Gear Review of the Zixtro Flash Smart Phone/Mobile phone holder for bicycles by Shankar Shastry, an avid mountain biker based out of Bangalore who loves touring and owns an enviable fleet of bikes!
You can follow Shankar and his bicycling exploits on his awesome blog – MyMyBikeAndTouring. No guesses as to what Shankar is passionate about :)
Over to you Shankar!
This is a review of the Zixtro mobile holder for bikes. A neat little invention to avoid carrying your smartphone in the pocket and miss out on calls and watching your favorite app churn out GPS statistics for you.
Build quality: 10/10
The build quality is pretty sturdy and feels nice to the touch. The good part is that the Zixtro is waterproof – meaning you can take this baby out rain or shine and the smartphone inside won’t be swimming in a sea of rainwater. Once on the bike, the mount stays put without a lot of wobbling or scary twists – as long as you tighten the allen bolt properly. The mount fits both 25.4 and 31.8mm handlebars and was quite a nice fit on both bikes I tested it on. I would recommend this even for trail riders on XC terrain. The flap is intelligently made in such a way that dirt or muck cannot seep in at all.
Appearance: 9/10
The inner compartment is a dull crimson and the outer shell is black with logo printed on the side. Although it is not flashy when your smartphone is inside the compartment, the dull crimson made me wonder if there are other color options that would suit peoples’ preferences. Apparently, there are other color choices so that’s good news. Other than that, the plastic is nice to the touch and the mount itself does not look out of place on the bike – especially if mounted on the stem. The mount comes with an anti slip mat inside which can support smaller/thinner phones thereby making it the right choice for all sorts of smart phones.
Touchscreen functionality: 10/10
Well, this is where the mount shines in all its glory. If you were thinking that this is your run of the mill smartphone holder which you could get for $20 and take your bike trail riding, well, you will be ecstatic. This mount does that and much, much more! The flap has a nice transparent cover on top which allows your nimble fingers to use the touchscreen on your smartphone while making sure to avoid all the moisture from rain and your very own sweat glands. I was thrilled at the prospect of being able to use the touchscreen on the phone and yet not worry about dust, muck or rain ruining the glass or dirtying my phone. The touchscreen worked flawlessly in a slight drizzle and I have no doubts you would be able to use it in heavy rain as well. The flap itself is covered intelligently so that water does not seep in. You might want to, however, choose full finger gloves with care.
Durability
Having used it for a very short span of time, I wouldn’t be the best judge on durability. However, the mount looks and feels like it will last quite a few rides.
Other Thoughts/Cons
There is the lack of opening for a 3.5mm jack for all you music lovers and those data fanatics who want to hear the cute little Endomondo lady shouting stats in your face after every km. I had to resort to a bluetooth headset which worked for me but it might not be practical for everyone else considering the extra gadget you need to carry (and charge every day). Apart from this one little grouse, I do not see any other reason to not buy this smartphone mount.
This puppy retails at Rs. 1,895 which is pretty much justified considering it is much cheaper than an Otterbox and works like a charm on the bike.
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Thank you for sharing this with us Shankar. We hope loads of bikers benefit from your review.
Buy the Zixtro Flash online – Zixtro Flash mobile phone holder
link: http://store.bumsonthesaddle.com/products/zixtro-flash
Another similar product is the RAM EZ-Strap mobile phone mount. The RAM EZ-Strap is not waterproof but is perfect if you need to plug in earphones which is not really possible on the Zixtro Flash.
Enjoy your ride!
The Zixtro Flash in Pictures
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WHAT I LOVE ABOUT CYCLING
I love riding my bike. Whether it’s a simple commute, a high-intensity road race, a jaw-grinding brevet, fixie rides thru packed Indian city or a kick-ass technical single track – I love it all. Apart from riding bicycles, I love being all geeky and know everything there is to know about bicycles, technology, bike fit, and service.
I started BUMSONTHESADDLE to share this passion for cycling.
DISCIPLINE: Partial towards MOUNTAIN BIKING but love it all
CURRENT BIKE(S): Specialized Rockhopper, Specialized Tarmac, Pure Cycles Original
DREAM BIKE: S-Works Epic HT & S-Work Roubaix
OTHER PASSIONS: Technology, Photography, Baking, Travel, and Reading
