming close to a couple of slow speed crashes but somehow geting away with it, avoiding the magnetic tree stump in the middle of the descent and managing to avoid Dave’s front mudguard which had popped out of the fork crown on the way down!

After crossing the road JohnR took off up the Barry Knows Best climb while the rest of us made our way up. By the first turn things were getting a bit congested so I pushed forward and settled into a rythmn for the remainder of this sapping climb. By the time I reached the Reservoir John was well-rested (an astonishing 4 minutes 4 seconds recorded on Strava) while I was best of the losers at 5:18. The rest were some way back which was some consolation considering I hadn’t really pushed it but John’s result will be untroubled for a long time.

All together again we climbed up to the start of Reservoir Dogs but soon veered away on a long, long trail, some of which might have been Surfa Rosa. In any case Big Al was flying, stringing three sections of trail together to give a really hard but superfast workout. That was my favourite of the day as the Five at times just seemed to dig down into the turns and accelerate away with so much smoothness and grip. I was buzzing at the bottom and exhausted from a really intense ride.

Next it was back up Holmbury, a brutal climb and then the long middle way up the trail that parallels Telegraph Road to pick up Yoghurt Pots. I don’t think I’ve ridden the top section of Yoghurt Pots so well as today where I managed to hook up the sequence of sandstone berms with some committed effort in the process of reeling in Dave and Keith ahead. The mid-section of Yoghurt Pots was nothing special though as tiredness started to show over those meh! roots and ridges while in the final section I had caught Keith, Dave, Big Al and Jon (who peeled off for a go at a big roll-in).

Listening to that, ‘who am I kidding?’ I ask myself. Yes it’s a buzz to push yourself but there are far better riders than me out there and some are in our riding group!

Another blast followed down Secret Squirrel and onto Telegraph Road where I followed various riders all the way down to the car park. Karl was on it and I tagged onto him at the end as he disappeared away from me down the trail at a high rate of knots.

It’s unusual for us to ride Telegraph during the course of a morning’s effort as it’s normally the last thing we do back to the cars but this time we still had a lot to do. We worked our way round some techy gulleys before a long pull across the Hill toward – ultimately – the start of Barry Knows Best again.

The Friends of the Hurtwood volunteers were out in force maintaining the start of Barrys, making us feel rightly guilty about our own lack of contribution to the trail maintenance. One of the volunteers was Louis (Uncle Riotous) who has been in touch with us in the past so it was great to stop and say Hi. Then it was off to Barrys!

As always it was fast and gnarly but we all pinned it on the way down. Well what else can you do on the way to Peaslake for some cheese straws?

The rest was welcome after what had been some hard miles so far. I’d had a fast run on the singlespeed the day before so it had taken a while for my legs to get going today but they seemed to eventually. But I needed the break. On a separate note it was great to see how many riders were out on what is after all a bitterly cold day in late January, and roadies too. Thankfully we all seem to disperse nicely once we get out of the car park and onto the Hill.

Back up on Pitch Hill for the final few miles we said goodbye to first Jez and then JohnR before slogging on toward the Windmill and Two Headed Dog which after Lloyd’s nasty dislocated shoulder recently we took plenty of care on (Karl!). After that, it was the testing MBR trail (aka Evian I think). Whatever, it is pretty technical with a lot to catch out tired riders, including a massive drop in which comes as quite a surprise.

These sort of tricky trails were still causing me a bit of concern over the rear brake which didn’t inspire a great deal of trust, never more so than on Switchbacks, the next section of trail where I was pulling the rear lever so far my fingers were getting trapped under it! I led to a couple of very near misses but I got away with it on those noodly turns.

The end was looming by now with many of us starting to feel the pace after a lot of hard riding. Ewoks came and went at speed and then it was a run across Bentley Copse and the final long bermy run down to the car park to end with a sense of relieved exhaustion.

A cracking morning of riding with a huge thanks to Big Al for stringing it all together for us and to Dave for driving me over in the first place. Great to see everyone on such fine form.

I guess one of the things about riding a singlespeed bike is ensuring maximum efficiency. The perfect chainline is essential to reduce friction in the drive train.

If you can bling it up while you get the perfect chainline, so much the better!

With a lot of the single speed conversion kits you get two spacers, one to put either side of the cog. Obviously you are limited in how you adjust the chainline to makes sure that the cog and the chainring are perfectly in line. That’s when the VeloSolo spacers come in. For £12.95 (+£1.75 P&P) you get a set of anodised spacer rings consisting of 1 of 7.5mm, 1 of 6.5mm, 1 of 5.5mm, 2 of 4.5mm and 2 of 2.5mm.

With this selection there really is no excuse to have your chainline more than a millimeter out. Choose from black, red, blue, gold, green or special edition ‘Rasta’ mix of red, gold and green spacers. Even Dandy would be happy with this selection. As you can see from the photos, my Kona is currently sporting a nice set of red rings but I’ve had a set of gold ones for some time as well on my Inbred 29er.

It’s worth noting that VeloSolo cater mainly for the Fixie crew but they also have unramped chainrings suitable for 1xX (1×10) setups as well as singlespeeding. They’ll even sell you a matching lockring. Those with a dull, not interested in bling, mentality will also find plain aliminium rings at a few pounds less.

All in all a great little find for tuning as well as blinging!

A new sculpture to recognise cycling in the Mole Valley (and in particular the 2012 Olympic Road Race later this year) is planned for the A24/Pixham Lane/Denbies roundabout after an initiative organised by Mole Valley Councillor Caroline Salmon.

Taking the form of a 2.4m x 4m representation of two road cyclists constructed from individual steel leaves it is suggested that members of the public may wish to sponsor a leaf in order to raise funds for the project.

The sculpture is has been designed by Heather Burrell who created the Cycle Leaf scuplture for the 2007 Tour de France which stands on the Rotherhithe roundabout.

At present half the £20,000 cost is provided by developer funds from the MVDC but that means a further £10,000 needs to be raised by the public, at a cost of £40 per steel leaf for the 200 required to create the sculpture.

It seems to me a great way to immortalise ourselves, either individually or as the Muddymoles as a whole with one or more leaves sponsored.

I plan to keep an eye on things and will write more when I have further details. Further reading on the steel cyclist scuplture, including some positive reaction from stakeholders and members of the public can be found on the ‘This Is Surrey’ website with road.cc also covering this story.

Phrases like this are how action cams are often promoted. If this appeals to you, what do you need to become Steven Speilberg on a MTB? Marketing hyperbole aside, why would you want to film your rides in the first place?

For me it is about sharing and recording your riding experiences which might include nature moments (not only deer and wild animals, it could be what Matt saw on the SDW[!]), stunning views of the countryside and terrain, or evidence of nailing that jump; because we all know that we manage to complete our best moves when riding solo don’t we?

I got a lot of pleasure filming in Swinley with D’Andy recently; it was not just about the ride but a glorious winter’s day with the low sun shining brightly through the trees, the experience of filming it and then sharing it. Just playing those scenes back makes me want to get out on my bike and ride more and I have several emails that show it is not just myself that feels that way.

What do you need? An action cam, mount (these are often extra), memory card, PC with graphics card, video editing software and finally a medium to share. This guide will look into this in more detail as well as giving you an idea of what you may need to budget for.

Choosing a Video Camera (Action cam)

The market leaders are the Go-Pro Hero and the Contour HD – I happen to have the Contour HD. Despite what you may read there is no definitive ‘one is better than the other’. They both use the same hardware; it is the packaging and software that is different. With these two cams the picture quality is the same, it is down to the user; how it is mounted and the settings used. Search around youtube and you can find really good and bad examples for both.

I could easily list several pros and cons for each but that is not what this report is about, ultimately you have to ask yourself ‘what will I use it for and how will I be using it’, i.e. where will I want to mount or fix it ? If you’re a family person (because these babies are not cheap) then replace ‘I’ with ‘we’; the ‘we’ was a big part in justifying my purchase. This type of ‘active’ camcorder can be mounted anywhere; your MTB, helmet, on your body, in the car, on a motorbike – they have multiple uses beyond filming the trail.

For example – the Go-Pro has a great chest mount whereas the Contour has a great profile and size for a helmet cam. You can switch the Contour on and off, on the go, probably wearing goalkeeper’s gloves but some Contour settings can only be changed on a PC, whereas you can change settings as you go on the Go-Pro, though it has much smaller controls. These features can make a big difference to how and when you use these video recorders and so can affect your choice of product.

Both cameras are splash proof in standard form, if you want it to be waterproof either buy the waterproof specific model or get a special case. Note: accessories can be expensive (and mounts are often extra, repeating myself deliberately) so it pays to try to get as much as possible in the box.

Memory Card

Your Action Cam will probably come with a memory card that is too small to be practicable. Put that in your mobile phone, camera etc and get a larger card – I got a 16GB microSD one from Amazon. Ensure that it is Class 6 or higher, the class refers to its speed and for HD you need class 6, it will be written on the card, see picture. If it is not – do not buy.

PC with Graphics card

Once you have your footage, you need to process it, and that requires a PC or Apple Mac. If you use a PC then it needs a graphics card to playback HD files – my graphics card recently died on me and the HD playback is now very jerky, part of the reason I am currently recording in SD, not that SD is necessarily bad (see Stickler video above) but HD is better. Your graphics card should have at least 512MB video RAM.

Video Editing Software

Chances are you will want to edit and publish your hard-earned action footage. I am a Windows user so I cannot comment on the Apple Mac side – but I know that both platforms are well catered for. I use Windows Live Movie Maker, because I am a cheapskate and it is free, but the Steven Speilbergs and video hobby-ists will want to buy a professional package. It just depends on how much you want to do and how creative you are or want to be.

WLMM is a really good starting point, easy to use and very intuitive. Before long you will be transitioning sections or films, adding captions and background music. You can add some of the ‘arty stuff’ like colour filter options or visual effect overlays, and finally there are several options on saving your new creation. WLMM will let you post directly to e.g. YouTube and facebook but I prefer to save to the hard disk and then publish separately.

It is important to save in the right format eg .mov or .mp4 and resolution eg 1920×1080 or 1280×720. This will depend on your media channel and whether you want SD or HD, WLMM makes this easy, e.g. save for HD, save for YouTube, save for DVD etc.

To give you an idea of how effective and easy WLMM is; the Swinley films were the first videos that I have ever created, whereas my other postings on youtube were just clipped before posting.

Publishing

For most this means to the web or DVD – YouTube and Vimeo are the popular – though not exclusive – options for web hosting. Once published you can then send people the links or embed the video on a webpage or in a ride report (as in Stickler above).

After less than a month, having an action cam has brought a new experience to my riding and it has been great to share the films. Filming D’Andy down Deerstalker was quite something; focussing on keeping my distance up to him, while at the same avoiding the trees and tackling the trail – exciting stuff.

Now my son and one of his friends have asked if I can take them to Swinley and my father-in-law has been enquiring about some of the places I have ridden in the Chilterns.

Safety

Another aspect to consider is safety and I do not think I was imagining this. When returning from a recent ride I had to cycle through the centre of Marlow, including the length of the High Street, to get to trails on the other side of town.

The traffic seemed to be giving me more room than normal and I know one driver at a junction was looking at the camera and not myself. There is a possibility that drivers see the action cam and change their behaviour, either way you may have evidence if the unfortunate happens.

Of course bear in mind that I am a bit of a gadget nut so I am always going to be a bit biased towards any technology that I can play with. Action cams are not for everyone, and I will not take mine on every ride, but I hope that this report will help you in any decisions or has at least made you aware of what you require to get the most from it.

Further reading

• Contour HD hands-free helmet camera review

Actually, Dave and I had a hidden agenda as I was to take his rigid forked Inbred 29er singlespeed out for a run with mercifully normal handlebars on it for a change.

This isn’t going to turn into a rave about the Inbred, or 29ers for that matter. The concept is becoming increasingly mainstream and many of the people marketing bikes are pushing them pretty hard. They are… different is all I’d say. But certainly at times I felt the Inbred was working with me and at other times, against. As we shall see.

Putting some old Easton EA50 25.4mm handlebars on it (with a 50mm rise!) wasn’t an ideal option as 29ers tend to have a higher front end than 26ers but despite the slightly odd looks we managed to play around with the stem spacers to get a reasonable riding position.

For me it meant I could ride the bike without the distraction of Dave’s Mary bars – however good they may or may not be, they are not what I’m used to. Neither are those Eastons it must be said, they lacked the flex and leverage I’m used to from my wide, old Azonic bars on my normal singlespeed or the comfort of my carbon Easton bars on the Five. But they would do.

Starting off from the Farm were 14 riders, including ‘new boy’ Nick on a Singular Pegasus with really weird handlebars and StevenD who was joining us from the Chilterns in glorious HD (well, with his new ContourHD helmet cam at least). The rest of the riding group consisted of DaveC, MarkyMark, DannyP, JohnR, PaulM, KevS, Andy661, Keith, BigAl, LordOnOne, DaveW, making 14 in total. In the mix were 26er singlespeeds, 29er singlespeeds, and of course Nick’s 29er Singular Pegasus. Plus some people had gears and 26 inch wheels!

First off, a word about our riding shirts. We’ve just had delivery of our latest shirts from Endura and they are quite green! I mean, really green. It was a bit surreal to turn up and see so many of them in one place but as it turned out, the bright colour is a bit of a godsend on the trails. People see us, they can see who we are and more importantly straggling riders can see the rest of us up ahead. A lairy win then! You’ve been warned readers, you will be seeing quite a lot of these on the trails…

We headed off along the usual route along the Admirals Track to Polesdon with nothing much to report. The surfaces are very dry at the moment after another extended dry spell and drying winds with the odd puddle here and there. I was comfortable enough to spin along at the back with the 29er feeling slightly under-geared at cruising speed, an impression soon dispelled on the grindier climbs.

I hopped the drainage ditch at Yew Trees with an unusual amount of height and style before a scrabbly moment getting the bike into the gulley, which I prefer to trying to hold a high line on one side or the other. After that it was a long pull up to Ranmore as usual, with poor Andy661 – on something of a training burst of late – feeling the pain. Andy, I feel for you but keep plugging away and it will fall into place!

Onto Badger Run and Collarbone toward White Down I could feel the 29er working well, the bike has these truly enormous 2.35 Nobby Nic tyres on which feel like tractor tyres. They were a little over-pressured for me (the flipside being less drag) but the bike felt very planted on a very firm, dry surface.

In fact it felt almost flickable on the several sections of singletrack that followed up to the Abba Zabba complex and running it round the ‘chicken runs’ it felt absolutely fine. In comparison I took my Marin Muirwoods through the exact same route in December – a bike with the same rigid fork, but 26 inch wheels and V-brakes – and both bikes actually felt quite similar round here. The main difference was I could feel the 29er was much less nervous and less willing to be deflected off-line, despite a couple of sharp shocks through the wrists, but some of that control was coming from the disc brakes I think. I wasn’t worried about a lack of grip that’s for sure.

Nick seemed to get on OK with his Pegasus but it looked a challenge trying to ride quite technical terrain with a rigid bike and semi-dropped handlebars. Rather him than me on this section.

Back on the tarmac we bumped briefly into MarkW trying out a Genesis IO before we split for Abinger and a blast across the Roughs and then on to Shere. This kind of terrain is great to take in the views and with a bit of weak January sunshine the relatively well-forrested slopes of the Hills were looking great. We were making reasonable time across Albury Heath with the faster, sandy trails allowing a good turn of pace.

At Park Road the group split for a time, some of the fitter and more energetic decided to work in an extra loop across Blackheath and up past St. Martha’s Hill to Newlands Corner while the rest of us continued into Albury and then up the Water Lane climb to the cafe. I found a comfortable pace on the lower slopes and just span along, enjoying the quiet of the singlespeed and the lack of pressure from better climbers than me.

But there’s no avoiding climbing the hill and pretty soon I was needing to dig in. I’m not hugely fit at the moment and those handlebars were feeling a bit narrow for singlespeeding but even so I just died up the climb as the hill got more and more grindy.

In fact, it wasn’t a bad performance (6th fastest on Strava) but boy did those big wheels feel that they were against me at near stall speeds. I’m not under any illusions that had John, Danny or maybe even MarkyMark been tackling this climb I would not have finished it first, especially as I could hear Barrie close behind me.

A break for coffee and cake (thanks Keith!) turned cold in the blustery wind as we waited for the splinter group to arrive. By the time they did we’d gossiped enough and were ready to roll on so the others said they’d catch us up after a short stop while we set off for home.

It didn’t take long for them to do so as StevenD’s chain snapped just past the A25 and by the time we’d fixed that we were all much colder and had been joined by the splinter group. It left us with a steady spin along a busy North Downs Way back to the Ranmore area, from where we re-traced our steps back down to Polesdon and finally along the Admiral’s Track to home.

The drama wasn’t all over though as with myself and BigAl deep in conversation – and cracking along – through the tunnel of trees back to the Bockett’s car park I snagged a loop of dead ivy or something with my handlebars (how ironic). The result was a slam down onto what I can assure you is extremely hard flint and clay.

I landed on my elbow and knee (thank you 661 Kyle Straits), with the shock felt right up into my shoulder (the same side as my collarbone break), while Kev, riding close behind, was thrown over the bars by a combination of bike and rider on the floor in front of him. With nowhere to go he landed pretty hard on his ribs and will be feeling more sore than I am as I type this.

I was glad we got away without any broken bones to be honest but it seems every time I ride a 29er I end up going over the bars!!

The final count as about 23 miles from the car park (26.5 for me from home), thanks all for an enjoyable ride.

Not having been anywhere near the peak of my un-fittness I wasn’t really sure how I would cope with a ride to Leith Hill and without Andy661 to guard the rear of the troop I was expecting to be a lonely figure at the back.

Robin, Karl, Big-Al, DaveS, JohnR, Jez, DannyP (again? it’s OK, he hadn’t had an argument with his wife, she was on a course), JonH, Tony joined me at the Farm and we headed off rather late, even allowing for waiting for PaulM.

Taking in the usual sort of route the lead pack cruelly subjected me to a slog up Hogdens Lane where I was glad that a puncture slowed a section of the pack down. Spirits were high as the day was looking bright and clear despite the low temperatures. We headed straight down Landrover only to be halted half way down by a fallen tree that on closer inspection wasn’t being supported by very much. Having already gone under it I was glad it hadn’t moved as we broke off the worst of the obstructing branch.

Through Westcott and off up Wolverns Lane via the Rookery Climb I wasn’t setting any records but was able to keep the pace steady. The large hole appears to have been worked on with a bank in place on the left which could be ridden round. Somewhere near the top of Deliverance a lonely figure rode into view and a super late PaulM came into view. Apparently he’d trailed us all the way having decided he WOULD have a ride even if it meant solo.

CW was next on the list, especially for DannyP, who seems to be on form for “shredding the ‘nar” at the moment. With that bit of fun out of the way it was up to the tower which I was pleased to manage. Refreshments were taken and the group split leaving Big Al, DannyP, Karl, Robin, JonH and myself to head WW way for some more fun. Loads of excellent trails, quick turns, sudden steep drops and awful off camber rooty sections followed by a monster climb. It was hell ;oP

BigAl then proceeded to blast into KOM on Summer Lightning and I set my best time for the first two sections. Not hard given that we hardly ever flow the two together but hey, who’s counting. (well yes, I am to be honest)

With the fun out of the way it was the usual way home via Ranmore pausing only to get our breath back and deride the use of porridge from sachets. Really people, read the side of a packet of Oats, it’s not rocket science. Good ride.

One of the best features of hydraulic disc brakes is that they are basically pretty low maintenance. I’ve had some disc brakes that have never needed anything other than new pads from time to time.

Despite that, there’s a good chance that sooner or later you will find you need to bleed them and that’s where Epic Bleed Solutions come in.

The best reason for bleeding your brakes is that it considerably improves their performance. Most hydraulic systems use fluid which is hygroscopic, meaning it attracts water. Over time, this water in the system can lead to a spongy feel to the brakes, so replacing the fluid is a smart move.

Other reasons for bleeding your brakes include swapping the brakes to another frame and needing to split the brake hoses, air in the system or even crash damage.

So there’s plenty of reasons to bleed your brakes but the problem is that most hydraulic brakes require a specific bleed kit from the manufacturer. This can be pretty expensive, for example the official Avid bleed kit for my Avid Elixirs (which need bleeding more than most) retails at £39.99. Ouch!

With that in mind, I was pretty interested to try the Avid Bleed Kit from Epic Bleed Solutions. Their Avid bleed kit costs just £12.99 with free UK delivery and includes everything you need for the job: Protective gloves, two syringes with flow locks on them with brass threaded bolts to attach to the brake inlet/outlets, an elastic band (!) plus more than enough fresh DOT5.1 fluid to get the job done. A really good package.

There’s full instructions, but I recommend a quick Google to throw up some official SRAM videos to help with that too as – although a simple job – with the Avids everything needs to be done in the right order.

All in all, I’m pretty pleased with Epic’s bleed kit, it’s well worth checking out. Other kits are available (for Shimano, Formula, Hayes and Clarks), as are further supplies of hydraulic fluid should you need it. RockShox Reverb users with the remote XLoc may also be interested to know there’s a kit for that too!