Customer Reviews

Magellan 702211 Bike Mounting Bracket

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

 

 

I am a mountain biker and loved the idea of being able to view the screen while riding. BUT the mounting bracket does not hold the explorist well enough. I watched my explorist unit fall to the ground on the first ride and thought I just didn't have it clicked into place. Wrong, because after putting it firmly into the bracket I lost the unit on the next downhill. I was luck enough to find the unit but will never use it on my bike or ATV due to fear of losing it.

The mount works well. I read elsewhere that people added velcro to make the mount more secure. I find that if you make sure the little plastic tab on the mount snaps into the small hole on the GPS, usually with an audible click, the mount is very secure. However, I must admit, I don't do the roughest biking (jumping over logs etc.). I would have given it five stars, but a have had a little trouble with is trying to rotate on the handle bars. I kept having to tighten it up. Seems firm now however.

This bracket holds my GPS very well. The only thing I really don't like about it is the mount to the handlebars. This is obviously just a bracket designed to be used with a car mount and the bike handlebar mount is not the type that you would see with any other bike accessory. It does not allow easy switching between bikes; it requires unscrewing two screws. It suggests using the included adhesive strip to wrap around the handlebar. I didn't use it and isn't needed; I just used the rubber strip with the paper backing still in place. If it had a mount more like any bike headlight that has a well designed mount that allows easy switching between bikes it would be a much better product. The metal bracket with the two long screws even looks like a cheap afterthought. I will probably modify it to work better with bikes. However the device does at least hold the GPS unit securely.

So far so good with this mount. I mounted it to the bars of my ATV and it works great. Easy to see and operate right where it is. It's hard to read while moving do to vibration but that is to be expexted. I havent really put it through an extreme test but it holds very well for what we have done.

Title says it all. Returned it. There was not caveat with respect to the XL although did come across some other sites that highlighted the fact.

I attached this mount to the handlebars of my Honda XR350R and it works great! The GPS unit is held securly and I have no problems with it moving around. Gone over 100 miles off-road so far with no problems!

This mounting bracket has a number of shortcomings that make it difficult to recommend. First, mountain bikes typically have handlebars that are wide at the stem and taper and bend towards the grips. If you have a mountain bike there is a good chance the bracket will not fit your handlebars well. Second, if it does fit, the weight of the eXplorist will cause the bracket to twist as you ride unless you really tighten it. This is especially bad if you have a carbon bar. You may be able to mount the bracket close to the stem so that it also rests against it for support. This will keep it from rotating while riding.

If Magellan had made the metal parts of the bracket so that it could be rotated by 90 degrees it could be mounted on the stem. This is a far more stable area for something heavy. Unfortunately this is not the case. As another reviewer mentioned, most bicycle lights have better mounting designs.

Clunky design. If you're not careful, the GPS doesn't click securely into the bracket. Your first warning that it isn't seated is the crash of the GPS unit onto the pavement. The mounting screws come without lock-nuts, and they loosen, letting the bracket rotate out of place. Switching the bracket from bike to bike is a real pain. And that price! For half the suggested price of this bracket, you can buy a high-powered, long-life bike headlight with a GREAT mounting system. Since there's no competiting product -- and the bracket does work if you put lock-nuts on the screws and pay very close attention to snapping the GPS unit in securely -- I'm recommending this product for those who need it. However, if TomTom or Garmin comes up with a better bike-mounting bracket, it will be the deciding factor when I select my next GPS.

Holds the eXplorist nice and safe on the handlebars.

All the other items on my "bike's dash" have strong plastic brackets to go around the bar, I was surprised to see this one uses a METAL bracket. I hope it doesn't rust, there isn't any other steel on my bike other than the clamp bracket on this mount. They do include a piece of rubber to put around the bar first before you clamp this metal clamp, so you won't damage your bar, I just hope it doesn't end up rusting.

There are also two posts that stick out on the sides (used for the car mount, they have no use here at all, Magellan just using the same piece from the same mold to save money)

The posts meant I had to take off something else on my bar, but I will cut off the posts and then I can fit everything back on again.

Does the job but my explorist GPS has the tendency to pop out when riding over bumps. So I have to secure the GPS unit with a strap.