Kickstands
 

Since I got into buying old lugged steel bikes and rebuilding them, I once posted a thread on the C&V Forum about how I hate kickstands because of the damage they do to the chain stays. Then, I started getting into touring, and saw the other side. Now I’m wanting to put a stand on my touring bike and was wondering what you considered was a good touring kickstand and why?

These are mentioned enough to have a look. Why? No clamping.
http://www.click-stand.com/

Tubus makes a kickstand that attaches directly to their lowrider front racks. I have not tried it, but have been thinking about it. Does anybody have any experience with these?

I have a Tubus front kickstand. They are the absolute best when paired with a rear stay mounted kickstand. The Tubus front kickstand is height adjustable. You just wind it clockwise or anti-clockwise to get the right length depending on load weight and road angle. I suggest you get a rear kickstand that is height adjustable to go with it.


The only down side is that it's probably the most expensive option and really hard to find to buy online. I found mine on ebay. I've been trying to find another one for my girlfriends bike for 6mths now.


Click-stands work well, there's no argument there. The idea of setting it up and folding it away every time seems quite a bit of a bother compared to a kickstand.


Pletscher double Kickstand seems to be a well proven option. But it won't stabilize your front end.

+1 I have one and it's great.

A heavily loaded bike will test any stand, especially on soft ground.

I have a rear stay mounted single leg kickstand and prefer that. But, I have a spare spoke holder on one bike that interferes with installation of a rear mounted kickstand, thus I use a single leg stand that is installed on the chainstays on that bike.

i also have a spare spoke holder on the left chainstay. I used Selleys KneadIt to build out the stay wider so the kickstand misses the spare spokes.
It molds like plasticine and sets like rock.

http://i665.photobucket.com/albums/v...s/DSC00403.jpg

pawnii, is the tubus stand reversible so it could be used on left or right side? I was wondering about buying two so it would be like a two legged stand. I use two large front panniers and only a rack top bag in back. Do you think the legs of the tubus stand would adjust long enough because the bike would not be leaning to one side when used with two? Even enough to elevate the front wheel off the ground a bit? My thought was that this would prevent the bike from falling over to the other side.

The greenfield rear-triangle stand comes w/ plastic ... shims? to protect the frame, or at least to protect the paint. I've never crunched a tube with one, and have installed several.

Yes with a load on soft ground it will aerate the soil.

I really like the rear triangle stand it also acts as a workstand if needed, for a lot of tasks.

BWF. I don't think what your trying to achieve will work. Even if the Tubus kickstand will go on the right side of the bike it would not be symmetrical. The left side would kick forward to go down and the right side would kick backwards to go down.

On a 26" wheel you could extend the kickstand so the bike is not leaning. If you had two kickstands on either side this would keep it from falling either side but they wouldn't strike the ground at the same point so lifting it off the ground would just result in the handlebars twisting.

FWIW i have never dropped my bike on the non kickstand side so i'm not sure you would really need a kickstand on the right side.

Hope this helps you.

+1. Me neither.

I really like the idea of the front kickstand. I think that it would work nicely with my Kickback kickstand.

I know its off topic but I will chime in for the anti-kickstand touring crowd. I just lay my bike down on its bags in the very rare occasions that I cant find something to lean it against. No big deal. Also, you remove the risk of your bike being damaged due to a fall, completely!

Ya, your bags will get a little dirty. Who cares? Its lighter and one less thing to worry about. My first tour I used a kick stand because everyone said I had to have one. Eventually the bike fell over due to a slight gust of wind, or soft ground, or because it felt like it, ect... and it bent the front rack and put a huge scratch on the top tube of the bike. I was using a Jand expedition front rack that slammed itself into the top tube when it fell over. I am lucky I didnt ruin the frame.

Why risk your bike falling over at all? As others have said, any loaded touring bike will "test" the abilities of any kickstand. Why take the chance? 95% of the time you can find something stable to lean the bike against, and %5 of the time you can just put it down. Not. A. Big. Deal.

Feel free to flame me now ;)

I fabricated a rear wheel prop stand , pivots near the axle.
used thinwall steel tube ,freestanding, holds up the loaded bike
where ever I stopped,
rolled the loaded bike back onto it like a motorbike..

Made packing up a breeze as it stood up on soft turf, where the camp was
and Access to both sides was insured.

daily rider is my Koga , they came OEM with a modified Tubus low rider KS
and a Plate for mounting a center prop stand
its planning ahead with the mounting plate that is the important part.

there is another type, uses bosses brazed into the rear of the chainstay,
to mount a KS back there, bolts thru those bosses,

gets done before the paint goes on.

I use a two legg Esge kickstand on our tandem now and love it. And I am a person that swore I'd never use one for 35 years. The esge holds the rear wheel off the ground like a motorcycle stand and the bike is completely vertical so no lean to worry about. Front wheel can turn either way without affecting balance and as long as panniers are roughly balanced in weight it is stable as heck. Now I feel kind of dumb for spending 35 years looking for trees to lean on or lying it down and scraping it up that way. I used to think good bikers would chuckle at me if they saw I have a kicksand. Now I laugh at them (and leave many eating my dust,,).

That's pretty funny, you seem to like the ESGE for precisely the same reasons I dislike it. I've found this stand to be very unstable, due to the fact that it keeps the bike vertical - in that position, I've found it's very prone to topple one way or the other. When I am loading panniers onto the bike, then whichever side I put on first, the bike wants to topple that way. With the Greenfield Stabilizer rear kickstand, on the other hand, the natural lean of the bike makes it extremely stable. I can simply load the side away from the stand first, and the lean with counteract the uneven weight while I attach the other pannier.

Another problem with the ESGE (as I see it): You have to raise the bike off the ground in order to put the stand down. This is obviously possible, but not something I really want to be doing with a loaded bicycle all day long. With the Greenfield Stabilizer, there is no lifting, you simply kick the stand down with a foot and lean the bike.

And another: The fact that the front wheel is raised off the ground with the ESGE (since the rear is usually heavier) means that the front wheel wants to swing around to one side or the other. When the bike is fully loaded, I have found that this tends to swing the front panniers around and destabilize the bike. The Greenfield Stabilizer, in contrast, makes the bike swing into a natural "neutral" position with the front wheel positioned on the same side as the stand. It's very stable like this, and the lean means that the bike is much harder to topple than when it is dead vertical. With the Stabilizer the bike basically forms a tripod (front wheel, back wheel, stand), which is an extremely stable construct.

I have actually had my bikes topple a few times with the ESGE. Both bikes I have used this on (a Novara Safari and a Co-Motion Americano, my current bike) are singles, but I have heard other tandem users praise the 2-legged ESGE, so maybe it works better with the longer bike? I don't know. For me, it just doesn't work well.

The only benefit of the ESGE is that it does make a good workstand, as long as the cranks clear the stand legs. Then you can work on the drivetrain, and also take off the rear wheel without risking dragging the chain in the dirt. But the most common use of a kickstand is to just support the bike when I stop, and for that I much prefer the Greenfield Stabilizer.

I'm going to get Co-Motion to add a custom plate at some point on the chainstay of my Americano, because I can't currently use the Stabilizer due to the disk brakes.

Neil

+1 I chose the Pletscher two-leg for my touring bike which tows my trailer. I wanted to be able to stop without having to find a wall, and could not lay the bike down with the trailer attached. Works good so far, but I am thinking of getting the 'feet' for the legs to widen their footprint.

+1 two legg Esge kickstand; and works with the front or rear wheel removed - outstanding for on the road tube changes, truing.

Do the Pletscher and Greenfield fit the same type of plate braze-on?

that makes sense.

located behind the BB?,yes..

Greenfield does make one that goes behind the bottom bracket, but the one I like is the Stabilizer - it goes at the rear end of the left chainstay. I find this position makes for better stability. Only downside is that disk brakes make it hard to mount the stand, since the disk housing is right where the Stabilizer clamp arm wants to go. Ditto spoke holders on the chainstay, they get in the way.

Review and pic here:

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/revie...hread_id=38350

Neil

Pletscher does have another type , it's braze on is 2 thru bosses
thru the chainstay tube at the back the KS bolts on and a Nylock nut
on the inside keeps it from vibrating loose ..

http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate...ntl=us&fr=moz2

yes, sorry this is what I meant - thanks!

Wow, a kickstand and a spoke holder, my two nominees for most useless bike accessories on one bike! I'm warming up to kickstand, at least with trailers.

I kind of like the spoke holder on my bike, since it is already there and adds only very minimal weight. Granted there are plenty of other places to store spares though. Kickstands on the other hand I have pretty much no use for. In the few places I don't have somewhere to lean my bike I just lay it on the panniers.

My observation is that bikes on a kickstand are actually more likely to blow over. The majority of the times that I have seen bikes blow over it has been ones on those two legged stands. That and the extra weight of the stand are enough to make me not want one.