$9 Bike mount for GPS or phone

Okay, so the actual cost was $9.01 at my local big box home and garden store. However, that was for everything.

I was scheduled to go on a bike ride the upcoming weekend, and wanted an inexpensive way to mount my expensive iPhone to the handlebar of my bike. This was so I could use a biking GPS app while riding.

I already had a LIFEPROOF® fre case and matching belt clip for my phone, so the $9.01 doesn’t include that. However, my bike mount could work for most any holster and case. The LIFEPROOF® fre combination does make my setup pretty bulletproof, though. I’m not associated with LIFEPROOF®, but I like the fre case because it’s shockproof, waterproof and dirtproof. (Please see their web page for details.) The belt clip that matches the case has a rotating belt attachment and a unique feature: A lock switch that secures the phone in the cradle-like clip. When that switch is in the locked position, the phone is not coming loose, not without destroying the holster. The holster itself is made of very tough plastic, so that’s not likely to happen with the kind of riding I do.

Let’s move on to the actual bike mount. Here’s the finished product, sans the iPhone. (Please ignore the lawn mower the bike is leaning against.)

As you can see, this mount will place the device front and center on the handlebar, right in front of the rider.
Parts you’ll need:
2 each ¾” conduit hangers
4 each ¼”-20 nylon self-locking or “safety” nuts
2 each ¼”-20, ¾” long machine screws
Roll of ¾” wide, 7/16” thick rubber foam, self-adhesive weather stripping (you actually only need two pieces about an inch-and-a-half long.)
Plastic outdoor-use, single-gang, blank electrical box cover (you could use anything you want here, as long as you think it’s sturdy enough: Wood, plastic, metal, whatever.)

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Universal cellphone spidey-griper / car mount / stand

I did this random hack about 9 months ago and have been living with it and using it constantly. I got to where I stopped noticing it and just used it. A friend reminded me to post it to instructables.

What is it? It's a thick vinyl strip secured to the cell phone that allows: Single handed, yet secure touch usage Quick car mount by sliding into an unused CD player slot Prevents it from sliding off surfaces like dashboards Makes it easy to fish out of pockets Muffles the vibrating sound when placed on hard surfaces Doubles as a night stand I experimented with different materials like leather for the flap, but heavy vinyl worked best. It's soft, grippy, holds it's shape and is the right amount of rigid.

The hack is fairly easy. Attach a small strip of thick vinyl to the back of a cell phone cover. There might be multiple ways to do this, but here's my approach.

Warning: You must be able to remove the back panel to do this hack. NEVER expose cellphone batteries to heat. They tend to explode fiery acid. If you cannot remove the back panel from your phone DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS modification.

- Cellphone with a removable back panel

- Vinyl strip somewhere around 2.0 - 2.5mm thickness at least the size of the cell phone.
My source: TAP Plastics 

- Polycaprolactone (PCL) plastic like InstaMorph, ShapeLock or Amaco's Friendly Plastic which comes in colors
My source: Amazon  (black "Friendly Plastic")
Used as "glue" to attach the vinyl to the back of the phone.

- Soldering Iron
My Source: Radio Shack Digital Soldering Station (variable temperature)

- Heat gun
My source: amazon, Milwaukee 8988-20 Variable Temperature Heat Gun is awesome

- Duct tape or the superior Gaffer tape (for prototyping before destroying your phone)

- Straight piece of thick wire. Like a snipped hanger (for finding center of cellphone)

- Razor or box knife (for scoring plastic)

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