The Loop Micro is my new favourite bicycle cellphone mount

Bicycle cellphone mounts have been a daily a part of my life in bike-obsessed Amsterdam ever since 2008, once I bought my first cellphone with built-in GPS and turn-by-turn navigation. I’ve used dozens of mounts since, till they had been both misplaced, damaged, or stolen, or one thing higher emerged.

I might have saved a ton of cash and annoyance had the $49.95 Loop Micro Mount been obtainable all these years in the past.

For the previous few weeks, I’ve been testing the ultra-compact Micro Mount. It took all of three minutes to unbox and screw into my bike’s stem cap. Then it simply sits there discreetly, out of the best way till I increase its jaws to assist information me into locations unknown. It held my iPhone 15 Professional securely on all kinds of on- and off-road terrain, with or with out my current cellphone case.

I hooked up the Loop Micro Mount to my mountain bike to check its limits. It’s designed and advisable for street use, however even commuters should scale the occasional curb or survive a pothole. The mount by no means misplaced grip when heading down tough single-track trails rutted with tree roots.

I did handle to actually kick my cellphone into the grime as soon as once I bought knocked off my bike. These spring-loaded rubber-lined jaws will maintain your system securely on tarmac, cobblestones, and brickwork, however they’re no match for the safety you get from one thing like a Quad Lock case and mount.

The Loop Micro Mount is designed to be put in semipermanently on a stem cap, and it comes with an additional lengthy bolt and Allen key within the field for that objective. I like that the mount might be put in in both portrait or panorama orientations. I don’t like that putting the cellphone into the holder requires two palms to pry these jaws aside.

I additionally like that you may’t see the detachable bolt when the mount is closed and that all the meeting disappears into the traces of the bike. This not solely appears to be like nice aesthetically, however it helps to keep away from the eye of thieves. Many metropolis and commuter bikes and e-bikes — however actually not all — are fitted with these customary stem caps. In any other case, the Micro Mount might be hooked up to the handlebar with a detachable O-ring equipment.

Loop says the Micro Mount “matches all main telephones,” together with the present crop of heavy ultra-max telephones. The spec sheet says it helps cellphone and case widths as much as 85mm and depths as much as 14.5mm, which ought to make it appropriate for the most important iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S sequence.

My solely concern is how properly these spring-loaded jaws will work over time. The metallic mount is heavy within the hand and doesn’t really feel low-cost, however we Amsterdammers depart our bicycles parked outdoors 12 months spherical, the place they’re uncovered to rain, solar, and ice, and undergo a number of abuse when stuffed into parking racks. Loop says the mount is “constructed to resist the weather, guaranteeing sturdiness and reliability in any climate situation.”

The Loop Micro Mount is surprisingly succesful for its dimension and has grow to be my new favourite install-it-and-forget-it bike mount for street use. Its inconspicuous design avoids the eye of thieves, and the mount disappears into the bike’s silhouette till wanted.

Pictures by Thomas Ricker / The Verge