DIY Replay XD1080 Camera Mount
Back in December 2010 I started looking around for an handy action cam mount. I found some rubber velcro mounts that are sold as flashlight holder for bikes. They work great to attach the Replay XD cam to a bike’s handlebar and seat tube. Velcro is the right thing as I want to be able to quickly change the cam on the trail without needing tools, but those simple mounts weren’t quite enough. I needed something that would allow more frame attachment points. I spent hours browsing the web for ideas, found a really neat camera mount for hang-gliders, continued to kick around other ideas, then sacrificed a lunch break to wander through aisle after aisle at a local hardware store. I left empty-handed.
At home, I grabbed one of those velcro mounts and disappeared into the basement to dig through boxes filled with all sorts of odd bits and pieces. Hidden far in the back of a drawer, I found an old, blue DT Hügi box with an ancient hub body and a couple of steerer tube cut-offs. The moment I pulled out a 4 inch long piece of a 1 inch titanium steerer tube and held it in my hand, I had my adjustable camera mount. All that was needed was to shorten the thing. The tube was taken to work the next morning and another lunch went without food. Instead of eating chips I was making some (of the titanium kind). After cutting, chamfering and polishing the mount was done. It extends the mounting possibilities to the seat tube, the seat post, along the fork legs, stem and handlebar allowing to point the camera in any angle desired. A couple more rubber velcro mounts are on the way, this time type “same direction”. These will be handy for under-the-chainstay camera positions. The newly built adjustable mount weighs 70 grams. Obviously, it could be built a whole lot lighter using a plastic or carbon tube, but nothing would look as classy as a piece of brushed titanium. Stay tuned for some life-action video footage or keep an eye on my Youtube channel.
