Reddit reviews BESTSUN Bike Light Set, Powerful Lumens LED Bicycle Headlight & Tail Light, Bike Front Lights Back Safety Flashlight, USB Rechargeable, Water Resistant, Easy to Install, for Kids Adults Road Cycling

No need to spend that much when a cheap bike light like this will probably be good enough. It's probably 500 lumens.

I've got these
I've had 2 of them for 2 years still both going strong, don't use them too often but found them reliable so far!

You could use a stock gimbal to pan the camera around, or make something that uses a pair of servos.

Since you don't really care about latency very much (not like the quad racers do), I'd say just use a GoPro as the camera and get the adapter to connect it to a FPV transmitter. (Or use the GoPro's built in WiFi and a tablet or cell phone to view it, but in that case make sure your car isn't controlled by 2.4 GHz -- use 75 MHz or something other than 2.4 GHz because the two can conflict.)

The GoPro's WiFi range isn't terribly high, but it might be sufficient for your purposes and if that works this all becomes somewhat simpler.

Let the GoPro do the recording (that'll give you the best possible quality.)

Of course, you can go cheaper than a GoPro -- like a Moebius or a Xioami Yi, but the GoPro has the best low light performance.

I'd use a bicycle headlight (perhaps this) to light things up, maybe mount it on the gimbal so it's aimed with the camera. You probably also want a diffuser of some sort on the light so the light is far more spread out than is standard, and maybe if it's spread out enough you won't need it to be on the gimbal at all.

This light will overheat in high mode without the airflow of riding a bike, so stick to lower light levels or have a fan blow on it.

I'd also suggest having the car drag a long but strong string behind it that's tied to the back of the frame so in case something goes wrong you can use that to pull it back. Perhaps it should be long enough to reach out of the house entirely?

As for the car, the larger the wheels, the better, as that will determine how big of obstacles it can climb over. (Of course, too big and it won't fit in some places.)

FWIW, I'm in the Pacific Northwest and commute all year.

I've been using this gear with great success and good relative comfort:

http://amzn.com/B00DQZ0S3K

https://www.showerspass.com/products/club-shoe-covers

http://www.columbia.com/mens-evapouration-jacket-RM2023.html

http://amzn.com/B00435IPFK

http://amzn.com/B008KUXRAW

Wear your helmet over your hood, and a pair of regular safety glasses. When it is really cold I add a balaclava and a fleece jacket. Fenders are a must to keep the dirt down, and I use this lube in the winter:

http://amzn.com/B000WYCD5O

I have an old pair of windproof campmor gloves that are no longer made. If you get cold just pedal harder. It almost never happens, I'm usually too hot.

Your bike depends on your distance, speed and budget. Make sure you get disc brakes, mandatory in my opinion for the higher speeds. This is my ride: http://i.imgur.com/bXXJkjS.jpg, just passed 1400 miles. It is BBS02 on a Kona Dew, I've since switched to Schwalbe Marathon tires. Cost about $1100 and has already paid for itself in gas and parking. 35mph for ~10 miles, 25 mph for 30-40 miles.

Oh, and fuck the snow and ice. Those are the days I drive or work from home.

I have the Sony Action Cam HDR-15.

I can't claim any comparison because I've never used any other video cameras, but so far I've really enjoyed mine. I take it on every daily commute, for safety reasons and to show some of the more memorable moments to friends and family from time to time.

As for quality, it's good, but could be better. From the videos I've seen, we're not talking GoPro quality here, but for ~$160 I'm not complaining.

I've posted a few videos on YouTube:

• Here is one on my rocky gravel road. I had the steady feature on and also used YouTube's stabilization feature. You can see that the ride was bumpy, but overall, you can still see the tress and the landscape and the lettering from most road signs. However, I think the most damning issue in these videos is that it is VERY difficult to see license plates, even from close up.
  
• Here is a video of a ride taken at night. I think this video better demonstrates the quality of the video. Notice, however, that the video capture is pretty poor when the ride meanders off to a windy back road with no streetlamps. I had a lone LED headlight that I bought for ~$10. If the video couldn't see me, I started wandering if cars could. Inevitably, I ended up buying two of these very bright led headlights. I just tested them out last night and whew, they are bright! Unfortunately, I haven't edited the video just yet to see how much of an improvement they are, but will try to post it later today.
  
  
  Other considerations:
  
  I really like the wifi feature of this camera. I rarely use my phone as the camera's remote, but I like that I have the option, and that I can show off my videos on the fly.
  
  I'm also a fan of changing the recording to intervals. This basically allows me to use the Action Cam as a point and shoot camera. We got some good pictures during our hike up Rough Ridge the other day using the Action Cam in its housing.

>Can anyone suggest what parts to get? preferably cheapish .

I like modding, but I don't think it's worth it in this case. The main problem is creating a thermal path for the heat generated by the LED. With an incandescent bulb, the vast majority of the heat escapes through the glass dome. With an LED, most of the heat escapes through the base of the emitter, through a mcpcb, through a removable or integrated pill, then to the body of the light, all of which must be physically connected to each other.

Creating that thermal path is going to be tough, and I can't think of any easy way to do it unless you're willing to spend a lot of money to have someone else do some of the work for you. Without that thermal path, even 350mA would probably create too much heat, and that would barely put 100 lumens out the front.

I recommend getting a <$20 Cree bike light from ebay or Amazon. It will be 500 lumens or more and comes with a 4*18650 battery pack. You could get a battery holder that allows you to use your own 18650's, but VTC4's are overkill for the vast majority of bike lights.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B008KUXRAW?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

http://www.mec.ca/product/5014-662/mec-turbo-turtle-red-led-rear-light/?f=10+50002+50037

I use these. They are amazingly bright for $25 total. The MEC rear light is brighter than branded lights.

Sorry I can't answer your question but I have one for you.

I just bought a this light on Amazon. How do people mount their light to their helmet? My helmet isn't flat so I can't use a GoPro style sticky mount because the ridges in the helmet design won't allow it to sit flat. I'm assuming drilling into the helmet compromises its integrity.

I have this headlight and the mounting system for the light has worked fine. As for a taillight I have the PDW Danger Zone and I can't recommend it enough.

For the other stuff: go to your LBS.

Amazon has always been good to me. This $18 light is unbelievable.

CREE XML XM-L T6 LED Bike Bicycle Light HeadLight HeadLamp 1200LM Red by Cree http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008KUXRAW/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_Z4I7tb0NX42EC