Smartphone mount: stem mounted vs top tube For those of you that have tried these, I'm wondering if the stem (or even bar) mount is preferrable over the top tube mount? Seems like having the top tube mount means you have to look further back (and down) to glance at the screen.
I regularly use a stem-mounted phone mount for navigation on my tourer, and occasionally on my hybrid.  I have tried my phone in a toptube bag, and don't get on with either the bag aspect or the position.

One benefit I find is that mounting it further forwards means I can mount it more upright, which shields the screen a bit against both rain (waterproof phone) and sun. I've just made a little wind/rain shield for my stem mount, which I'll take on its first long ride tonight. It would be nice if someone made something like this.

On the MTB I occasionally use the toptube bag, but I'm more worried about knocks and more willing to stop for the map, and it's easier to move the toptube bag between bikes than the customised stem mount.

Edit: some pictures of the mount I use, more details on the windshield.

It did a good job of keeping the rain off the screen while moving, but I didn't have to navigate stop-start traffic in the rain so that's still untested.


This is about what I see when riding (if on the drops I can still see enough of the map, but not my stats). The toptube bag holds snacks, keys, and battery pack if needed, as well as the cue sheet/backup navigation.


The mount from the side.  It's a cheap one from Tiger (emergency purchase), with the smoked Perspex windshield hot-glued on (there's not enough plastic on the mount to screw into without killing the adjustment).  It needs a bit of anti-vibration (more hot glue, and a strip of old inner tube as a rubber band).  Ideally I'd have got my hands on some thinner Perspex (this is 3mm, and a bit hard to bend cleanly using just a heat gun and scrapwood), but it wasn't available in time.



Update: That particular plastic phone mount didn't last very long after those shots were takendue to a broken adjustment mechanism. Its replacement couldn't take the weight of my phone, which is essentially armoured - just as well as it hit the road at 30&nbsp;km/h.  I'm currently using a metal phone mount on the aero bars and need to remake the wind/rain shield to fit it.