Cell phone/GPS Holder
 

I tried searching the forum for information and, of course, the interwebs.

What I am looking for is a Cellular device handlebar mount. I use my phone as Sat-Nav, To track my progress and to listen to music while I am riding. I have been looking for a head/handlebar mounted Cell phone holder that will securely hold my Galaxy Note II and any other phone I may get in the future.

What I am most interested in is First-Hand user feedback from people who have and use such a mount rather than taking a shot-in-the-dark and ordering what looks good and may turn out bad.

[strike]Might be helpful to mention the phone you're using as some devices can be specific to certain phones.[/strike]

Also are you looking for a setup where you change out any current case you're using or something where you can continue to use your existing case (if any)?

He said Galaxy Note II

Whoops. So he did. Don't know how I missed that. :p

I am not picky. I have 3 criteria...

1. It fits my phone
2. It holds my phone securely
3. It is of (at least) decent quality

I have a large phone and, in the future, I am likely to have large phones. I like the functionality and ease of viewing from a large screen, as well as the ability to have large capacity batteries. I have seen a few different products locally and usually they do not meet any, if not all of the above criteria. Basically, they are either garbage, don't fit my phone or both.

I took my galaxy noteII with me to my LBS and they had a mount in stock that fit it. I forget what it is called, I will look at it when I get home this evening (if I remember). It is sturdy and holds the phone well, but after a couple of uses, I took it off. Turns out I just don't like having that much stuff on my handlebar (I have a garnmin 810 and a light on there too) so the phone stays in my jersey pocket now.

Haha. I hear ya there. I only want two things attached to my bars... My phone (which functions as my GPS) and a flashlight clip or headlight.

I can’t give you any specific models but I can offer some advice in what to look for.

Any holders will do fine if you are using it for a smart phone or one of those flat gps units. I had put a bulky gps (Garmin GPSMAP 76CSx) on one of those clamp-type mounts with the spongee sides. And just riding around in my neighbour hood roads, the gps fell out of the mount after a few bumps. But I don’t think you’ll have any problems with the Galaxy note 2, smartphones, Nuvi, etc

Check the ease of the clamp that goes onto the bicycle handlebar. The plastic on Ram Mounts are hard, inflexible and brittle. I broke it trying to put it on. Not sure why they don’t use the same type of plastic as bicycle bells. Well I fixed it using cable ties – which is what Ram uses now. I've seen clamps with real joints and a thumbscrew.

Check the connection between the handlebar clamp and the smartphone holder. One joint should be enough. Mine has three and I’m wondering why. One is a ball so it should swivel in any direction. The other is a joint for side-swivel. And the third is the actual connection that locks to the holder which rotates. The ball joint usually means the other two should not be required. The problem I have with mine is the lock nut that’s supposed to lock the ball in place after you’ve positioned the smartphone. Holding the entire assembly in your hand all the locks seem secure. But mounted and after riding over some bumps on the road and all that jiggling, it's obvious the ball swivel doesn’t hold the smartphone in position. Yet when you make adjustments, it still feels tight. It’s hard to tell in the store even when it’s mounted. So my suggestion would be to look for a mount with only one joint. And if there's a locking nut, make sure it can screw in tight until it stops. Mine falls off the threads.

I've been using a Delta mount for my Galaxy S4 the past 6 months and it works great, just bought one for my wife's Galaxy S4 and they improved the mount with a locking device. spent 30 bucks on mine and found her's on ebay for 15.