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How to mount your drone on your mountain bikes - solved

Amirgo

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Jun 30, 2019
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Hi folks,

Being a drone photographer and a mountain biker, I was looking (like many others) for an easy way to mount the drone on the bike, for easy take-off and landing and controlling while riding and shooting. I have MA2, but it can work for others as well.

Here is a video of the drone carrier that I built, and how it is all assembled on the handlebar.

After trying it for few months on very tough bumpi and jumpi terrain, it is very stable, very safe and no damage to the drone, RC and phone.

Enjoy it.

 
Nice untill you wreck your bike ?
 
Thanks for sharing.
 
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Watched the other vid on your channel showing some of the footage. I'll preface this by saying that I definitely haven't come up with anything better (and doubt I ever will) but at that kind of riding speed and on that terrain I could see that working pretty decently.

That said, two issues for my use case. The first is that the drone showed in your video how it was able to lose you and latch on to another rider. That could get annoying, especially on a group ride. So it's more a criticism of DJI AI capabilities than anything in that they just don't track all that well. And your video is a prime example of no obstructions, and a clean terrain which would have given the drone the best possible chance of success. I recently tried to use my M2P on a ride and it managed to track for a very short bit, but failed regardless.

Start @ 3:42, and right @ 3:55 is lost tracking and stopped in its tracks (obviously cut the rest of the clip for the upload.)

Issue two for me would be that that trail doesn't even register on the scale of bumpy of jumpy here in Arizona.

Skip to about 2:00 for some trail that had my arms wanting to fall off from having to hang on for dear life.

Skip to about 3:30 to see me fail miserably. I wouldn't have wanted my phone or drone controller attached to the bike at that moment =) As it was, that GoPro went to backup duty after that ride due to some lens scratches (hero 8, non replaceable lens).

Long story short, I'd much rather film other people riding and stay in control and not risk damaging equipment in a crash vs. taking chances on mounting pretty much anything to the bars.
 
Watched the other vid on your channel showing some of the footage. I'll preface this by saying that I definitely haven't come up with anything better (and doubt I ever will) but at that kind of riding speed and on that terrain I could see that working pretty decently.

That said, two issues for my use case. The first is that the drone showed in your video how it was able to lose you and latch on to another rider. That could get annoying, especially on a group ride. So it's more a criticism of DJI AI capabilities than anything in that they just don't track all that well. And your video is a prime example of no obstructions, and a clean terrain which would have given the drone the best possible chance of success. I recently tried to use my M2P on a ride and it managed to track for a very short bit, but failed regardless.

Start @ 3:42, and right @ 3:55 is lost tracking and stopped in its tracks (obviously cut the rest of the clip for the upload.)

Issue two for me would be that that trail doesn't even register on the scale of bumpy of jumpy here in Arizona.

Skip to about 2:00 for some trail that had my arms wanting to fall off from having to hang on for dear life.

Skip to about 3:30 to see me fail miserably. I wouldn't have wanted my phone or drone controller attached to the bike at that moment =) As it was, that GoPro went to backup duty after that ride due to some lens scratches (hero 8, non replaceable lens).

Long story short, I'd much rather film other people riding and stay in control and not risk damaging equipment in a crash vs. taking chances on mounting pretty much anything to the bars.
Looks like a blast.
 
Watched the other vid on your channel showing some of the footage. I'll preface this by saying that I definitely haven't come up with anything better (and doubt I ever will) but at that kind of riding speed and on that terrain I could see that working pretty decently.

That said, two issues for my use case. The first is that the drone showed in your video how it was able to lose you and latch on to another rider. That could get annoying, especially on a group ride. So it's more a criticism of DJI AI capabilities than anything in that they just don't track all that well. And your video is a prime example of no obstructions, and a clean terrain which would have given the drone the best possible chance of success. I recently tried to use my M2P on a ride and it managed to track for a very short bit, but failed regardless.

Start @ 3:42, and right @ 3:55 is lost tracking and stopped in its tracks (obviously cut the rest of the clip for the upload.)

Issue two for me would be that that trail doesn't even register on the scale of bumpy of jumpy here in Arizona.

Skip to about 2:00 for some trail that had my arms wanting to fall off from having to hang on for dear life.

Skip to about 3:30 to see me fail miserably. I wouldn't have wanted my phone or drone controller attached to the bike at that moment =) As it was, that GoPro went to backup duty after that ride due to some lens scratches (hero 8, non replaceable lens).

Long story short, I'd much rather film other people riding and stay in control and not risk damaging equipment in a crash vs. taking chances on mounting pretty much anything to the bars.
Nice videos, and yes - the trail in your second video looks similar to a lot of my rides, no way I'm putting anything bulky and fragile on the bars on that terrain. I've carried a Mavic 2 in a hard case inside a larger Camelbak, but only on stuff where I know for certain I'm not going to crash.

Looks like you just let your weight drift a bit too far forwards going over that previous rock - been there.
 
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Nice videos, and yes - the trail in your second video looks similar to a lot of my rides, no way I'm putting anything bulky and fragile on the bars on that terrain. I've carried a Mavic 2 in a hard case inside a larger Camelbak, but only on stuff where I know for certain I'm not going to crash.

Looks like you just let your weight drift a bit too far forwards going over that previous rock - been there.

Heh, used to use a classic Camelbak TriZip bag, with drone in its own case inside that. God that was the opposite of fun to ride with though. Aside from screwing with balance, my mind gets stuck on 'dont crash and crush a ton of $$$$'. That's pretty much why I don't get out there with my high end gear nearly as much as I'd like to. The idea of breaking an r5, or rf28-70, etc. is semi terrifying. From the drone side, it actually kinda makes me wanna offload my M2P (while it still has some value) and downsize to the Air 2S. Less bulk/weight, and at least based on original pricing, less fiscal loss in a bike crash.

As for the crash in the 2nd vid, that was a combo of riding a trail blind, exhaustion from the ride up, and fatigue on the way down. Oh, and obviously bad line choice right over that little rock. About a minute before the crash I was mentally trying to talk myself into stopping for a break because of that fatigue, and well, I shoulda listened to myself =) Instead I was trying to keep up with riders who I really shouldn't be trying to keep up with, lol.
 
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Heh, used to use a classic Camelbak TriZip bag, with drone in its own case inside that. God that was the opposite of fun to ride with though. Aside from screwing with balance, my mind gets stuck on 'dont crash and crush a ton of $$$$'. That's pretty much why I don't get out there with my high end gear nearly as much as I'd like to. The idea of breaking an r5, or rf28-70, etc. is semi terrifying. From the drone side, it actually kinda makes me wanna offload my M2P (while it still has some value) and downsize to the Air 2S. Less bulk/weight, and at least based on original pricing, less fiscal loss in a bike crash.

As for the crash in the 2nd vid, that was a combo of riding a trail blind, exhaustion from the ride up, and fatigue on the way down. Oh, and obviously bad line choice right over that little rock. About a minute before the crash I was mentally trying to talk myself into stopping for a break because of that fatigue, and well, I shoulda listened to myself =) Instead I was trying to keep up with riders who I really shouldn't be trying to keep up with, lol.
I enjoy all kinds of sports. But this? No way! Seems dangerous one slight miscalculation or lapse of concentration and BAM ? Great job getting right back in the saddle and finishing the ride. I see those jagged rocks, wheel grabbing ruts, and steep ravines and I salute you but I know for sure that kind of riding is nowhere on my bucket list!
 
Nice videos, and yes - the trail in your second video looks similar to a lot of my rides, no way I'm putting anything bulky and fragile on the bars on that terrain. I've carried a Mavic 2 in a hard case inside a larger Camelbak, but only on stuff where I know for certain I'm not going to crash.

Looks like you just let your weight drift a bit too far forwards going over that previous rock - been there.
SAR are you crazy? Does your boss know you’re doing this? :)
 
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