Mounting a phone on MTB handlebars: historical DIY ideas

This 2007 archive guide describes mounting a phone or PDA on a mountain bike, using a Nokia 6630 and Nokia N73 as examples. The GPS software was SmartComGPS (guide in Italian).

These are historical home-made arrangements, not tested mounts for a modern phone or handlebar. They do not establish compatibility, impact protection or retention under current riding conditions.

1. Rubber bands and a handlebar watch holder.
2. Kyodo’s clamp arrangement.
3. Roby’s car-phone-holder idea.

Commercial mounts and the original protective case

The original article linked to phone and GPS bicycle mounts on Amazon Italy. This is an affiliate link, not a recommendation of a particular current product.

The example used a transparent case to protect the phone. The author also mentioned a clear plastic bag as a simple dust cover, without claiming a tested waterproof rating.

A watch holder and rubber bands

I used a handlebar watch holder, adding double-sided tape inside it to stop movement. Roby’s alternative car-holder arrangement appears below.

The phone case had a belt clip, which became the attachment point on the handlebar.

In the original project I made a hole in the watch holder with a heated screwdriver. The clip’s locating projection fitted into that hole to reduce sliding.

Rubber bands held the assembly together: primitive, but effective for my use at the time. I later bought an eTrex Vista HCx, although I missed the simplicity of this early arrangement.

Kyodo’s Nokia N73 stem mount

The contribution originally appeared in Kyodo’s forum post, a historical external link.

The case mattered both as protection and as part of the attachment.

A piece of inner tube inside the clamp helped prevent scratches to the stem and improved grip.

Kyodo added another piece of inner tube to the clip to improve contact and prevent the metal from marking the stem.

The clamp was then positioned on the stem.

This view shows the connection between the case and metal clamp.

Another view of the attachment arrangement.

The finished project. Thank you to Kyodo for sharing it.

Roby Zodiac’s car-phone-holder alternative

Roby adapted the idea using an ordinary car phone holder instead of the older watch holder. Holes in the rear, normally intended for mounting screws, allowed hook-and-loop straps to pass through and attach it to the handlebar.

He used a strip of inner tube as a retaining band and a trimmed freezer bag as a dust cover, without a separate case.

Related GPS guides

• Using a GPS for mountain biking.
• Choosing an MTB GPS device (in Italian).
• Historical SmartComGPS guide (in Italian).
• Map and GPS resources (in Italian).
• Google Earth and GPS tracks (in Italian).
• Converting tracks with GPSBabel (in Italian).
• CompeGPS Land guide (in Italian).