When I’m looking for products to review, I get inspiration from some strange places.
Sometimes, it’s two odd places. It’s fairly public knowledge that I’m a massive electric scooter fan, but my own scooter doesn’t have a screen. This means you need to use an app on your phone as your display. Naturally, this means you need a good phone holder. One night, a Deliveroo rider was dropping off a takeaway and I spotted the bike mount they were using for their phone and I just had to try it. They were using a Quad Lock bike mount; which also fit scooters – just about.
When I’m looking for products to review, I get inspiration from some strange places. Sometimes, it’s two odd places. It’s fairly public knowledge that I’m a massive electric scooter fan, but my own scooter doesn’t have a screen. This means you need to use an app on your phone as your display. Naturally, this means you need a good phone holder. One night, a Deliveroo rider was dropping off a takeaway and I spotted the bike mount they were using for their phone and I just had to try it. They were using a Quad Lock bike mount; which also fit scooters – just about.
What is Quad Lock?
Whether you ride a bicycle, a motorbike, an electric scooter or drive, chances are you’ve looked for a phone holder at some stage. There are a lot of options out there but Quad Lock always seemed to be the choice of people who generally know what they’re talking about.
Quad Lock is more than an iPhone holder or a mount for your smartphone; it’s a whole phone holder solution for a range of scenarios. First, you either buy a case that fits your phone or buy the universal fitting which sticks onto most phones.
This gives you a locking point.
That’s the super simple part. Quad Lock gets really clever when it gets to the secondary part of the whole system; the mounts.
In the above image, you can see my Xiaomi m365 electric scooter with the Quad Lock mount. I’d removed the phone to grab a quick picture, which means you can see the mount system.
And that’s the beauty of the system, to be honest. If you’re stuck at a red light or pulled over needing to take a called, the Quad Lock system means you can pop your phone out ridiculously fast. Putting it back in is just as fast. You angle your phone at a 45-degree angle, press down and twist it back to 90-degrees. Just like that, your phone is safe has houses in a nice convenience place.
Benefits of the Quad Lock System
For me, the benefits of the Quad Lock system were pretty simple, but I would imagine these same benefits would be felt by mountain bikers, Deliveroo riders or my fellow electric scooter riders.
Give Yourself A Display
This system means your phone is in a great location on your bike or scooter. You can seen the screen nice and clearly without having to fidget while you’re on the move. If you’re following maps or trying to find a JustEat or Deliveroo customer, this is extremely valuable.
Free Your Phone
The ability to grab your phone for a quick call, photo or Google Search on the go is priceless. Being able to put it back just as quick is also quite the treat.
Stability
I’ve used a few phone mounts and holders over the years. From clamps to magnetic solutions, I’ve never really trusted the holder in bumpy scenarios. Riding a suspension-less electric scooter is a great test for the Quad Lock system. If you’re in the market for a mountain biking phone holder, I’d imagine this is what you’re after given the punishment mine has survived.
Versatility
When I started looking into the Quad Lock range, I kind of assumed it would just be a simple enough handlebar mount. Instead, I found a wide range of fittings and options to suit your needs. You can get one of these mounts to fit the stem of your handlebars, the handlebars themselves, your car, a strap on your arm for running and even fittings to suit motorbikes. The level of detail these guys went into is best seen in the fact they have a special handlebar mount which also has an additional piece which lets you hang your GoPro from the Quad Lock mount.
I don’t often say this, but it’s very clever.
Which Phones Does Quad Lock Fit?
You have two options when it comes to buying one of these mounts. First up, if you’re using an Apple iPhone or Samsung Galaxy, you can buy a case with the mounting point built into it. Secondly, if you don’t have one of these phones, you can buy a universal mount and stick this onto any phone.
While both systems work similarly, the universal mount does come with the only real flaw I could find in all of this.
One Catch With Quad Lock
When I opened up my phone mount system, I followed what seemed to be fairly simple instructions. Using the provided wipe, I cleaned off my phone case and prepared it. I reluctantly removed my Popsocket because the mount takes up most of the phone’s real estate (nope that’s not the problem). Next, I peeled off the cover which protects the mount’s sticky pad and pressed it against the case. I removed the phone from the case for this so I could REALLY press the two together.
I held this for about a minute or so, but when I released it the mount immediately fell off.
It turns out that you can’t stick the universal mount to certain cases made from rubber. Now, I’m not sure but I’d imagine that’s most smartphone cases. I can’t imagine many would be happy enough to stick the mount straight onto the phone either as this means no more case for you. My solution was lots of super glue which did work, but it’s a little messy still.
Quad Lock: The Verdict
If you’re after an iPhone bike mount or a Samsung phone holder suitable for a mountain bike, you really can’t look anywhere other than the Quad Lock phone mount. It’s brilliant, easy, quick and reliable. The one snag is the universal mount probably won’t stick to a lot of good phone cases on the market. It’s not a deal-breaker, there’s a workaround and I learned to live with it but just be aware that it’s not the absolute perfect solution unless you’ve got a Samsung Galaxy or Apple iPhone.
Quad Lock is available on Amazon.co.uk starting at €65. Check out our guide to ordering from Amazon UK to Ireland. It could save you a packet.
