cheap is cheap

We all like a bargain. I’m no different. I recently had a deal on a new camera for my bike. I wanted a HD 60 frames per second model for a sharper pic that wasn’t going to be GoPro prices. After some research I decided to get an Apeman A80 4K based on some great reviews. £80 RRP which I bagged for £45 new after shopping around and fluking a £10 off voucher via Amazon. The pic quality is great and the camera a bargain which brings me onto the point of this post.

Being a GoPro style camera I needed a mount and quickly as I wanted to take the camera away on my trip to Torquay recently.

As we all would probably do, I popped onto eBay and bought an out-front stem mount that took my Garmin on top and the camera fitted to the underside.

It came quickly. Fitting it was simple and it looked quite neat and simple. So off I went on my cycling jolly.

The 2nd day was the first problem. I was descending quite a steep hill, brakes on, on the hoods and my bars tipped forward as I increased the pressure on the brakes. It took a skillful switch to the drops mid-heavy brake to correct the potentially dodgy situation. I stopped and checked my stem and found the top bolts weren’t as tight as I would have expected. I thought school boy error. I tightened them evenly and carried on annoyed at myself.

The next day, same again. So I tightened them some more. And again. Something wasn’t right.

I got back home and completely reset the bolts from scratch. On a ride around my local hills yesterday the bars dipped forward again and that was it. I couldn’t chance it anymore. I got home and took the mount off completely and there hidden between the mount and the stem was the problem. The spacers were too soft and had deformed. I was never going to get my stem/bars tight enough.

The moral of this story is simply if you buy cheap expect cheap. I think I’ll go for a similar style mount but attached to the bars not the stem.

Lesson learned.