RAM iPhone Handlebar Mount
Just a quick preview for those of you who have an iPhone. I picked up the RAM iPhone handlebar mount for my mountain bike a few weeks ago and to be honest I didn’t have high hopes. The iPhone is a pretty fragile (and expensive!) piece of electronics and like a nervous parent I was skeptical about securing my baby to a $15 piece of plastic.
I started out taking the iPhone on relatively tame road rides with short bits of singletrack mixed in and to my amazement, the iPhone stayed secure in the RAM mount and was unaffected by the vibration. Based on the success of these tests I’m ready to tackle some more aggressive trails with the iPhone on my bars, though I’ll probably stop short of riding in muddy or wet conditions.
The RAM iPhone handlebar mount uses zip ties to attach to the bars and includes an adapter for mounting to tapered handlebars. The large plastic iPhone holder twists off the attached handlebar mount for those times when you don’t need it and is pliable enough to snap the phone in and out fairly easily. RAM also includes a small strip of rubber to protect your handlebars from abrasion caused by the zip ties. I don’t know if this version is compatible with iPhone 4 but if not, I’m sure RAM has something in the works.
Once I get more miles in riding with the iPhone I’ll be reviewing on-trail apps like MotionX that mountain bikers may find useful. In the meantime, let me know in the comments which apps you use when you ride with the iPhone or if you’ve found other handlebar mounts that work well.
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June 17th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
Don’t crash
I’ve used the MotionX app for mapping rides. The elevation info isn’t worth considering, but it makes a good general map to show people and say “this is where I rode today”
June 18th, 2010 at 8:52 am
What happens when you fall?
-Greg
http://gregridestrails.com
June 18th, 2010 at 10:10 am
Good question, guess the safest thing is to not fall.
That being said, this is clearly meant for the XC rider more than anyone else. Even better, this should work well for road cycling where there are no branches / drops / etc. to snag your phone.
June 18th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Yeah…I wouldn’t want my iPhone on the bars. If I’m using the MotionX app, I always start recording the track, lock the phone, and put it into my camelbak.
July 1st, 2010 at 3:00 pm
[...] recently wrote about a handlebar mount for the iPhone and while it works pretty well we’re still a little sketched out about crunching our phone on [...]
April 6th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
With long enough zip ties, can this mount on the stem? Specifically, can it allow for the 90° turn?