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Fragile GPS Mounts

Old 01-25-23, 11:18 AM
  #1  
gkamieneski
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Fragile GPS Mounts

I am using my Bryton 320 on two bicycles, one with the OEM rubber band mount on top of a Cinelli stem (I have a separate thread in the C&V forum regarding how to put an out front mount on 26.4 bars) the other on an actual Bryton out front mount.

Recently I got a Chinese out front mount with swappable adapter buttons for Garmin and Bryton. After just 2 installs/removals of the Bryton head unit, the plastic of the Bryton adapter cracked (thankfully I was not out on the road, or I would have lost my GPS). When I search, I am hearing a lot of problems with these plastic Garmin/Bryton/Wahoo/Cateye button adapters. There even seems to me a market for replacement adapter disks. This fragility is something I have never even considered with my OEM rubber band Bryton mount or with the Bryton Sport Mount.

One manufacturer, KOM, uses these adapter discs but recesses them into their alloy holder. I wonder if this a solution to the fragility of the plastic discs? Seems the reinforcement of the alloy holder itself could help the plastic disc survive multiple on/off twists? On the other hand, this same company, KOM, sells "replacement discs", so who knows.

I suppose it is possible that if these discs are going to crack, it will happen when installing/removing the head unit and probably will not happen unexpectedly while out on the road.
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Old 01-25-23, 11:42 AM
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Garmins come with a lanyard which nobody uses but they should. It's only a minor annoyance to use it. It's not too hard to find stories about cyclist getting hit by a car when they do a u-turn looking for their gps. It's also not too hard to find threads on here about people that lost their gps.
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Old 01-25-23, 12:21 PM
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Steve B.
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I use a Velo Endeavors/Amazon mount for a Garmin, as well as Garmin mounts. Never had issues with the Amazon version. I do read of common problems with Hammerhead mounts breaking.
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Old 01-25-23, 01:17 PM
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I have used a mount I found on AliExpress and others, and found there's a wide range of quality in those plastic biscuits. I can't recommend one brand or the other, I'm afraid.

Also, what you're mounting and where you're riding will make a difference. If you've got a big computer, it's got a greater moment of inertia that the biscuit needs to counteract; if you're riding off-road or on rough chipseal, that's going to stress the mount more.
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Old 01-25-23, 03:52 PM
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I think the KOM Bryton mount is looking better and better to me. I like how the plastic biscuits are recessed below the alloy walls of the out front mount. Seems it has to make a positive difference.
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Old 01-26-23, 10:32 AM
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I used the same two rubber o-rings on my Garmin 500's stem mount for almost ten years. So maybe quality of them varies with the quality of the product being purchased. I don't believe all o-rings are created equal. Nor are they made for the same purposes.

I use my Garmin 530 with the Garmin out front mount that came with the device. So no o-rings required. Even though Garmin also gives with the device the old ¼ turn stem mount and a crap load of o-rings with it.

I do use the lanyard. It's easy to loop around the bars since they made it out of a stretch material. My Edge 500 didn't have a place for a lanyard IIRC. I never had either fly off the mount.
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Old 01-26-23, 10:44 PM
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I found a lanyard I had laying around and have taken to using it with my Bryton 320 which has the spot to thread it in. I will feel a little better now about using these fragile plastic mount biscuits with the lanyard holding onto the bars. It really isn’t in the way and weighs practically nothing.

Even the expensive Bryton Sport out front mount I use has the plastic biscuit on top unsupported around the circumference.
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Old 01-27-23, 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by gkamieneski
I found a lanyard I had laying around and have taken to using it ....
I use a different type of GPS than most others, mine uses a different type of mount. I have always used a tether cord on mine. And a few times I have noticed that mine is hanging from the tether. There is no downside to using a tether.
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