Simple to use, should work with every bike and phone, comes with free cycle-nav app Cons: No waterproofing, not really a permanent solution, there are more secure mounts for the same price It’s essentially a massive and fairly extravagant silicone strap that you first wrap around your handlebar, then hook over the corners of your smartphone to keep it in place. No tools are needed, there’s no massive faff to set it up, you can even keep your phone in its existing case, and it seems to hold everything reasonably securely (at least on an immobile bike in a garage).
On the bumpy streets of South London, the Finn still managed to hold my phone quite happily and there didn’t seem to be any danger of it falling off. By hooking diagonally opposite corners of my smartphone using two hair bands that went around the underside of my handlebar, it’s possible to knock out a far cheaper Heath Robinson-esque faux-Finn. It also comes with a voucher code to download the Bike Citizens cycle sat-nav app (worth £3.99), with details for 350 cities across the world.
However, equally valid is the fact that the Finn’s £12.99 RRP would set you well on the way towards buying a more stable and fully waterproof alternative – such as Topeak’s simple but excellent Smartphone Drybag. Funky way for regular public hire bike users to quickly attach a smartphone to a handlebar – just pray it doesn’t rain
Finn Smartphone Mount
A silicone strap that wraps around your handlebars and holds your phone in place. The silicone can stretch by up to 400% allowing it to hold any size phone in place.
After all there are expensive GPS computers, with purpose built mounts that are designed for that kind of thing.
Well one of the reasons I would be nervous of using it, is the thought of watching my phone bounce off mid-ride. The makers of the Finn Smartphone Mount try to put you at ease by showing a video of a BMXer bouncing around a carpark. But even if I don’t take it out of the house I’ll be able to find a use for the Finn Smartphone Mount and that’s on the turbo.
The Urban Smartphone Mount in Review
But the Finn does things differently, you don’t need to plan, it more of a smart phone mount for casual urban riding and touring where you can easily put in on, take it off and just go with the flow. A flat section on the mount assists in keeping the phone orientated correctly but it remains versatile so you can shift the position on the fly. That has the advantage of (usually) freeing more space on your handle bars and making it a tad bit easier to glance down at the screen.
The silicon straps also cover the edges of the screen but for touring and urban use I don’t see that as a big detractor. In Australia, only the major cities are available though Bike Citizen is just getting started in this country so there are no cycling tours yet, instead the App relies on standard navigation (computer) and OpenStreetMaps.
bit bumpy but not bad, not bad at all : bicycling
Small bit on me; I’m a London-based girl cyclist with 3.5 bikes (Sirrus, Brompton, 12 year old hack hybrid I love, back-seat of a tandem). Bikes are my primary transport (I have a vespa but its still a bugger to park in London) so I all-season cycle. I have nothing to do with the Finn designers, manufacturers or distributors – I saw it on reddit and thought it would be good to use on my Brompton as its the bike I’m most commonly lost on. First thing I noticed was that to attach it on the commuter (see photo) I had to move the bell out of the way to allow room for it – real estate is at a premium – also nothing else was in use. My bike shop looked at it a bit dubiously but agreed it could be good on the Brompton. I’ll use it like this when I ride my Brompton in the city as its more stop/start traffic than anything of speed, and the purpose of the mount was to use it to be able to look at/hear GPS.
On the plus side, it stayed in place perfectly even when folding the Brompton (not intended but hey we all get distracted sometimes). On the rides it stuck like glue, no concerns at all it wouldn’t hold the phone to the bike.
I took it out on my old hack bike which has nothing on the handlebars apart from a bell, and only a slight angle to the crossbar and took it another 6 miles. So the design is good, its light, its small, it holds the phone really well (I used an iPhone and tried a Samsung Galaxy in it) and upside-down. My recommendation to the designers – put more silicon thickness in the middle of the band so that it raises the phone even further off the handlebars and out of reach of any bolts/ other brackets that are on the bike.
Reviews: Bike Citizens Finn Universal Silicon Smartphone Mount Bicycle Phone Holder
I only gave 4 stars because I also bought one for my husbandl, but his phone has a leather case and we don’t think that it will fit over the case.Read full review…
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