Finding the optimum angle

Filming your ride is easy these days with a GoPro, but getting the ultimate angle can be tricky. The Chesty mount is widely used by many folk as it offers a great view from the chest position, allowing the bars to creep in to shot for good perspective, but does have limitations.

If riding a particularly rough track, the constant body position moving on the bike makes watching the footage a chore as the bars move back and forth towards the camera quite a lot.

Although the field of view is great, the Chesty strap can make watching footage a chore.

Many riders mount the GoPro on top of their helmets – looking a bit like a teletubby – which does provide a stable position as your head moves very little when riding,  but if filming your own ride you can’t see the bike for reference. This angle only really works if you are filming someone by following them – and it’s also prone to catching on over hanging trees.

We’ve found one of the best positions is to mount underneath the peak on a full face helmet. This keeps the GoPro out the way, and allows two positions to come in to effect – angled higher you see further down the road but still see the bars creeping in every now and then. If angled down slightly, you get a great view of the bars and the terrain immediately in front of the bike – and you get to see what the bike is doing. This looks great on dirt jumps or technical trails where there is a lot of body language. It’s worth taking the time to get the angle how you like it – you might need to play with peak angle too, as when the camera points further down the trail it can be in your peripheral very slightly.

It’s the position used by the top free-riders at events like the Red Bull Rampage or at Crankworx – as the camera achieves the best angle but doesn’t get in the way. There’s also a point to be made that the peak can easily snap off in a crash – many people worry about the damage a POV camera can do in a direct hit.

The peak on this lid is as high as it goes, but given that the D3 comes with two peaks, you can modify the mount to swivel it higher if you need to.

Make the mount

The tricky thing about mounting a GoPro like this is the fact that your peak will more than likely be curved – or like the Troy Lee D3 helmet in the shot here, have a ridge which means the adhesive on the back of the GoPro mount won’t work.

Here’s what you need to make a decent Sugru GoPro mount:

• GoPro The Frame – a full GoPro case is too bulky to fit under your peak
• GoPro camera, with it set up to film upside down.
•  Standard GoPro mount.
• A couple of packs of Sugru – this is self-curing rubber that starts like as a plasticine type material. In 12hrs it turns in to rubber and bonds virtually anything, The uses are endless – check the video further down the page.

What you need for the under peak mount. GoPro The Frame | GoPro camera | Standard GoPro mount | 2x packs of Sugru

 Method

1. Don’t open the Sugru yet as it starts curing as soon as it is exposed to the air.
2. Mount your GoPro to the standard mount, and offer it up to the base of the peak to get the position right – different models of helmet will vary, and some might not have enough room to use this method at all.
3. When happy, make a mark for your reference.
4. Remove the peak from the helmet
5. Remove the adhesive backing from the back of the GoPro mount so the Sugru has a clean surface to stick to
6. Open the Sugru and warm it up a little in your hands
7. Push the Sugru on to the back of the GoPro mount
8. Whilst supporting the peak, push the Gopro mount on to the peak firmly, until the Sugru starts to purge from underneath
9. Smear the Sugru round to make a neat join
10. Leave to cure over night before attempting to mount the camera

Once in place and set up right, you’ll forget the GoPro is even there.

How it looks when in place 

We could show you some of our own footage, but you might as well see the absolute ultimate footage you can capture with the camera in this position – check out Kelly McGarry at the Red Bull Rampage putting together one of the most insane runs you’ll ever see on a bike. Note how stable the camera is considering the size of the jumps and impacts he is absorbing, and you get a good view of the handlebars for reference. It’s a great position..

What the heck is Sugru?

Watch this short video and you’ll know everything you need to. Alongside zip ties and duck tape, this stuff is the most useful thing to stick in your man drawer – get some!

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