phughes

It takes a couple of seconds to deploy. The longest part of the operation is undoing the velcro strap and taking it off the holder. I use one but usually lean the bike on something since I'm usually locking the nike anyway. If I were to use a kickstand on a touring bike instead of the Click-Stand, I would go to a Pletscher double kickstand. Amazon.com : Pletscher Two-Leg Kickstand 320mm Black : Sports & Outdoors

People have put them on Long Haul Truckers with success as long as you don't go overboard with cranking it down. I wouldn't, but then again, I don't want a kickstand. I have seen people use a spacer that prevents tightening the clamp to the point of crushing the tubes. The bolt is torqued tightly against the spacer rather than the tubes. The trick is getting the spacer the correct length to allow the stand to be tight on the tubes without crushing them.

For me, I'll use the Click-Stand, very stable.



I would not attempt this with a kickstand. I have the brake locked with the band that comes with the Click-Stand. I bought several extras.

mm718

It takes probably 15-20 seconds to take the click stand out of my bar bag and deploy the stand and brake bands. The bands are absolutely necessary and take about 3 seconds to do. They are kept on the bars and I haven't lost any although it's a good idea to order extra bands at the time of purchase because sometimes they break when putting them on (if you have bar end shifters) although I am kind of a klutz so maybe others don't have this problem.

15-20 seconds obviously isn't as convenient as a kickstand but it's not that big of a deal if you take the approach i described above in my first reply. If there is something to lean the bike against it doesn't make sense to use the click stand since the bike will be solid with just the brake bands. This is much better than having the click stand sticking out where someone could run into it or having your bike far away from the building so that the click stand is facing the building. When you aren't near something to lean the bike against the click-stand works great and it's no big deal.

Note too that the brake bands may serve as a theft deterrent with a snatch and grab or even a more sophisticated theft when people are around or the thief gets frustrated. The brake bands are black, my handlebar tape is black, and they are kept up the bends of the bars so you don't necessarily see them right away.

I have rear only panniers < 30 lbs and I haven't had the tipping problems that people mentioned above.

People do lose click stands so it's not a bad idea to get a more visible color.

headloss 

For those of us with drop bars, inside the seat post is another good spot for extra spokes... I would never put them in a pannier unless I made a carrying case out of pvc or something first to protect the spokes from bending.

NeilGunton

I tried the Clickstand on my Salsa Fargo. I really wanted to like it, because it's a cool idea that actually does work. I can see how people who don't like the look of regular kickstands hanging off the bike would like it. However I ended up not using it for a couple of reasons. First of all, I usually use the kickstand to hold the bike upright when I am working on it, e.g. adjusting the brakes or whatever. I found that when I tried doing this in my garage, it was too easy to accidentally nudge the stand out of position on the top tube. For example, if you move the bike at all, you could tip it just enough so that the top tube came out of the cup on the Clickstand, and then then you release the bike again, it fell over. This actually happened to me a couple of times, and it was quite annoying. With the Greenfield Stabilizer, the bike is very stable, because it forms a tripod with the stand and the two wheels. Knudging the bike may move it slightly, but the stand remains where it is, and the bike doesn't fall over. The only time I have to think about this is when loading the bike; then you simply put the panniers on the side opposite the stand first, otherwise if you put a heavy rear pannier on the stand side first, then the bike can tip. But that's all.

Another thing is that you need to find somewhere to put the Clickstand when you're not using it. It has to be readily available, obviously, otherwise you won't use it as much. But, it does have to be attached securely to the bike, otherwise it could fall off. So there's a bit of conflicting requirements there: Readily available, yet secure. There are a few moments that you have to spend every time you want to use it: Release the straps holding it to the bike (or take it out from wherever you stashed it), undo the straps holding it together, shake it out, position it under the top tube, attach the brake lever bands. Then when you're done, take the Clickstand off the top tube, fold it up segment by segment, attach the straps to hold it together, then strap it to the bike (or stash it back wherever you keep it), and finally remove the brake lever bands. With the Greenfield rear kickstand, it is always there, ready to use. You don't have to secure it, and you don't have to release it. You just get off the bike, kick the stand down, and you're done. When you leave, kick it up, and go. Quick and easy.

Another thing is that with the Clickstand, there is a risk of losing it, by simply forgetting to put it back on the bike. When you stop by the roadside to do something like fix a flat or have a bite to eat, there is always a danger of putting something down somewhere in the grass or dirt and then forgetting to pick it up again. It happens. With the Greenfield, it's always attached, so you can never forget it.

Finally, with the Clickstand you do need to somehow secure the brakes, in order to stop the bike from rolling. This involves using those little elastic bands, which have to be put somewhere when not in use. There's another thing that can be lost, and, since you use it all the time and it's small, you inevitably will lose it eventually. Or, the elastic will eventually give out and need to be replaced. With the Greenfield Stabilizer, the bike does want to roll around to find a neutral position, but once it's found that, it's stable. So you get used to knowing intuitively how to park the bike when you're on a slope; you get to be able to anticipate how it will roll around, and choose the best orientation.

The Greenfield Stabilizer is incidentally also useful for doing stuff like cleaning the chain, because it's out of the way of the pedals, and you can back-pedal while the bike is on the stand. So I could use things like the FinishLine chain cleaner to keep my chain in good working order (or whatever). It's useful to be able to hold the bike up wherever you happen to be, and work on it, without having to worry about the pedals catching on anything (as is the case with the stands that go behind the bottom bracket).

The only thing about the Greenfield Stabilizer, in my experience, is the attachment issue (e.g. disk brakes, spoke holders etc). But if you are able to get the thing on there, then you're golden. Oh, one more thing: Use either a lock washer or maybe Loctite Threadlocker to secure the main (large) bolt holding the kickstand onto its clamp. I have had it work loose gradually, but after I put the lock washer on there, no problems.

The only consumable item on the Stabilizer is the rubber foot, which does wear through eventually. I carry one or two spares in the bottom of my pannier. I like the stand enough that this is a minor thing for me. They are cheap (a couple of bucks) and very light.

I asked Co-Motion to make a custom kickstand mount on my Americano and also the new Divide, just so I could continue to use the Greenfield Stabilizer despite also having disk brakes. It works very well indeed.

Neil

crazyguyonabike.com: Bicycle Touring: Forums: Bikes (page 33)

veganbikes

I won't tell you what to do Baboo I will simply say that the best kickstand that comes with every bicycle is the rear wheel. Once I discovered that it changed my life. Good luck in whatever you end up doing.

Baboo

I would like to thank everyone who responded to my question about kickstands, I learned a lot about the pros and cons of each. I have only ever tried one type and that was the greenfield rear stabilizer it always worked pretty well for me, it's nice to know there are others that also work well.

Baboo

Ozfreeloader

It's easy if you have a handlebar bag on or you have a cycling top with pockets, the stand folds down small. I'm going to attach a small length of plastic pipe to my front rack and keep it in there on my Troll. The elastics can come off if they are just sitting on a drop bar, of course. On my Troll I have ergonomic handgrips so the elastics can't accidentally come off. On the LHT the elastics were kept away from the ends by the cables. I think some people use a velcro band instead of the elastics.

John Nolan 

Oh course, Clickstand sells frame mounted stand holders:
Products and Ordering

J.C. Koto

Pletscher?

fietsbob

yea...came back *********.. instead, for some reason...

FWIW. My NL built Koga WTR has 2 KS.. 1 is at the bottom edge of the left Low rider rack , **the other on the typical BB area plate-chainstay- bridge..

one of these , there**, now .. https://www.pletscher.ch/wEnglisch/pa...duct=14&navid=

phughes

I have the one that is called a "SIde-Bracket." It attaches under the water bottle cage. Very handy.

Baboo

Another popular stand but I don't think it's a good idea to use a clamp on center stand on an LHT, to many horror stories around of frame damage both cosmetic and terminal.

Thanks

grolby

The kickstand was a normal Greenfield. My experience is that a loaded touring bike is just too heavy to balance reliably on the kickstand; it ends up toppling over. On top of that, I do worry about damage to the tubing for not just the clamping force but all the weight on the kickstand coming to bear on the chain stays. I found it was better to lean up against trees or walls or logs or even just lay the bike on the ground. If a kickstand is that important, I understand that the fancy double-leg kickstands from Pletscher work well on a touring bike, but I just can't see spending that much money for one.

It's all good. I didn't realize you were specifically talking about dropout kickstands, which I have no personal experience with. I'm not interested in them, because they are typically quite heavy, but to each their own.

Aushiker

I have used a Greenfield Stabilizer Rear Mount Kickstand but on my BOB trailer not on my Surly Long Haul Trucker so sorry cannot help you there I am sorry. For what it is worth I did blog on my experience of the mount on the BOB. Photos maybe of use to you.

On my Surly Long Haul Trucker which has done 13,500 kilometres of which 98% of those kilometres are touring kilometres I have a Hebie Bipod Stand 605 NL and a retro fit stand plate 699 40 fitted. It has not caused me any problems at all, including flying with the bike and transporting it by bus.

I have found the stand very handy, particular on the side of road maintenance tasks, for acting as a tree for my water bladder and just being able to pull up where ever (more so on the bigger tours with the Extrawheel trailer)







Andrew

Baboo

Glad your back, the greenfield rear stay mounted kickstand weighs 13.5 ounces there is a good picture of one mounted in post 8

mm718

Neil,

You bring up some good points and I agree that overall the Greenfield would be more convenient but for those who don't want risk frame damage or alter their frame I don't' think the click-stand is a bad way to go. A few comments:

I keep my click-stand in my handlebar bag. I am usually opening it anyway at stops and the click-stand is right there. No bending over, balancing the bike, velcro, or anything. Releasing the click stand strap, shaking it out and placing it under the bike is one fluid movement that takes less than 5 seconds. On my bike the brake bands sit perfectly right under the brakes and are ready to go at all times. They don't slip down and if they did the bar end shifter cables would keep them from slipping off. There is little risk of losing them but it's good to have extras in case they break. There is a risk of losing the click-stand but simply adopting the habit of always putting it back in the handlebar bag should greatly reduce this risk. It's also always a good idea to do visual sweeps of camp or a stop before leaving and this further reduces the risk of losing the click-stand or other items.

The click-stand is approximately 9 ounces lighter, which is a significant amount of weight for those of us trying to travel lighter. Also, as I mentioned above the brake bands add another level of security against theft.

Rob_E

I feel like I successfully mounted a rear mounted kickstand on my LHT. I can't remember for certain, nor do I remember the brand. I will have to dig it out and see if I can reinstall it. I miss having a kickstand. I do use a clickstand, but I don't find it as convenient. It's handy when you don't want to lay down your fully loaded bike, but for every day use, I like a simple, kick-it-down-and-go stand. That said, the rear mounted stand may not be that either. With the front wheel free to flop around and roll, it can sometimes be a trick to get the bike steady with my rear-mounted stand. In fact, the part of my Clickstand that I use the most, is the little, elastic loops. Even when I don't get the stand out, slipping a loop over my brake handle will allow me to lean the bike against just about anything without it rolling.

I've also tried the Pletscher (sp?), two-legged stand. It was never as stable as I wanted it to be, possible because my bike is heavier in the rear and the front wheel would lift off the ground and flop around, upsetting the balance. I had other issues with it, too. I kept taking it off and shaving a little off the ends to get it sit lower, but every time I did that, the footprint of the stand got a little smaller. I took it off and replaced it with the Clickstand, and that was definitely an improvement for me.

ETA: One issue I do have with the Clickstand is that when I pulled it out of its mount on my bike to use it the other day (first time in a while), I noticed that the elastic had loosened up considerably. I can no longer just let it unfold and snap together. It's the weight of the bike that holds the pieces together rather than the elastic. Still handy, but showing its age.

mm718

If you take the foot off of the click-stand and retie the knot a little higher it will it will tighten things up.

Rob_E

Good to know. I will give that a try. Thanks.

Baboo

I just wanted to attach couple of pictures to show why I am wanting to add a Greenfield rear kickstand to a new LHT frame. I have been using them for a number of years, maybe the pictures will show why I would like to continue using one. The red bike is the one with the Greenfield rear stand.

Recycle

11,000 miles with a Greenfield rear kickstand and no problems. It is mounted with a few sections of inner tube as spacers so as to protect the seat and chain stays and not interfere with the spoke holder.

Baboo

Glad to know it can be done without removing the spoke holder. Did you have a lot of trouble getting the bolt to go over the top of the chain stay? In the picture it looks like the top of the kickstand clamp doesn't quite reach the seat stay. Is that correct or just the angle of the camera?