Mounting a PDA on the bike

dav1

Has anyone managed this?

Basically I want to get my xperia X1 mounted on the bars of my roadbike so I can GPS navigate my way on road rides. I wont dare use it on the MTB bars, but something that could hande it would be a bonus if I really get stuck.

I am trying to goodle these things and they are either horrifcaly expencive (otter box), crap (stuff on ebay) or pulling bad reviews (boxit bike mount kit)

gtvlusso

Hope it is waterproof!

panita

Ultra cheap and works very well..

Pick up a non-slip dashboard mat (Tesco have them for £1 a pop in the bargain bins)

Cut it in half then fold one half over triple or quad thickness and put it on the top of the stem.

Take a medium/large black cable tie and strap it around the PDA/ Phone, mat and stem. Tighten it just enough so that it compresses the mat and keeps it rock steady.

Looks like you'd need a cable tie on each end of the Xperia X1 to keep it steady.

As both the mat and the tie stretch, you can keep the tie on and just slip the PDA/phone in and out as needed. You'll have to store the mat somewhat to mount it with the phone but it allows you to leave the (trimmed) cable tie on the stem.

Sounds fiddly and risky but I've used it for many thousands of miles on my road bike and on a hybrid commuter over bumpy tow-paths without my phone even shifting on the stem.

Aidy

I've been sorta tempted to try a boxit thingy with a phone.

It's just slighty too small for my E71 though, sigh.

[Edit]
Oh right, didn't see you mentioned them in your original post.
Is it just the mount that's getting bad reviews? It's normally not too much of a challenge to bodge things into using better mounts...
[/Edit]

Headhuunter

Can standard PDAs, iPhones etc withstand the battering and vibrations from the road?

amaferanga

Headhuunter wrote:

Can standard PDAs, iPhones etc withstand the battering and vibrations from the road?

Probably not would be my guess.

dav1

They will take a bit of battering, but not too much. A case that absorbs the worst of it will be ideal.

I have also been tempted by the boxit, but reviews on CRC of the after market bike mount suggest that it is weak and I doubt the touch screen will be useable, or I can access the power button to turn the screen off to save power when I am confident of where I am going. Tempted to try it though as I know my phone will fit and I expect can zip tie it to the stem.

I quite like the dashboard mat idea, might give that a go if nothing else comes up.

I think the problem is there are very few products out there and its not an area where people have really tried things to put the word out on what works and what doesnt.

panita

I forgot to mention that dashboard mats, the spongy ones with holes in like this;

http://www.amazon.com/Automobile-Car-Da ... B000P910W8

act as a natural shock absorber anyway. I never had any problems with my Nokia 6300 running Trekbuddy.

Cunobelin

OtterBox