FIRST LOOK
OUTPLORER PHONE MOUNT
WORDS & PHOTOS: Ben Wilkins
New to the NZ market is the Outplorer phone mount system. Having been a long time user of Quadlock products I was keen to see how the new boy stacks up. I do a mix of road riding, gravel touring, local West Coast trails / goat tracks and an annual trip up the Mackenzie high-country glacial valley river beds. I don’ t use a dedicated GPS, instead, like many riders, I mount a phone to the bars and use a mix of apps( our fantastic NZ-based Adventure Guide, Gaia GPS, Rever and OsmAnd maps). I lost a phone completely when I dropped my bike on a tricky West Coast track, watching it bounce away into thick bush- never to be seen again. I learnt my lesson and I now keep my
main phone in my pocket and use a cheaper phone on the bars. The Outplorer phone case is sturdy with a mount on the back that includes a stand / ring, which I thought I’ d never use, but it works really well on my desk- I don’ t have to prop it up against the screen like previously. The mount hardware sticks out slightly but isn’ t obtrusive. I fitted the Handlebar Mount Pro, but there are options for brake / clutch mounting, as well as a fork stem mount( 12-29.9mm compatibility) and mirror mounts. The mounts have built in vibration damping, so there’ s no additional damper to buy to protect your phone lens( it was the‘ Dampener’ pulling apart on the Quadlock system that caused the
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