Cycle Cameras / Helmet Cams (GoPro, Drift, Veho, Contour, Fly6, Fly12, SJCAM, Apeman, 1080p, etc.)

This should help.

Quoted numbers never help... real-life experience helps.

I have found even with my hero 2 that after sitting for a while it won't last very long.

That's the same for a lot of batteries though, nothing out of the ordinary.
Fully charge your phone then turn it off for a month I can tell you that when you turn it on a fair bit of the battery will be used up.

hero 3 gives me about 2 hours and a bit recording time, on a sandisk 32gb ultra card @ 720p

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/product/review-nilox--foolish-action-camera-47010

I am having some issues with battery life of my Hero 3. If you fire up the wifi you are using a fair bit of power even with the camera turned off, and if you use the iPhone app it is more demanding than using the remote. I have had much less than an hour on video with wifi.
I have managed to extend the battery life by judicious use of the wifi, i.e. use it to set up then turn the wifi off.
I have got a battery pack on it's way now, which doubles the run time.
One thing I have done is to use the camera connected to a power pack, I am currently using a Veho pebble pro. This allows the camera to run on video (1080/30/wide) all day easily, and I have it on a 20 minute loop, which is a really useful feature.
The only trouble with the power pack is that you can't use the waterproof housing, I have the ridiculously overpriced frame. I have used it in the rain a bit and it hasn't been a problem so far.
The remote though is amazing. It works over 200 meters, and I have managed all sorts of nature recording which is a very useful additional use for me.

I thought about turning off the wifi as soon as the position of the camera is set, which is the main purpose of the iphone app really, I shall give this a go and see if it'd improver the batter life. The trouble with the battery pack is I have a custom made pouch to strap the camera to my backpack so adding anything extra to the camera would render the pouch useless... might just get a spare battery. I am really disappointed with the battery life, surely they could make it last a bit longer somehow?

Yes you can increase the capacity (mAh) but that has drawbacks too, there are probably aftermarket pack out the there or a double pack/booster like we can get for phones.

I drilled a hole in my waterproof case for the usb spot and made a thing which stops water getting in, (rainproof) allows me to use a external mic whilst riding

The only trouble with the power pack is that you can't use the waterproof housing, I have the ridiculously overpriced frame. I have used it in the rain a bit and it hasn't been a problem so far.

On the GoPro 2, we use an external battery pack that also come with another back for the plastic housing, does the GP3 does not come with it?

Of course they do.
http://gopro.com/hd-hero-accessories/hero3-battery-bacpac

The hero 3 has an accessory battery, and an extended case, which is on it's way to me now, but still only gives 2 hours max, without wifi, better, but not enough.
The power pack I was referring to, that I am currently using, is this

which I connect to the camera via a usb lead and which will run the camera for hours and hours and hours. (132000 a/h) You can't connect the usb lead to the camera when you use the case, so I use the frame

to mount the camera.

These pebble power pack are awesome.

That's fine if it's dry.

exactly, and this is the big let down with the hero3, battery is smaller therefore battery life is worse than the old models, whilst the functions have increased which drain it even more

Physical size isn't what counts, it's the capacity and that should be the same.
It's the increased functions that do it.

Well, I'm now fairly anti-GoPro.

They've taken to abusing the DMCA to silence sites that post reviews where the GoPro doesn't come out on top:
http://www.digitalrev.com/article/gopro-hero-3-vs-sony/Njk3MDQ3MDg_A

Which makes me wonder about that Sony as I hadn't heard of it before.

Physical size isn't what counts, it's the capacity and that should be the same.
It's the increased functions that do it.
insert penis reference here.

Cough, sorry I was going to say that even though the gopros are pretty very awesome, the battery life in the 3 is a bit pants...and they look like your wearing a tiny TV on your head.

WTF? the product is awesome, the company policy blows arse wind

Wow, that's very Speedplay of them.

Won't be thinking of getting one then.

That' DMCA notice is bollocks - whichever company is doing their reputation monitoring/enforcement just fucked up.

Have a quick scan for the GoPro Update on fstoppers (towards the bottom of the article):
http://fstoppers.com/gopro-issuing-dmca-notices-for-use-of-gopro-and-hero

Seems there's a little more to it....

Seems weird alright. Trademark complaint, under a copyright complaint, with an ulterior motive being "illegal" sales of GoPro products. Though I can't think of what makes selling GoPros an illegal act, grey imports aren't illegal... maybe not palatable to GoPro who wish to protect their imports, but hardly illegal.

Whatever is going on, neither party seems to be totally open, but I think a lot worse of GoPro than I do Digital Review

I was considering buying a cycle cam however many seem to have mixed reviews, unless you willing to fork out £150 or more.

There are plenty of good standard HD digital video camera around £50. Has anyone had any experience with riding along with a basic cam?

I can imagine mounting the thing could be a problem, but would the quality differ?

Example:
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kodak-Playfull-Waterproof-Video-Camera/dp/B005EG3GZG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1365633650&sr=8-3&keywords=Kodak+PlayFull"]Kodak Playfull Waterproof Video Camera - White 2.0: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo[/ame]
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kodak-Playfull-Waterproof-Video-Camera/dp/B005EG3H3W/ref=pd_sim_ph_1"]Kodak Playfull Waterproof Video Camera - Black 2.0: Amazon.co.uk: Camera & Photo[/ame]

I'm not sure.
One of the things that makes cameras like the gopro so popular with people in the extreme sports world is the ease of mounting and hugs range of accessories available.
For cycling most of us would use a simple headmount, might look like a twerp riding around with a large phone looking thing on your head.
I'd say you should go for it.

I'm not sure.
One of the things that makes cameras like the gopro so popular with people in the extreme sports world is the ease of mounting and hugs range of accessories available.
For cycling most of us would use a simple headmount, might look like a twerp riding around with a large phone looking thing on your head.
I'd say you should go for it.

I always think that bullet cams look best on a bike or helmet. Those mini square box things just look ridiculous!

Also, I go for 5 hour rides in the woods and most of them die after two hours, or so.