Customer Reviews

GARMIN 010-10446-00 Handlebar Mounting Bracket

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Unless you are too poor and/or cheap and/or frugal, I strongly recommend it.
Other reviewers are correct that it is next to impossible to remove the
velcro watch band BUT there is no need to do it. The mount works perfectly
with the band attached to the ForeRunner.

Why the mount as opposed to pipe insulation? You get the exact viewing
angle all the time w/o the need to experiment and/or reposition.

BTW, I use it on a Minoura extension.

All you need to do is get some foam, cut a small rectangle that will fit like a bracelet around the handlebar of your bike, and put your garmin forerunner on the bike as you would your arm, over the foam. works great, much cheaper.

Another reviewer mentioned removing pins and not being able to easily switch between running and biking. I bought a piece of foam pipe insulation from a hardware store for $2. I cut off a little piece and wrapped it around my handlebar (no tape). Then I wrap the forerunner wriststrap around the pipe insulator and velcro is closed. Now my garmin is on my handlebars in plain view. When I run, I take it off the pipe insulator and where it around my wrist.

Seems a lot simpler than this "bike mount bracket"

My review of this is based on my rating for the Forerunner 201 unit itself. This is just the bracket, and it works fine. However, you don't really need it if you don't mind simply wearing the 201 on your wrist. The one caveat is that it is, of course, easier to see the unit when you are riding if it is mounted on the bike versus strapped to your wrist.

My recommendation is that if you are going to use the 201 for both running and biking, don't buy this bracket because you can simply wear the 201, plus then you don't have to deal with trying to remove the wristband or making a tight squeeze fit into the bike bracket. But, if you are buying the 201 only for biking, this may be useful because then you could simply ditch the wrist strap and keep this mounted to the bike at all times.

After having my GPS come loose (barrel pin failure) on more than one occasion I decided to give this a try.
I've now used this on a 2 month MTB tour of Nepal and Tibet. Held my Forerunner 301 securely on hundreds of miles of washboard, technical singletrack, etc. Also withstood countless grabby children and curious bystanders in numerous villages.
You do NOT have to remove the wrist band to use it with the mount. I love the reassuring "snap" when it locks into the mount, and the wrist strap functions as a safety back up - although it never came loose from the mount on me. Convenient release allows you to remove it quickly and easily. My only very minor complaint is you have to remove the GPS from the mount to charge it.
It fit perfectly on my 1" (25.6mm) diameter bars.
Like it so much I just ordered the "oversize" mount for my motorcycle.

Other reviewers have spoken of a problem of using the bike mount with the wrist strap. This is not a problem. The mount has a shallow canal in the center that is sufficient for the strap. I use mine mostly with a bike ( > 90%) and I have never removed the strap.

Before I bought this (actually 3 of these, to account for different bikes) I used foam around the handlebars. Once, I must have cinched the strap too tight, because one pin holding the strap pinged out, leaving my new 301 hanging by one pin. For me, I much prefer to have an expensive toy held on to my bike with a solid click into the bracket. I think it's well worth the money.

An alternative to removing the Forerunner's wrist-strap and keeping the unit bike-mounted is getting another device for mounting the Garmin WITH the wrist-strap. Bike-mounted HRM watches use a simple rubber donut that goes around the handlebar, to which the watch is strapped. I've use the donut from my Nike watch and this works well with the Forerunner when road biking.

The other reviewer has a good point. You have to ask yourself what will be your primary purpose for using the forerunner. The main drag is that it's not that easy to remove the wriststrap (kind of like changing the strap on your watch - you have to remove those barrel pins). So either you're going to use it on the bike exclusively, or use it on the bike and running but keep it on your wrist.

The great thing about this mount is that it's always visible. When riding cross country, I'm not usuall able to twist my wrist enough to view the data - but by centering it on my handlebar - it's always visible. Probably wouldn't recommend it for your average runner though...

I was worried the 301's might not fit, but I was wrong. Works great.

'nuff said.

Before I acquire this mount I used to attach my garmin 301 to my bike using the band of the garmin, but it moved during the ride and it was difficult to maintain it without moving. With the mount the GPS is perfectly installed and it remains in the same position all the time. If you use your garmin for both running and cycling the mount is not very practical, since you have to remove the band to attach the garmin to the mount device to use in your bike and then you have to install the band again when you use it for running. If you use your garmin only for bike the mount is perfect and you will have a perfect view of the screen all the time.