Biologic Bike Mount Weathercase

Mounting a smartphone worth several hundred quid to your bike's stem asks some hard questions of the device you use to do it. Biologic's Bike Mount Weathercase answers some of them. It won't fling your iPhone into the gutter and it'll keep rain and dirt off. But the AnchorPoint mount is bulky, fits semi-permanently to one specific bike, and doesn't release the phone instantaneously. Rough-stuff tourers and mountain bikers should note that there's scant impact protection too, although it is padded against vibration. For a £32 mount, it's about what'd you'd expect.

My iPhone usually travels wrapped in a plastic bag (cost: nil) in a zipped jersey pocket. That way it can't fall off, or get smashed to bits if I fall off. If I want to track my ride, I can just leave the Strava app running, or more likely, depend on a Garmin Edge 500 instead. But I can see the navigational advantages of a smartphone up front for touring or for finding your way around an unfamiliar city, something I do a fair bit of on my Brompton.

Unfortunately, the mount is a bit bulky for an M-bar Brompton, though it should fit the stem or handlebar of most bikes. Stem fitting is best if possible.

The AnchorPoint mount attaches with cable ties. These won't come undone, so you'll need another AnchorPoint at £17 to switch the Weathercase easily between bikes. The weight of the phone can make the whole AnchorPoint rotate on the handlebar when you hit bumps. Since it's on a different axis, stem fitting prevents this problem. Note that the stem needs to be at least 80mm long for the AnchorPoint to fit. If you've slammed your stem, a steerer that sits 35mm-plus proud of that stem can also cause fitting problems.

The top of the AnchorPoint is a clamp. Four flat prongs, two each side, engage with indentations in the plastic back of the Weathercase. A knurled knob screws the clamp in and out, a bit like a G-clamp. It took me 10-20 seconds to get the Weathercase on and off the AnchorPoint. That's annoying when you're momentarily leaving your bike. On the plus side, the clamp never released the phone by accident.

Apart from its plastic back, the Weathercase is a soft-case made from welded-seam waterproof fabric. The zip is rainproof. It's a two-way zip, so you can leave the bottom end slightly open to fit the iPhone's charging cable through. The front of the Weathercase is clear and the touchscreen works quite well, if a bit spongily. (There's some give as the case is padded underneath the phone.) The camera works fine through the rear window too.

You can talk easily on the phone when its in the case, and it's thin enough to fit in your pocket without removing from the case. On the other hand, removing the case from the AnchorPoint leaves a lump of plastic scaffolding fixed to your bike's stem. Low-profile it isn't.

You can choose to attach the Weathercase in portrait or landscape mode. Unlike Topeak's Ridecase (£49.99 with mount), you can't switch between them - or not without removing the AnchorPoint from the bike and adjusting it with an Allen key. Similarly, you can change the viewing angle of the Weathercase by 10 degrees, but only by reassembling the AnchorPoint.

Using the Bike Mount Weathercase was a faff compared with Garmin's quarter-turn GPS bike mount. I wanted something similar here. It is available: check out the Quad Lock Bike Kit (£49.99), which leaves an inconspicuous mount when the phone is removed and comes with a host of alternative mounts, even a tripod mount for taking action shots of yourself with your phone when you're on tour. For road or mountain bike use, I'd also consider Cateye's Strada Smart (from £69.99), a head-unit that links to your pocketed phone via Bluetooth.

This Bike Mount Weathercase is for the iPhone 5/5s/5c. There's an identically priced one for the iPhone 6. Biologic also do a variety of other cases, such as a hard case for a variety of Android phones.

Verdict

Keeps the rain off your phone and the phone on your bike, but the clunky mount lacks versatility