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Can anyone recommend a good bike mount for the iPhone 4?

There seem to be a lot of reviews for the old models.

Update: I'm mounting this on a Trek 1.5 Triple with Bontrager SSR VR bars.

Update: I've heard horror stories about phones popping out of mounts so having it secure would be good, waterproofing is a plus as well.

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    "Good" is very subjective. Can you narrow this down? For example: Does the mount need to be fairly vibration proof, or is this not a factor with the kind of riding you do? What kind of bar will you be mounting on?
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Commented Sep 6, 2010 at 14:02
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    @Duncan: I disagree about it being a good community wiki; ultimately the questioner is going to pick a single mounting (or none).
    – freiheit
    Commented Dec 2, 2010 at 20:03
  • If we're closing this question, shouldn't we be closing this other one as well? (It's more or less the same question, but about an Android phone.)
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Commented Dec 2, 2010 at 22:52
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    This question seems to be a poll getting lots of opinion answers about products. Anybody want to clean this up so that it looks less close-worthy? It's hard to see anything really useful here. It's best if questions are more about how to look for something, rather than about specific product recommendations. Specific recommendations can be problematic because not all products are available in all areas and products change frequently. See also: Q&A is Hard, Let’s Go Shopping!.
    – freiheit
    Commented Jan 18, 2012 at 19:40
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    For what it's worth, I think that this question is clearly a poll and should be closed. A better question would have been to ask how a smartphone needs to be attached, and what features to look for in a mount. But I think that, with the sheer number of answers, it's far too late to edit this into anything like that.
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Commented Jan 19, 2012 at 18:29

15 Answers 15

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Biologic now makes an iPhone 4 specific mount. I have the 3 version that I use an iPhone 4 in. It's pretty decent, but this looks like they've made some good improvements.

enter image description here

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  • This one is awesome.
    – Jduv
    Commented Mar 14, 2011 at 0:31
  • I use one of these with my iPhone 4 and have never had a problem. Even in reasonable rain it is perfect
    – Mac
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 22:40
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    Can you explain why it's such a good mount? What features about it are so awesome?
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Commented Feb 12, 2012 at 6:26
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I got this one: http://www.meritline.com/gps-cellphone-holder-for-bicycle---p-30668.aspx

Its actually one of the cheapest available. It fits adjustable handlebar sizes, tho I don't know the range. The phone grips are foam based and you can get a very snug fit, and it clicks quickly out. I never had an issue with it popping out, it never even looked like it would. Having said that, I used this mostly for urban cycling, and the occasional bumpy gravel track. If you plan to go bouncing down a mountain with this, get an answer from someone who's already done that!

It does feel 'cheap & plasticy', but it has served me well for over a year and has survived being left out on the bike in bad weather (the mount, not the phone).

Oh, and its not waterproof. A ziplock bag would probably do the trick for that...

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Although this question is over 1 year old, I thought I'd share a new iPhone mount that I've just come across. Its called the Quad Lock and has a mounting system very similar to the Garmin and Bryton GPS computers (uses a quarter turn mount that attaches to the stem):

http://www.quadlockcase.com/

I don't have one (nor do I have any association with the company) and they are not shipping the units until late March. The only critism that I have is it does not protect the iPhone from the weather. However, they say they're developing a weatherproof version of the case, to be released later this year.

enter image description here

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2

At the other end of the cost spectrum I've just ordered one of these

http://www.wahoofitness.com/Fisica/Wahoo-Fitness-Fisica-Fitness-Sensor-Case.asp

It's trick is to act as an ANT+ sensor, so that your phone can grab HR, speed, cadence and power from sensors.

I'll report back when it's delivered and I've tried it out...

OK its arrived, and its really rather good. Quite large, but fits on either bars or stem, and either portrait or landscape. Seems very robust and probably waterproof. They promise an add-on battery, but in the meantime you can charge via its mini-usb port.

ANT+ works very well, although ironically I haven't found a bike computer app that I like that supports it yet.

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  • Ahah - MapMyRide now supports the Fiscia sensor. It's all rather good... unless you want to run the GPS for more than about 5 hours.
    – Duncan McGregor
    Commented Mar 5, 2011 at 8:58
  • I've got the non-ANT+ version of this (since the 4S supports Bluetooth Smart, it's no longer needed) and find it perfectly adequate. The add-on battery is available now. Only issue I've noticed is that it has the pins connected so that audio goes out the "dock connector", which is just connected to a micro-USB plug; so the only way to get audio out of it is Bluetooth or the headphone jack. This may be by design as I can't imagine much audio would be transmitted through the speakers inside a sealed case anyway.
    – Nicholas Riley
    Commented Jul 21, 2012 at 17:17
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For what it's worth velcro and rubber are extremely good for this sort of application. I use one of these rubber blocks with velcro straps to attach my LED Lenser to my MTB, it holds really tight and if you position it right there is minimal shake. One day I decided to see how it would handle my iPhone so I could watch/hear endomondo giving me my lap times.

The obvious limitation is; you have a strap across the front of the phone which limits your view and what buttons you can press. On the plus side, it's a pretty cheap solution (normally about £5 or less - ebay search results) and with some slight modification I don't see any reason why you couldn't attach an iphone case with a slit in the back for your phone to sit in.

The strap on the right is for a gun torch mount, you can see that the curves in the rubber block are set in the same direction, this could be used to mount your device in landscape, or on the stem.

velcro and rubber strap

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I've got to suggest just a simple ziplock type of bag, put your phone in, zip it up and put it in your jersey pocket, so you are not distracted. It is waterproof and I'll even start my Strava bike app to record my ride. No worries about it jiggling loose off the bike, or getting wet either. You can get a box of these pretty cheap too! I'll get more than a few rides per bag.

iPhone in a Ziploc

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  • Sadly, you can not mount a plastic bag.
    – Ambo100
    Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 16:27
  • Semantically you are correct. I mount mine in my jersey pocket. One could mount it in a handlebar basket (store.trekbikes.com/…). Someone probably has zipped tied an iPhone in a ziploc bag to their handlebars too. I think a ziploc bag is a viable option for carrying your iPhone on your bicycle.
    – Glenn Gervais
    Commented Jan 18, 2012 at 15:54
  • I'm +1'ing this one. I made an iPhone mount out of a modified reflector and made it waterproof with a ziplock bag. Worked 10x better than the mount I paid $50 for.
    – joelmdev
    Commented Feb 5, 2012 at 16:53
  • I did this for years as well. Keeps it dry. A couple of years ago I bought a wallet from Silca that did this and kept all the other stuff (cards, ID, a house key, cash, etc.) in a compact package to replace it. Still use a zip lock for other items I want to keep dry in my jersey pocket however.
    – Ted Hohl
    Commented Dec 9, 2023 at 18:52
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I personally am eying this one: Biologic Bike Mount

But my cheap interim solution was to screw some holes in my snap case, fit some L joints to it and then just mount it on my camera mount. But it sticks up so high, I could see it just shattering if I were to bail. Lost a bike light that way... would hate to lose an iPhone that way.

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I saw this http://store.apple.com/uk/product/H0807ZM/A in the Apple store yesterday. I didn't buy one, but did play with it. It came with an iPhone 4 insert, looked at least showerproof and plenty sturdy. Would mount on stem or bars, has a headphone pass-through, camera window and the touch screen works.

I think that if you removed the insert you might even fit the phone in with a battery jacket and get to run the GPS for more than a couple of hours.

Only downside I could see was that the light sensor is covered, so that the auto-brightness turns right down.

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  • Sorry your link is dead. Could you find a picture and in-line it? That way changes in the web won't rot the links.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Feb 17, 2016 at 1:57
  • I appreciate your diligence, but I'm not convinced that trying to find a picture now of a discontinued product from 5 years ago to answer a question that has been obsolete for 3 years is worth my time ;-!
    – Duncan McGregor
    Commented Feb 18, 2016 at 11:06
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I haven't got one myself, but I'm looking for a smartphone mount in order to navigate/go geocaching, and found this one: http://bikereviews.com/2010/12/topeak-2011-iphone-dry-bag/

enter image description here

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I have two of these - one for an iPhone 4 the other for a Galaxy S (just fits).

http://www.buybits.com/product/8642.aspx

Never had any issues with them both. It is handy to be able to remove and walk about with it without it getting wet.

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Let me throw out RamMounts.com as a good option. I've been using one of their multi-device clamps and I'm very happy. They do make some i4 specific stuff.

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I can't tell you which one to get, but I can tell you which company I've had experience with and that I would steer away from.

The Biologic Bike Mount for the iPhone 3G/3GS was a terrible product, and expensive to boot. It was cheaply constructed, the handlebar mount and case closure did not inspire confidence, the plastic screen was hard to see through and made the phone's touch response spotty, the home button was hard to press, and the case contained a rubber gasket that was not integrated into the case and fell out everytime it was opened. Without the gasket, the case was worthless.


No surprise that eventually the gasket fell out and was never seen again. The company's customer service dept was unhelpful, telling me repeatedly that I could buy the gasket separately. If that was true, no one carried it.

It was a great way to waste 60 bucks.

Now they have a case out for the iPhone 4 and perhaps it's improved, but after my prior experience with their products I would not purchase from them again.

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For the past few months, I've been using:

Arkon Bicycle Mount for iPhone

I'm very happy with it for the following reasons:

  • Inexpensive (around $13)
  • Very sturdy hard plastic attaches to handle bar
  • Designed to fit different handle bar widths (tighten screws)
  • Can view phone at any angle thanks to Ball and Socket design
  • Two part design means I can reuse the handle portion of old Arkon Mounts - takes a minute or two to loosen the knob holding the iPhone piece, pull it out, attach to other bike, and tighten the knob. HOWEVER, the downside is that the two pieces don't have a locking mechanism. In an accident (or maybe even if you hit a nasty pothole), the two pieces may come apart, causing the iPhone to go flying along with the piece it's attached to.
  • The iPhone portion is specifically made to fit the iPhone 4 or 4s, so it is a snug fit and is easy to insert and remove

That being said - you won't be able to use this model if your handlebar is completely curved. You need at least a 1.25 inch portion of the handlebar that is straight.

I've used this for GPS (Runkeeper), for glancing at notifications, and occasionally for taking a phone call. Busy roads are too noisy for phone calls but on quiet suburban roads I have no problem on speaker phone.

Make sure to get something specific to the iPhone 4/4s such as this model.

(Arkon also makes universal mounts or mounts which work for many models but the model I had like that for my Blackberry a couple years ago required fiddling to get working properly - I mounted extra bike helmet padding to make it more snug)

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I got this one from ultimate addons it's perfect for my needs and waterproof.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ULTIMATEADDONS-Bicycle-Motorbike-Resistant-iPhone/dp/B004BAVJLO

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I have no expreience with this, but this came up on Urban Velo. They claim to fit perfectly for iPhone 4 an similar sized devices: http://urbanvelo.org/minoura-ih-100-smart-phone-holder/

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