iPhone bike mounts

If you want to see and control your fitness app while cycling, you’ll need a mount, particularly if you want to keep an eye on heart rate, energy burn, or other stats. Using a mount will give better GPS accuracy than carrying a phone in the back of your jersey or in other pockets, especially at corners. I found this makes a significant difference for Strava segment matching.

(With phone in pocket, your body will block half the sky, so half the available satellites. When you turn, the ones in use will be lost, and your phone will have to find and lock onto others, perhaps taking half a minute to settle).

There’s a nice slide show of iPhone bike mounts at http://mashable.com/2012/08/27/iphone-bike-mounts/#gallery/iphone-accessories-workouts/ but it’s missing a good one: QuadLock.

I’ve used BioLogic‘s case and mount for a while.. until it broke.

The good

• Weatherproof
• Removable rubber plugs allow headphones or external battery/charging while sealed
• Swivels for use in any orientation.

Not so good

• The swivel is a point of weakness. The whole unit wobbles, especially when mountain biking. That might seem like a tough requirement, but what’s the “heavy duty” bracket for if not harsher conditions than a standard bracket? My swivel eventually became loose (turned freely) then eventually snapped off.

QuadLock has a 4-way mount allowing choice of orientation, though you can’t just pivot while riding. The mechanical connections are broad and robust; no wobble, and unlikely to fatigue.

The case holds the phone very firmly; it’s actually difficult to remove. This is probably a good thing, but hinders swapping it in and out to use the phone’s dock, or car cradle. I’ll use one of the supplied mounts in the car, and one near my desk. Problem solved. Further, keeping an iPhone4 in such a case solves the antenna-grip problem.

The QuadLock case itself isn’t weatherproof, but a “poncho” is available.

You can use this link to get a 10% discount from QuadLockCase.com

(Disclosure: this is a referral scheme. Apparently I’ll get a kickback if you use my link.)

Photos coming soon.