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When you're gliding through the world on two wheels, there's a sense of freedom that's just unbeatable.
Until you meet an unpleasant driver on the road.
While riding your bicycle through the city can be a great way to commute, it also introduces dangers that you just don't have to worry about in a car.
Same thing with a motorcycle or scooter. You have this great connection to the road and the city (or nature) around you when you're on your bike, but there's more hazards to monitor for, and you're significantly more exposed than when you're in a car.
That's why a dash cam should be one of the most essential pieces of gear to go along with your bicycle, motorcycle or scooter.
After testing out the GekoGear Moto Snap, a dash cam designed specifically for riders, this has impressed me for so many reasons. It's thoughtfully designed to remove all the pain points that cyclists could encounter with other models, leaving you with a slick and simple-to-use piece of tech (that's also quite smart)!
MotoSnap Dash Cam: Two Paragraph Review
Whether you're using this cam as a safety tool in the event of an accident or to capture scenery on a majestic ride, this is the dash cam for cyclists on a motorcycle, bicycle, or scooter.
It is so thoughtfully designed that it's clear the team behind this are cyclists themselves and said, "What do we hate about every dashcam other companies try and sell us?" And then went ahead and fixed everything "wrong" with cams for cyclists. While there are cheaper options out there—they are also cheap in their features and usability. Therefore, the overall value (price to features ratio) of the MotoSnap makes it hands-down our top pick for a dash cam for cyclists.
Pros
- Excellent day/night video quality
- Quick and easy to remove while parked
- Contains G-Sensor
Cons
- Higher quality means higher price
- Additional adapter required for bicycle mount
- App required for setup/settings
Crystal Clear Footage, Day or Night
First things first, a dash cam is useless if the video is garbage. The Moto Snap shoots in 1080p Full HD, which is sharp enough to pick up important details like signs and license plates.
Where it really shines, though, is at night. It has a Sony STARVIS sensor inside. If you don't know that name, that's okay. It's the type of sensor used in high-end security cameras, so they can "see" clearly, even in low lights. This means if you're riding home after dark, the footage will be surprisingly well-lit and clear.
While I don't ever need the audio from my dash cam, if that's important to you, this one even has an AI Noise Reduction feature that helps cut down on that wind noise, so you can actually hear what's going on in your recordings.
Snap and Go
This is probably my favorite thing about the Moto Snap. It has a buttonless design.
You get it all set up on your bike—it comes with a mount for your motorcycle mirror or helmet—and then you just forget about it. When you're ready to ride, you snap the camera into its mount, and it instantly powers on and starts recording. A little blue light will flash slowly to let you know it's working.
There's no fiddling with buttons when you've got your gloves on. It's a super simple, clever design.
Thief-Proof Design
Building on the point above, if you've got your motorcycle or bicycle parked outside, you're probably not going to want to leave your $300 dash cam sitting out there to tempt any thieves passing by.
The Moto Snap easily slides out of its mount, so you can take it inside when you've stopped your motorcycle at a roadside diner or chained your bicycle up outside of a coffee shop.
The mount securely holds the camera during your rides and easily releases it when you need to get the camera out. This is so thoughtfully designed and works so well!
A Battery That Lasts
You don't want your camera dying halfway through a long ride. The Moto Snap is packing a powerful 3200 mAh battery that can record for up to 7.5 hours continuously. The manual even says it can go up to 8.5 hours, depending on battery health.
I personally have never been on a ride that long, so for daily commuters, running out of battery will be a non-issue. This battery is more than enough for a full day of riding. When you need to charge it, you just use the included USB-C cable.
Smart Safety Features
While my favourite feature is probably the mount/release system for taking the camera on and off, the most important features have to do with recording settings.
This camera has a couple of tricks up its sleeve to keep your footage safe when it matters most.
Tilt Sensing: The camera has a built-in G-Sensor that can tell if your bike has tilted over, like in an accident. If it detects a topple, it automatically locks that video file, so it can't be accidentally recorded over. You have to calibrate this feature in the app first, which is super easy to do.
Location Stamping: When the G-Sensor is activated, the location of the footage (potentially an accident) is also hard-coded to the file, so you have proof of not just what happened, but where it happened.
Quick Calibration: Note, you'll need to calibrate the "tilt sensor" after you've set up your camera. This is easy (hold the bike upright and still and follow instructions in the app). But it's a key step that you shouldn't overlook during the initial setup.
Loop Recording: It records onto a microSD card (it supports up to 128GB and a 32GB card is included, which should provide about four hours of recording at 1080p). When the card gets full, it automatically records over the oldest files, so you never have to worry about running out of space. BUT it won't overwrite anything that's protected when the G-Sensor is activated.
The App Experience
To get everything set up, you'll need to download the "Moto Snap" app on your phone. The camera connects to your phone via Wi-Fi, letting you view a live feed, change settings, and most importantly, download and share your footage instantly.
The app is where you'll do things like format your memory card, turn audio recording on or off, and calibrate that tilt sensor.
One thing to note: the camera's Wi-Fi will turn off automatically after three minutes if your phone isn't connected, which is a smart way to save battery, but may make you wonder why you suddenly can't "see" your footage from the cam.
The app experience is basically what you'd expect—an easy-to-use and organized place to control and adjust device settings and view footage.
Is the Moto Snap Dash Cam Worth It?
If you're a motorcyclist, scooter rider, or even someone who wants to record their ATV or bike adventures, the Moto Snap is a fantastic piece of gear.
While you theoretically could use an action cam instead of a dash cam, there are some drawbacks to this, most importantly, the lack of a G-Sensor. This is also something that lacks on cheaper dash cams. But if the primary purpose of having a dash cam for your bicycle or motorcycle is to have video footage "just in case" something happens, it's not worth it to cheap out and risk buying a lower-cost camera that will overwrite accident footage.
Bikes and Motorcycles
Moto Snap Dash Dam
Geeking Out Shop
For its compact and easy-to-use design and smart recording features, the Moto Snap 1080 Dash Cam is a top choice for those looking for a camera for their bicycle, scooter, or motorcycle.
Motorcycle mounting is super simple and attaching to your helmet is also easy. I ended up buying a low-cost adapter so that I could mount the camera to the handle bars of my bicycle. This resulted in a different viewing angle (and smoother footage since it wasn't attached to my helmet which is moving side to side with my head as I'm checking for traffic). The ultra-wide viewing angle captures footage beautifully from the front and side of the cameras.
The only complaints I could see people having is the cost, but if you're shopping, make sure to compare apples to apples where the most important thing would be the presence of a G-Sensor. Since it comes with a motorcycle mount, you may want to do what I did and buy a bicycle handle-bar mount, which means you'll have to factor in an extra $25 to the purchase price. But if you mount on your helmet, then everything you need is already in the box.
Handlebar Camera Mount
While the Moto Snap comes with a mount to attch to a motorcycle mirror as well as one for a bike helmet, if you want to attach to your bicycle handlebars, you'll need an additional mount. This is the one I picked since it works with the cam's included helmet mount attachment and gives you additional points of articulation to dial in the perfect angle for you camera.
In my opinion, the slickness of the mounting system and the ease of use (the camera starts recording when you slide it in the mount, so you never "miss" the action because you forgot to hit record) makes this worth the price. If this is something you're using many times a week, you'll be happy you paid for the convenience up front rather than saving a few bucks in the past.
The Moto Snap 1080 is incredibly easy to use, thanks to the snap-in recording feature, the video quality is solid, and the battery will outlast most riders on a day trip.
The main reason to get a dash cam is for peace of mind. The Moto Snap delivers that with its smart tilt-detection and reliable recording. It's a small investment for a whole lot of security.