Four Ways to Mount a GPS Computer and When Each One Wins

A handlebar has a finite amount of space and a modern rider wants a computer, a light, a bell and sometimes a camera on it. Which mount you choose decides how much of that bar you get back.

The top cap mount, 12 grams

The gravity top cap mount VBH-07 replaces the headset top cap, so it adds nothing to the handlebar at all. At 12 grams it is the lightest option here. The trade-off is that the screen sits low and close, and the angle is fixed. It is the right answer on a crowded commuter cockpit and on a weight-focused build.

The adjustable stem mount, 25 grams

VBH-08 fixes to the stem and tilts. That matters more than it sounds: a computer mounted flat on a stem faces the sky, and a rider on the drops is reading it at an angle. Being able to set the screen to the eye line is the difference between glancing at data and staring at it. It does not carry an accessory.

The out-front mount, 35 grams

VBH-04 puts the computer ahead of the bars, in the natural line of sight, and adds a second interface underneath for a GoPro, video camera or light. At 35 grams it is the heaviest of the four, and it is the one to choose if you run two devices. Fit the heavier item underneath and close to the clamp.

The integrated cockpit mount, 30 grams

VBH-06 exists because aero bikes increasingly use a one-piece handlebar and stem, and a conventional round-bar clamp has nothing to grip. It carries the same accessory interface as VBH-04 at 5 grams less. If your bar and stem are separate parts, this is not the mount you want.

Compatibility

All four are machined from AL6061 in an anodised black sand finish, and all four cover Garmin Edge 200, 500 and 800 series and Bryton 20, 21, 40 and 50 series. The stem and top cap mounts also list CATEYE; the out-front and integrated mounts list iGPSPORT.

A note on stiffness

A mount that flexes turns a camera into a shaky camera and a computer into a blurred screen on rough roads. All four of these are machined from solid AL6061 rather than moulded, which is where the stiffness comes from at these weights.