Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Quad Lock Out Front Mount

If you ever wanted to mount your mobile phone on the handlebars, you will find that there are so many different ways to do it. Many years ago I used to have a Topeak DryBag, which protects your phone and makes it rainproof.

However, nowadays most new mobile phones are already waterproof, so it is OK to mount the phone directly on the handlebars without any additional bag or cover for rain protection. Some people mount the phones on the handlebars to use as a speedometer (via GPS in app), others as a map for navigation.

For me, I actually don't use it this way, as I already have other devices (Garmin Edge 530 or Cateye Padrone+) for tracking distance and speed. In rare cases I will use my phone for navigation, if I am cycling in unfamiliar areas. I just want a place to mount the phone securely, so that I can see that it is not missing. If I receive a message or call, I can check easily to see if it is urgent or not.

I first used a Quad Lock mount a few years ago, and was very satisfied with it. I had an additional Quad lock phone casing for my Samsung S8, which I will use when cycling. For this Quad Lock system, you can purchase additional mounts for different bikes, so that you can attach your phone to different bikes easily.

In fact, now I have Quad Lock mounts on all my existing bikes, so that I can change bikes seamlessly. For the folding bikes, I install the Quad Lock mount on the vertical handlepost to avoid interference during folding.


Recently, I have been using the Dahon MuSP as the indoor trainer bike, to use with the Wahoo Kickr Core smart bike trainer. I use the Zwift app which links to the bike trainer, so I need to be able to see the Zwift screen on my mobile phone.

Some people use a dedicated laptop or tablet for Zwift, but I just use my own phone. Sometimes I will mirror the screen to the TV, while at other times I will use place the phone beside the bike trainer, on a table.

All these are not ideal as it is difficult to see and use the Zwift app while cycling. Therefore, I decided to get a dedicated Quad Lock mount, so that the phone can be placed directly in front of me when I am on the bike trainer.

The Quad Lock Out Front Mount Pro is a mount that places the phone in front, so that I can secure my phone in front of me for good visibility and easy usage, while riding on the bike trainer. The Pro indication just means that it is longer, and made of aluminium instead of resin for better strength and rigidity.

Quad Lock Out Front Mount Pro

Fits all the standard handlebar sizes

Comes with two different rubber shims to fit smaller diameter handlebars.

Weighs 66 grams without any shims.

The bracket has serrations to properly secure the top part of the mount. These serrations allow angle settings at 10 degree increments.

Here is the top part of the mount, which will be screwed onto the bracket.

The blue lever is spring loaded, and locks into the back of the phone casing to prevent unintended rotation.

Here is how it looks on the Dahon MuSP. I chose the Pro version because I needed the longer bracket to avoid interference.

I would say it works pretty well as I can fix and remove the phone from the bike easily. The phone is also located at a convenient position for easy usage and good visibility.

Quad Lock parts are rather expensive, but they are really good stuff. Spigen also makes something similar called the Gearlock, at a lower price. It looks just like a copy product of Quad Lock, and even the packaging looks the same. I have not used those so I don't know the quality.

I am committed to Quad Lock as all my bikes are using this mount. The mounts also come in different colours to better match your bikes.

4 comments:

  1. I'm also a supporter of quad lock. But recently i came across this multisystem phone mounting by peak design. Looks very interesting with many different modules.

    https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/peak-design/mobile-by-peak-design-phone-cases-mounts-chargers-magsafe

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi can i seek your expertise lets say i wanna customized an existing 9speed road cassette and reduce to using only 3 sprockets, what is the max teeth difference between each sprocket jump? isit 4T max per sprocket for road rd and shifter ? eg. 11, 15, 19T ?

    regards,
    anon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The sprockets within a cassette are designed to work with the one adjacent to it. If you mix and match the sprocket sizes, the shifting performance will be bad or be unable to shift.

      Delete
  3. i see ok roger thanks thanks steve :)

    ReplyDelete

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