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Nordenmark MTB Map Board
By John Laughlin (03/05/2007)
Summary: The best map board I've ever used
Price: £45
Value:
Performance:
Totally secure mounting
Quick release bracket for easy removal
360 degree rotatable turntable map board
Quick release base: 120g
Map Board: 310g
Total overall weight: 430g
Map boards designed for mountain bike navigation are pretty few and far between, illustrating how niche a sport it really is compared to mainstream mountain biking or hiking. The mapboards that have been on the market and become dominant in the UK have either been cheap plastic clips or more expensive, higher quality, but not fault free boards. My experience with the former is that they tend to snap very easily and normally at the worst possible moment. The latter style, similar to the Nordenmark being reviewed but with an allen bolt secured handlebar mount, are better but awkward to fit and have a tendency for the small bolts used, to drop to the ground (typically a gravel car park) when trying to fit it.
The Nordenmark gets around the attachment problem superbly. It uses a large plate with 4 bolts protruding from it, that is clamped to the bars using another couple of rubber padded small plates and simple wingnuts to hold it in place. It's so simple and wingnuts are far easier to find in a gravel car park if you do drop them! The great part about the mount compared to all other designs I've tried is the fact that the mounting plate can be left on the bars and the mapboard itself detached using a very positive and easy to use release clip. This way the board can be easily removed when you put the bike on top of the car, in storage, when you go for a 'normal' ride, when stacking bikes in a trailer at races, etc etc.
