Help keep my phone safe on bike rides.

July 21, 2011 3:18 PM

I'd like to take my smartphone (HTC Hero) with me when I'm cycling and use it as a trip computer. Problem: I'm nervous that I'll be taking it home in pieces. Are there any smartphone bike mounts that will secure my Hero to the bike as well as protect it in the event that I crash?
posted by talkingmuffin to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (6 answers total)

Run something like "iphone bicycle mount" through a search engine, there are lots. You could put your smartphone into a hard-shell case and put that into a mount, if you need extra protection. Otter makes nice hard-shell cases; maybe they have one for your phone.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:24 PM on July 21, 2011

Look for something overengineered. The roads I have to ride on are so rough I have gone through a dozen bike light mounts in ten years. Most plastic dinguses I've seen don't really cut it.
posted by zomg at 3:38 PM on July 21, 2011

Best answer: I'd be wary of Blazecock Pileon's suggestion, only because I ordered an iPhone mount that way. Looked like a great idea, I was using it on my road bike, I thought it was secure, but on a steep descent the bars vibrated and it popped out. Luckily, it survived that fall (though I did have to replace the screen a couple of times), but this is something I'd want personal hands on experience with, not just search engine results.

Eventually I got back to a $39 bike computer on the handlebars, and my cheapass phone (that replaced the iPhone) and a tiny GPS tracker in my Camelbak. And I, too, am looking for a smartphone mount that I'd trust.
posted by straw at 3:39 PM on July 21, 2011

For what it's worth, on Tuesday I managed to have my kickstand fall off due to bad roads (and, I suspect, not screwing it in tightly). I would join zomg & strong and avoid a phone mount, especially if you're not using it for phone features.

What I do on my rides (25-150km, about 25km/h, for exercise) is just put my phone in either my shorts pocket (padded shorts with side pockets) or in my jersey's pockets if I'm wearing it. Since I don't really need to pause it en route, it's fine tucked away. And in the event of a crash, I'm unlikely to land on my lower back anyways, so it's safest in the jersey.

I'm assuming by trip computer you mean just measurement stuff, not route planning, right? Route planning would require immediate access, but I'd suggest just finding the route ahead of time
posted by Lemurrhea at 4:04 PM on July 21, 2011

I'm currently using this mount for my Droid Incredible while biking. It works great...but I would HIGHLY recommend you take two wide rubber bands and use them to secure the phone to the mount and the mount to the bike. No problems whatsoever since I took the time to do that.
posted by AngerBoy at 4:54 PM on July 21, 2011

I bought this soft case+mount 6 months ago for my ZTE Blade. I'm very happy with it.
It provides some protection (and is showerproof) plus there's a lanyard that you can attach to the handlebars. There's a quick release button to remove the case from the mount and you can just about operate the screen through the plastic window. I think crashing in a way that would hit the phone directly is pretty unlikely (for me at least) so my concern was more about ensuring it doesn't fall off the handlebars.
posted by chrispy at 1:56 AM on July 22, 2011