Cycling in Sydney Australia
Kick stands for touring? Worth the weight?
I'm about to go on a month long bike tour in New Zealand. I can imagine a heavy duty kick-stand could be quite handy to have. I remember on previous tours if there were no good leaning posts, fences or trees when stopping to do anything usually one person had the task of holding the bikes while the other person foraged in bags, etc.
On the other hand the ones that are strong enough to hold a loaded touring bike must be pretty bulky and heavy. Considering the number of hills to climb in the south island maybe I would just prefer to lean on some trees!
So I'm asking - Is it worth it?
If so, any models/brands to recommend?
I've only really seen this one from Velo Orange. I'm riding a surly long haul trucker, 60cm if that makes any difference. Probably carrying 10-20kg of additional weight.
On the other hand the ones that are strong enough to hold a loaded touring bike must be pretty bulky and heavy. Considering the number of hills to climb in the south island maybe I would just prefer to lean on some trees!
So I'm asking - Is it worth it?
If so, any models/brands to recommend?
I've only really seen this one from Velo Orange. I'm riding a surly long haul trucker, 60cm if that makes any difference. Probably carrying 10-20kg of additional weight.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John H on -
I have this style of stand on my Surly LHT which I bought from Chheky Transport at Newtown. They are a good stand but have a few drawbacks. They don't like soft ground ( most wouldn't I imagine) They are not stable if you are unequally loaded, eg only one pannier. On solid ground they are really great. No need to find a tree or fence. I use them on the train & they are stable enough to not allow the bike to fall when the train rocks. I don't think the weight really matters that much. If you are like me, you can shed 10 -15 kilos off the bike by participating in some judicious eating habits.
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Permalink Reply by Adrian on -
I've been looking at getting one of the Pletscher dual leg kickstands. Yes, I think there worth it.
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Permalink Reply by Paul on -
Yeah, I still have two of these in my garage waiting for me to get around to attaching them to the Electra Townies! Tried a couple of weeks ago and found that I need to pop up to bunnings and get a shorter bolt. The mounting bracket suppiled assumes your bike has no actual mounting hole for a kickstand, but the Townie conveniently has such a thing already, so the mounting bolt and clamp are not suitable.
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Permalink Reply by hartleymartin on -
Get a biopod stand like this one:
The one I have is marked "TOPGEAR" and is the same as the type used by Australia Post on their delivery bicycles. A spring attachment on the back of the forks which keeps the front wheel centred when parked also helps to prevent the bicycle from falling over.
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Permalink Reply by Neil Alexander on -
I have a Hebie stand on my MTB used for touring. It originally came from St Kilda Cycles (Vic) but I can't see them listed on their website now. These people have them, though. I am unclear on whether there are different models for MTB and road bikes.
In use, it is far better than a one-legged stand for obvious reasons. The weight is minimal and not noticeable if you already have a touring load.
An interesting "alternative" I used on my tourer with drop bars before aero brake levers came into fashion was a "stop block" to lock the front brake on. This meant you could lean the handlebars against something vertical (e.g. a tree, a pole, anything) and get access to both sides at the rear without the bike shifting around uncomfortably. Of course, it doesn't address the problem, which you foresee, of not having the vertical object. In a pinch, you could, of course, lean two bikes together and lock on the brakes somehow.
(When not in use the stop block clipped onto the brake outer cable around which was wound a security cord to stop it leaping off over bumps. Maybe in this era of brifters you could clip it onto the gear cable outer, if you could find one -- a stop block, I mean. I use baa-cons now, of course, and the security cord on proprietary models was not long enough to reach from the exposed outer to the brake lever. And I lost my stop block oneday somewhere in Montana... or Idaho... or maybe Colorado. No wonder I could never find it.)
While I am raving, perhaps I could put in a request for a brief report on the tour when you come back. Just where you went, a bit about road conditions, where you stayed, a few highlights and a photo or two. Not too much to ask, I hope.
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Permalink Reply by Nick on -
Definitely can provide a report!
I saw this one a one sided stand claiming to be good enough for a loaded touring bike. Maybe without front panniers though?
Doesn't sound like it is much lighter than the dual anyway.
I saw your hebie stand is rated as awesome (and available at cheeky in newtown) but twice as heavy as the Pletscher dual. Apparently both go well with a LHT.
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Permalink Reply by Robert Harris on -
I've been umming and ahhing about putting a Pletscher or similar behind-the-bottom-bracket dual leg stand on my bike, but I've heard horror stories about chainstays being crimped and/or squashed from either over-tightening the mounting bolt or the weight of the bike+load resting on the stand via the chain stays.
Example here:
LHT Owners Group
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Have any of you guys encountered this problem?
I'm thinking of getting one of these:
ClickStand
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Permalink Reply by Nick on
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Robert,
Go to this link and scroll down to "Stuff We Like: Pletscher Deluxe Top Plate"
I'm still teetering with this but if i go for the plescher i will order from Thor USA because they have this deluxe top plate which is supposed to avoid the issues you mention which seem really common. Apart from the damage, coming loose seems to be a big problem with the Pletscher on the standard LHT setup.
I'm concerned about clearance for the stand and mount because my inner chain ring is very close to the chain stays - maybe 4-5mm. Even if the mount fit it would only have to move fractionally to start hitting the chainring.
See the width of the plastic marked with a red arrow is what concerns me (but on the drive side that the green arrow is pointing to).
I'm now also considering one of these 'click stands' which seem awesome. Available (custom made) from here.
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Permalink Reply by baa baa on -
I'm riding a surly long haul trucker, 60cm if that makes any difference.
I think it might in terms of the wheel base and the torque on the frame. Are you also using front panniers?
I prefer to lay my bike down when loaded.
Neil, I recall those blocks, they did seem to escape quite a lot.
I use the high tech wooden peg model.
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Permalink Reply by Dabba on -
Nice one Baa Baa. I've seen elastic/rubber bands used, and while touring, if I've got to put my loaded bike on a train, I tape the front brake lever with insulating tape to lock it on. When we had our tandem, it used to have a push button on the stoker's drag brake lever to act as an effective park brake.
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Permalink Reply by noelbike on -
I don't bother and it is never really a problem. In countries where there are lots of bikes (parts of Europe and India for me) I have to apologise sometimes. People expect me to be able to park my bike out on the street. What is tricky is parking when I have the BOB trailer on. This requires a long leaning wall. (please don't tell me about how you can jackknife the trailer so that the bike and the trailer hold each other up). Normally hotels and cafes are chosen on the basis of the quality of the leaning opportunity.
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