Two small things make a ride easier to navigate and nicer to look back on: knowing where you are going, and keeping a record of where you went. You can get both from a dedicated bike computer bolted to the bars, or from the phone already in your pocket. Both work well, and the choice comes down to screen, battery, weather, and whether you would rather spend money or spend your phone’s charge. Getting the mount right matters as much as the device, because a screen that rattles loose or sits where you have to stare at it helps nobody.
Two ways to do it
Your phone
Already in your pocket, bigger screen- Costs nothing extra once you have a mount
- A big, familiar screen and the map apps you already know
- Easy to move between bikes and riders
- Great for occasional navigation and casual tracking
- Running maps and GPS drains the battery fast
- Glare in sun, exposure in rain, and vibration on the camera
A bike computer
Purpose-built, low fuss- Sunlight-readable, weatherproof, and good for many hours on a charge
- Never ties up or exposes your phone
- Simple screen and buttons you can work in gloves
- Records speed, distance, and route, and the fuller ones navigate
- Another device to buy and to keep charged
- A smaller screen and fiddlier maps than a phone
Mounts, and the one standard worth knowing
A mount holds the device out where you can see it, and there are three usual spots for it.
A handlebar or stem mount clamps to the bars and is simple and cheap. An out-front mount reaches ahead of the bars on an arm, which puts the screen dead in your natural sightline and clears the bar top for lights or a bell. Which you want depends on your bars and how much you glance at the screen.
The one piece of jargon worth knowing is the quarter-turn mount, the de-facto standard first popularised by Garmin: you drop the unit onto the mount and twist it a quarter turn to lock. Because so many computers and third-party mounts share it, an out-front mount or a spare base usually fits whatever computer you own. Phones are their own worlds. A spring or clamp holder grips almost any phone by its edges, while a case-and-lock system uses a matching case that twists onto the mount for a firmer hold, at the cost of tying you to that maker’s case.
Battery and weather, the two everyday catches
The everyday drawbacks of using a phone are both fixable if you plan for them. Running a map with the screen bright and the GPS on empties a battery quickly, so on a long day carry a small power bank, dim the screen, or download the map for offline use to cut the drain. Rain is the other one: a phone on the bars is out in the weather, so a water-resistant case earns its keep, and in a real downpour a phone tucked away with a weatherproof computer doing the work is the calmer setup. A dedicated computer sidesteps both, which is much of what you pay for.
Which should you get
For most riders, most of the time, a phone on a solid mount is the sensible start. It costs nothing beyond the mount, shows a big clear map, and handles the occasional wrong turn without fuss. Lean toward a dedicated computer when you ride longer, ride in all weathers, or simply want a screen you never have to think about, with battery life measured in a whole day and glass you can read in bright sun. Plenty of people do both: the phone for maps when they need them, and a modest computer for the speed and distance on every ride.
None of it is essential, of course. A great many happy rides happen with a phone in a pocket and no screen on the bars at all. A mount just turns the device you already glance at into one you can glance at safely.
Mounts, computers, and phones change every year, so this guide sticks to the durable choice and the physics of a good mount rather than specific models. Match any mount to your exact bars and device, and follow your phone maker’s own advice on vibration and water resistance.
Setting up a mount
That's all of them — you're set. ✓
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