Foretrex/forerunner Handlebar Mount?

[+wolves shepherd]

I'm thinking about picking up the Garmin Handlebar Mount for my Foretrex 101. Has anyone used it? Specifically on a mountain bike? I don't want my GPS flying off as I am bouncing along.

[+bigethespe]

I've not used the handlebar mounts for the foretrex, but I've got the quasi-universal mount for my Garmins (Etrex Legend and 60cs) - the 60cs suffered a fall recently due to a faulty portion of the handlebar mount - I called Garmin up and explained that the GPS popped right out of the mount and they told me 'that shouldn't ever happen' so they told me to send the 60cs in for service - about a week later I got my 60cs back, good as new, with a surprise new handlebar mount in the box! I can't tell you how great Garmin's been the few times I've had to send things in for service!

 

--

Member, Geocachers of Northeastern Illinois

www.gonil.org

[+Mr-Hornet]

I’ve used it with a bike and found it to work well. But then I decided to give it a real test (ended up being more than I expected). My father was going 4 wheeling so I hooked it on the handle bars and off he went. Well when he got back the fortrex was covered with mud. After a quick bath for the GPS he finally let the cat out of the bag that he had the bike role when crossing a crick and he jumped off before the bike ended on its to baring the GPS in the mud.

 

The bracket is still fine as is the foretrex. Also I do wrap the band around the mount as extra security.

[+diverhank]

I'm thinking about picking up the Garmin Handlebar Mount for my Foretrex 101. Has anyone used it? Specifically on a mountain bike? I don't want my GPS flying off as I am bouncing along.

For a unit that you can wear on your wrist, why do you need to mount it on the handle bar? I just rotate mine on my wrist so it faces me when I'm riding. I can read the info just fine without having to lift my arm.

[+Munin]

I've used the Garmin Handlebar Mount with my Foretrex 201 on quite a few mountain biking trips. Observations:

• My memory's a little fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure that the included rubber shims didn't work well with my Crowbar handlebar, and I ended up using a shim that was left over from some other piece of gear to give it a good solid grip.
  
• I've only once had my Foretrex come loose from the mount, during a rather spectacularly embarassing arse-over-elbows spill. Otherwise, it's been solid, even on rough/rocky/bumpy tracks.
  
• Fasten the velcro band after clipping it in the mount - you can't cinch it down tight against the handlebars, of course, but it'll keep the ends from flapping around. And if you do take a hard enough tumble to pop your Fortrex out of the clip, the band should keep your GPS dangling around the handlebar, and your brake/shift cables should prevent the band from sliding off the end.
  

For a unit that you can wear on your wrist, why do you need to mount it on the handle bar?

Hehe - yeah, that's what I thought at first too. I switched to the handlebar mount because:

• The base strap is too small for me to use, even at the wrist. With the extender strap attached it's too loose to wear down on my wrist, but sits quite comfortably on my forearm near my elbow, which is where I normally wear it. This leads to two issues for me. First, I suffer from BFE (Bike Follows Eyeballs) Syndrome - if I'm looking down and left towards my elbow, my bike tends to drift left. More important, on rough tracks I like to minimize how long I take my eyes off the terrain ahead. The bike mount helps with both issues - only takes a quick glance, down and forward, to see the GPSr. No BFE drifting, and less time with my eyes off the trail.
  
• The bearing arrow points in the proper direction when mounted horizontally on the handlebars. On my forearm, the GPSr is perpendicular to the direction I'm traveling and rarely horizontal, so the bearing arrow isn't always terribly reliable. (Not sure about other people, but I usually use the compass/bearing display when I'm caching.)
  

Just my two cents. YMMV, tax/tags/destination charges not included, etc etc etc.

[+ethanSLC]

I recently acquired one of these as well. I also had a little bit of a tricky time making the mount fit with the included rubber shims, but after much fiddling finally got it to work.

 

The mount does seem pretty solid, but I imagine that really rough terrain could cause the GPSr to pop out. I am not that worried about this because with the wrist strap acting as a back up all you would have to do is stop and clip it back in. I was very happy to see that it could be clipped in with the wrist strap for this very reason.

 

I am mostly concerned that a bad crash would crunch the GPSr, so on really technical stuff I might stick it in my pack, but for most riding I think it should work great.

[+LindyF]

I've used one for about a dozen trips. Haven't had any problems, even with a small spill.

[+wolves shepherd]

Thanks all. I'll probably order one one of these days.