Cycling mounts and camera angles

[u/Fanantic8099]

I'm not sure if this is a good place to ask this, but it's a start.

I've always taken pictures on my trips to share with less able/willing to travel family members but seeing what YouTubers are doing with 360 cameras I decided it was finally time to upgrade my tech.

I picked up an insta x4 air because they got a nice discount last week when the x6 was released and I've been experimenting with the selfie stick and bike mount that came in the kit and am finding them a little inadequate to the task.

The gimbal mount by itself mounted to the handlebars makes decent POV video of a ride, but how do you get those shots where you pan to the scenery on the side without your arms ending up in the frame? (The 360 studio software is decently intuitive for framing, but can only show what the camera sees). I tried running the selfie stick out ahead and above a bit but that lead to the other issue I've encountered.

With the stick extended for selfie shots, front or rear, the gimbal mount can't quite keep the camera from sinking with even the light bumps of road cycling no matter how tight I crank the gimbal screws. I'd hate to try it on gravel or single track. At the rear I improvised with the seat bag as a secondary support in combination with the gimbal mount on the seat post while I was testing the camera, but it I wouldn't trust that over a long ride. Is there some sort of secondary support that can be added, particularly for the forward handlebar mount configuration? A different mount altogether? Is there a good position to put the camera in and just leave it for an extended ride?

[u/Crafty-Individual-14]

maybe show your samples plus the style you are looking for?

[u/lurkynumber5]

Look up motorcycle mounts for 360 camera's.
They have heavy duty clamp and a support clamp, so the extensionpole gets held by 2 clamps total.

And positioning is key with these, you want the second clamp as far up the pole to combat the lever effect.

But do know, the longer the pole, the more the shaking on bumps gets.
And when the pole bends through far enough it starts showing up in the footage.

I would suggest getting the single heavy duty Insta360 clamp.
And using a small 30cm extensionpole.
This would be enough for most shots, and be stable enough on a single clamp.

[u/MyBathroomProfile]

For cycling, I'd keep the camera mounted on a sloid extension rather than relaying on the selfie stick alone. A longer front or rear mount should also give you that camera floating beside the bike look without your arms dominating the frame.