Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Product Review: Cell Buckle

Today I am doing a review of the Cell Buckle. I had been looking at different options for holding my phone/GPS on my bike. The Harley Davidson tank pouch (around $50) wouldn't work because my "tank" is aluminum. Most of the handle bar mounts seemed a little steep in price, so I decided to try the Cell Buckle ($20). http://thecellbuckle.com/


Ordering it was easy. I went to the website and ordered the unit. You need to know what size handle bar you have before you order. I have a 1" bar so I ordered the 7/8"-1" Cell Buckle. The other size is 1 1/4"-1 1/2".

The price was $20. I wasn't sure what I would get for that price, but I thought it was worth trying. For price I give a 8 of 10.

The Cell buckle came packed with plenty of packing and had the standard heat sealed plastic packaging. I give the packaging a 8 of 10.

The instructions are on the back of the packaging and the warranty is available by looking it up on their web site according to the back of the packaging. It is a basic product so it doesn't need very detailed instructions, and these are basic instructions. I give a 6 of 10 for instructions. After looking for a bit, I did not find the "warranty" page on their web site. I did find a disclaimer and the return policy. A restocking fee of 15% if the package is opened will be charged on returns. For the warranty I give it a 4 of 10.

The cell buckle is made from a flexible but hard plastic surrounded by a rubber outer layer. It comes with 2 rubber o-rings to hold it on. The materials are medium quality and it has large parting lines from the rubber over mold. I give it a 5 of 10.

Attaching it to the handle bars is relatively easy. I ordered the model listed for my 1" handle bars. When I attach it to my bars I have to stretch it out quite a bit and the o-ring has to stretch a lot. It does not fit well, but at the same time, it will not turn on my bars when I ride. The clamp that holds the phone is very easy to operate. It slides tight easily and loosens with the press of one button. In my opinion there should be a middle model between the two available models for bar size. I give installation a 4 of 10.





I have attached this to my bike about 4 times now and the rubber is showing some tearing because of the poor fitment to the handle bars. My phone does not fit well because of the windshield mounts being so close to the Cell Buckle. This is not a mark against the Cell Buckle but I have to note that if your phone or GPS hangs out like in the picture above, it increases the amount of vibration the phone does. At $20 I wasn't expecting much. This is a cheaply made Chinese product but at least they don't over charge you. It does work but leaves much to be desired. If it were of better quality, it would have a higher price so I need to take that into account when rating customer satisfaction. I do use it when I have to, but I do not leave it on when I do not need it because it looks like it doesn't fit right (because it doesn't) and it looks like a cheaply made holder. I give it a 6 of 10.

That makes a grand total of 5.83.

Here are a few more pictures of the Cell Buckle.



If you would like for me to review and rate one of your products, you can contact me at budki@roadrunner.com. Please use the title "product review (product)" so I do not think it is spam.

The Cell Buckle is a low cost solution to holding your phone or GPS on your handle bars. You can also mount it to other things like grocery carts and strollers. Not really something I would recommend for anyone with a show bike.

1 comment:

  1. I used one of these on two different bikes and had the same problems on each of them. 1) The vibration from riding makes the entire thing turn on the handlebars. Be careful it doesn't interfere with steering as a result. 2) The rubber bands they use to hold the unit onto the handlebar fall off easily and/or break leaving the unit free spinning on the handlebar. Either way, the device is a failure. Save your money.

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