Pletscher Double Kickstand
 

Anyone here have have this kickstand on a L.H.T.I just ordered one and I didn't think about it until now, will the rear derailleur cable be in the way on the bottom of the chainstay.Thanks in advance. Kevin

My husband just got a LHT and heard that you are not to put a kickstand on it because it might mess up the frame. Here is a link to the surly website about kickstands. http://surlybikes.com/info_hole/spew..._haul_truckers He ordered a clickstand and he really likes it. I hope this will link it. http://www.click-stand.com/

Try this instead. Works wonders

http://www.click-stand.com/

Pletscher=heavy. FWIW, here is review on CG of the Edge/SKS double leg. In spite of giving it a 4 star rating at the time, in hind sight, I'd drop that to 2 stars for weight/overkill. I'm ok with the simple box store stands, and if too windy, just laying the bike down. The click stand is good, 'cept for the mild fiddle factor.

Have you tried a click stand? Its pretty simple really and pretty nice to boot.

Better, If the frame came with a mounting plate , but it does Not , Surly/QBP contract stipulations
got justified as to why not..

I have a Koga Trekking Bike , it comes with 2 Prop-stands , One under the Left front lowrider.
the other one on the frame , Mine at the center , later at/near the rear dropout.

The ends of the plietcher or the click-stand need a firm surface to resist penetration into soft turf.

or find a board, or bottle cap to make a bigger footprint.

enough people want to put a Kickstand On LHT's Plietcher makes curved plastic pieces
and Special upper clamp cap for the purpose..

largely If im not loading it or stopping briefly The Bike is Locked to something..

I believe the best way to keep your bike from falling over is to simply lay it down, dérailleur side up, front wheel pointed up, 90 degrees to the frame.

I have the Pletscher on my LHT, it seems to work fine. It was the one recommended if you just got to have a stand by Surly. Having said that, I'm not all that impressed with it. Likely, it will be coming off my LHT in the next day or so. It works fine, but with the load on the back, it's not stable enough. The chainstay mounted variety was how people were really messing up their LHT frames with heavy loads then leaning them on the chainstay mounted stand.

For me, two days of Pletscher really isn't worth all the work I put into it for the few occasions it would actually come in handy, I'm still leaning the bike on everything like it doesn't have a kickstand.

T

I don't have a Surly LHT, but I use the Pletscher two legged kickstand every day on my commuter, a converted MTB. I wouldn't go back to not having a kickstand. I pulled it off my tourer (also a converted MTB, older, with long chainstays) while I am rebuilding it, but I'll be getting another one for it once I get the time and money to get that bike back together.

I find having a kickstand extremely helpful, especially when touring. Not having to try and find something to lean the bike against is really helpful, especially if you are just stopping to get something out of one of the panniers. It's a big help when loading and unloading the bike too. I don't think the Pletscher is all that heavy, especially compared to other two legged kickstands.

I do recommend getting the accessory plate that some places sell for it. This keeps the kickstand from eventually spinning around on you. It probably helps distribute the weight a little better too.

It's probably available elsewhere, but this is one place that I know has it:
http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/k5.htm

Besides, if you have a two legged kickstand, you can do this! -
http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1...3936651060.jpg

I used one all the time on my LHT, thought it worked great, never was concerned about the chainstays getting crushed. http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=321136

It is heavy, but it's one of the best stands for a loaded touring bike. (it's a LOADED TOURING BIKE)http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=321137 and far more convenient than a clickstand. Which i own, and use on some trips, by the way. Clickstands are great, in another way. But a kickstand works like a, well, a kickstand. They put them on motorcycles, you know?http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=321138

If i ever outfit a traditional heavy touring bike again, it will be with a pletcher two legged kickstand.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=321139

One of my tips, for those that use them, is a front wheel stabilizer to keep the front wheel straight when stopped. I used a 6 inch bungie wrapped around my bottle cage, i would use it to secure the front wheel by the fender stays to the triangle when parked, this cut down on the instability of a two legged kickstand considerably.

+1 on the Click Stand it works great, weighs next to nothing and packs small for me it is one of the best pieces of equipment purchased to date.

Surley? 25 marketing people in Minnesota, I don't think I would be worried about taking their advice.

I use Pletscher two legged kickstands on a MTB commuter and my touring frames, perfect. One thing I do, which may sound odd, is wrap the chainstays with old tubes at the contact point, and I use a beefy black zip tie to pull the bolt assembly towards the bottom bracket and lock it into place. They have a tendency to loosen over time, torque around, and I've found locking them in and having rubber at the contact point allows them to flex slightly but stay in place. I suspect the damage that is done to the frame is a result of people over torquing them attempting to get them to stay put.

Otherwise, they are heavy...not something I would consider for a fast ride. I can't imagine not using one for a dedicated touring bike.

Maybe true, but their probable motivation is the related returns cuts into their profit$.

IMO: If you want your bike to fall over use a kickstand.

The reports of crushed chainstays on LHT were the reason that Surly started to recommend against kickstands. They wanted to make it clear that a crushed chainstay was not a valid warranty claim.

I have an older LHT from first year of frame production, the early LHT appear to have had a different chainstay design, I use a single legged kickstand on my LHT. The color of the bike in the photos above from Bekologist suggest that his LHT is also one of the early ones from the first or second year of production. But even if these earlier chainstays were more robust, you have to be careful to not over-tighten the bolts.

Some have fitted a Greenfield single leg stand that clamps on the chainstay and seatstay near the rear dropout. The LHT spare spoke holder gets in the way for this type of mount. Some have done some surgery on the stand to make it fit, others have done some surgery on the spoke holder. I have one of these stands on a different bike (see photo) and this is my favorite type of stand. If I was going to try to put a kickstand on a newer LHT, this is the type of stand I would use, but I know in advance that I would have to spend some time making if fit with their spoke holder being where it is.

Note the painted "no bikes" zone where people apparently were leaning their bikes against the buildings.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=321182

Also, I recommend blue locktite on all kickstand (and rack) bolts.

+1

All my friends who use a kickstand tell me that they have never had their bike fall over when on the kickstand. The funny thing is that I have seen nearly every one of them have their bike blow over. I find it no big hassle to lean the bike against something or failing that lay it on it's side. I'd much rather do that than carry an extra pound or two of kickstand.

The clickstand has one big advantage over a kick stand... Since it isn't bolted on, it is easier to mail home when you get tired of messing with it and carrying the extra weight :) Oh and, it is at least lighter than most if not all kickstands. I'd still rather not use one though.

I tend to be always looking for ways to simplify and carry fewer items. Because of that the decision to use a kickstand would go against the grain for me.

The other advantage
 

Everything posted so far is just about right on. Yes the double kickstand is stable, yes it is a bit heavy, yes you have to be careful not to torque it down to tight, and yes there are lighter alternatives. The one thing not mentioned yet was what a great stand it is for doing field repairs. Popping off wheels to fix flats, adjusting the drive train, and adjusting the brakes are a breeze with the double kickstand.

I had one on my LHT. It was fiddly getting it to stay tightened without overtightening. Then when it got knocked out of alignment and needed some adjusting, the bolt head got stripped, and I had to destroy the top plate to remove it. That was okay because I got to replace the top plate with the Deluxe top plate (http://www.thorusa.com/accessories/pletscher.htm) which was easier to install and keep installed.

BUT while I loved the kickstand for commuting, I still didn't find it particularly steady for touring. Too much weight or an uneven load would make that kickstand useless. Finding level parking was more important, too. I replaced it with a Click-Stand. For touring, I like the click stand. For daily riding, it hardly ever gets used, however the elastic straps that engage the brake, which came with the click-stand, make it possible for me to lean the bike all kinds of places without it rolling. Those get used all of the time. I still like an actual kickstand, but click stand is meeting my needs for now. If I put another kickstand on the Trucker, I think I'd go with a rear-mounted one.

I've been toying the feasibility of using a Click-stand in conjunction with the parked bike to form a tripod on which to string the UL tarp/shelter of choice, if trees or rigging is unavailable. But i haven't toured the plains/SW lately, haven't had to.

For the click-stand, it has potential for double duty for UL packers as a shelter support. Double duty halves the weight ;)

This. I have actually done drivetrain adjustments and patched tubes on my touring rigs while the bike is standing upright on the Pletscher. I recall pulling the rear wheel off to change a tube, and this by-stander said "Holy cap, how do you do that". I told him it was magic. Not a big deal, but it is a nice bonus... you can also park your coffee cup on your rear rack and do a variety of useful things with two hands - like clean your bike - without it laying down. If the darn thing was made out of CF it would be perfect.

Sounds great until the wind blows at 4am and you take a handlebar end to the skull and the chainring shreds your silnylon.

I've used the bike as a guyline anchor, but the bike was on it's side away from shelter, where it couldn't fall onto me or trip me up. I check overhanging trees for dead limbs (widowmakers) too, and avoid pitching under trees if convenient to avoid sap, insects, etc.

OP, the bottom plate of a universal-mount kickstand will come very close to interfering with RD cable run. On my LHT the gap between cable and CS is 5mm at widest point. Cable may rub on kickstand mount but still work, although it will possibly fray/break and/or add some unwanted friction in RD operation. You could file away some of the offending metal to clear the path for cable.

To join in the chorus, on top of potential for practically irreparable frame damage, most kickstands fail in wind, soft ground, etc. Better off saving 30 bux, leaving 2 lbs at home, and just leaning bike against rail, wall, or ground. Even simpler than a Click Stand, you can easily fashion a front wheel parking brake with a band wrapped around the brake lever, plus run a bungee from DT bottle cage through wheel and back to bottle cage, to lock front wheel into position ( a Flickstand of sorts).

If I understand you correctly that can easily be done without a stand. I start with a stake or if possible something even more secure. The end of the line is anchored there. A clove hitch is tied around the top tube or stem and the rest of the line goes to another stake or other anchor point. I thought I had a picture, but can't seem to find it right now.

well, done that, but this is more for when there isn't the secure thing to anchor to, and the potential for this -

makes me feel much more confident about building a tripod with bike + Clickstand. self supporting tripod, it's not going to topple short of some crazy circumstance, nothing i'd lose sleep over. But, definitely going to build it with the bike leaning away from my tarp.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=321298
I have a Pletscher on my Disc trucker and love it. I scarred my new frame many times leaning the bike on things or dropping it while trying to load the bags. I decided after reading all the goods and bads that being able to adjust drivetrain, fix a tire, or load a bike is worth the weight penalty....on my 45-50 lb bike. I find the stand useful for the bike I built and the way I ride. I used Loctite on the bolt and wrapped the frame in repurposed bar tape to protect the paint, so far after 300+ miles of mixed terrain riding all is well.

I really like (not!) accessing the contents of a pannier on a bike which has that Pannier
laying on the Ground.

For some reason the image I posted up thread won't show up, but the link to it did. ;)

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/1...3936651060.jpg


I think part of the key to getting the benefit of a two legged kickstand is to have a front wheel stabilizer of some sort. Whether this is an old toe strap or similar strap, one of the Dutch or Velo Orange spring based offerings, or a locking headset, being able to secure the front wheel so it won't flop over vastly improves the utility of it. In a pinch, I'll dismount a pannier and toss it behind the front wheel (and a little to one side), but using one of the above methods is superior.