newkie

I thought I was getting a serious upgrade in stability, but my bipod stand sucks.



I really wanted the most stable stand out there. I am so sick of hooking my smallish 18l pannier and having the bike fall. Because the bipod stand elevates the front wheel, a damper or stabilizer is recmmended. This keeps the front wheel from flopping to one side which is meant to assure stability. While useful, it didn't make a difference. FWIW you may find a good deal on these (at least in europe) by searching ebay.de for the term "Lenkungsdämpfer".

Does anyone have a bipod stand which they are happy with? What is the best stand out there?

irclean

I bought a cheap bipod kickstand for my family bike:



I figured it would make a more stable platform when loading my son in and out of his seat. Unfortunately, once he's loaded the bike becomes very top-heavy and I have to step on one of the kickstand's legs to keep the bike from tipping over. My other two bikes use Greenfield Stabilizer kickstands:



I regularly load them with my 24L pannier and 8L trunk bag, and the bikes feel very stable:




Since Greenfield makes a shorter (285mm) version for bikes with 26" wheels, I will be replacing the kickstand on the family bike when the weather improves.

enigmaT120

What do those Greenfields look like in the up position? Do they stick very far out to the back?

RoadieRex

I have the Pletscher ESGE Double Kickstand on my Surly LHT and it works great even when fully loaded with 4 panniers and a tent and sleeping bag on the rear rack. https://harriscyclery.net/product/sks...stand-1034.htm In strong winds or unpredictable weather, I will still lay the bike on its side or lock it to something that won't allow it to fall though.

irclean

In this pic you can see it's about as long as my pannier is wide:



Here's a closer shot from the drive side:



And on my Schwinn:

Leisesturm

Velo Orange - Porteur Double Kickstand

vXhanz

I have the same kickstand and I think it's great on my LHT. I have thought about cutting the legs down a little bit to keep the front end from riding up so high when stopped. I too have found that it's not very balanced with strong winds or less than level ground and your bike will dump in a moment. Those problems aside I think it's great for changing the wheels out or doing other work on the bike.

V

fietsbob

I had Aluminum Pads welded on the bottom of My 2 legged Esge,
they're D shaped feet so it still folds as before
so I can park on Dirt shoulders, and it won't tent-stake into the ground.


Another bike, a Koga Trekking bike, has 2 kickstands .

One is under the left front rack, so the wheel won't roll and pull the bike over.

HardyWeinberg

I just added rubber feet to the base of my kickstand(s), but the one kickstand I cut down a bit, I didn't trim the end neatly enough and it cuts through the rubber foot. And on my wet yard it tent-stakes through the rubber foot into the ground, leaves the foot at surface level. Great...

EKW in DC

+1 for the Greenfield if your bike can take it (see next paragraph). I've got one on my hybrid now and it's been a great kickstand.

I know that it's not recommended for the Surly LHT b/c it interferes w/ the spare spoke holders on the non-drive side chainstay. But I can't see why it wouldn't work on any hybrid, MTB, or even most road bikes.

I like the looks of the Pletscher. I'll probably have to go sans kickstand for a while once I first build up my Surly, but I think it will have a Pletscher in its future...

HardyWeinberg

I make one work on my LHT

EKW in DC

How'd you do it? Any tips you can share? Pics? Still have access to the spare spoke holder?

I'd love to just swap my kickstand to the new frame like I'm doing with so many other things, but I'd seen comments in threads suggesting against and then there was a Surly blog post which also argued against...

2_i 

Hebie steel bipod. You also need to have a decent kickstand plate. An alternative to the latter is a Hebie accessory that attaches to the chainstay bridge.

While I have not been through all the suggestions that have been given, some of those, like Greenfield or Esge, are way less stable than the Hebie above. Besides stability, the advantage of the Hebie is that it can serve as a workstand, in letting cranks turn while unfolded.

interested

The best kickstand brand I know of is Hebie.
This bipod kickstand is their topmodel : https://www.hebie.de/bipod-stand-690T...0t.0.html?&L=1

This bipod is common on the heavily loaded EU mail bikes (I believe UK Royal Mail used it too):
https://www.hebie.de/bidop-stand-605....05.0.html?&L=1

I don't have personal experience with their bipods, but my Hebie 671 is the strongest and toughest and most stable kickstand I have ever owned. Top quality stuff.
Hebie also make a couple of stabilizers like this: https://www.hebie.de/stabilizer-696-m...50.0.html?&L=1

Rose Versand in Germany have most Hebie things and a English website too. Good shop (more than 100 years old) and good selection of bits on their web shop you can't find elsewhere.
https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/

--
Regards

cpt. Howdy

I don't know much about kickstands, but i know the farther apart the feet are, the more stable the bike will be.

newkie

Yes, admittedly I did opt for the generic alternative. I suppose the main difference would be how wide the stance is. Mine is 22cm (8.5 inches).

I also agree one plus of a bipod is that, as one wheel is elevated, it makes it very easy to turn the crank and oil your chain.

Can I ask you a question about the kickstand plate? How does it attach to the bike? Are all part included for mounting it or is there additional bits to purchase?


I actually purchased a Herbie 636 on ebay but when I realized it needed a kickstand plate I cancelled the order and got a wide generic kickstand. It mounts the "standard" way, in my mind, sandwiching the frame behind the bottom backet. I suppose, if I had to guess, a kickstand plate is less likely to have lateral movement from a loose bolt. I don't know how common they are in Europe, contrary to misconceptions that all European have these Dutch bike extras. My bike is German but a kickstand plate and bosses for a ring lock aren't there... it's uncommon here too.

Sancycles

Try taking a look at Japanese bicycles. They do have a variety of stable kickstands and anti-swing mechanisms.
Check out "Bicycle Stand" in this thread to compare different stands.

fietsbob

Goes on the frame before it's painted, part of the build.
though there is a bolt on substitute ,
but a weak substitute .. need a hole in the chainstay bridge to use that..
then the big old bolt still squeezes the chainstay tubes.

European builders offer a rear prop stand, Different sort,
It mounts with 2 bolts thru the rear of the left chainstay..

'Plietchsher' Swiss guys.. supplies the stands ..

Premeditated kickstand plates are best.

newkie

Once chainreactioncycles had a rear stand for less than a fiver but it didn't come with any mounting hardware and I had no idea what to do with it. If my generic stand doesn't work out (I believe it will, in fairness) a rear stand mounted on the same side as my single pannier might make sense.

I notice that the Hebie 616 would have probably been my best choice in that it is properly bolted to the axel of my IGH and thus no retrofit kickstand plates or sandwiching / squeezing the frame would have been necessary.

2_i 

This replacement kickstand plate can be seen here on the Hebie site. The part number is 699 40. The plate attaches with a bolt to the chainstay bridge. You need to order that plate from a Hebie dealer and the plate comes alone - you need to supply a bolt + a nut and washers yourself. (The chainstay needs also to have a hole.) Best would be to use stainless steel and use a nut with a nylon insert. The tolerance for the length of the bolt is pretty narrow. The plate costs around 5 euro in Germany.

The plate is out of plastic but, defying expectations, actually works. I have to warn, though, that I have not tried to break it. Without a plate, a kickstand supporting a loaded bicycle requires constant retightening of the mounting bolt, which, eventually crushes the stays. With this one, as fietsbob states, you still need to use the top plate that comes with the kickstand, but far less pressure is required to prevent the kickstand from turning. With the less than critical pressure the chainstays live on fine.

On my main bike I had a custom kickstand plate brazed on but have to warn that just brazing on a flat sheet of metal would not do. The plate needs more structure to work properly.

HardyWeinberg

Here is a picture - spokeholder access is relatively limited, but then again I've not yet needed the spokes so so far so good (knock on fiberboard)

Boye

@Hardy: Seeing you have a Burley hitch, have you by any chance tried whether you could get away with using their standard hitch (https://www.burley.com/home/bur/page_...ged_hitch.html) or would it interfere with the kickstand? The QR hitch you are using doesn't seem to be available any more.

fietsbob

I see no advantage over the QR replacement skewer in the picture. that one rotates,
was a product designed by the worker owned Co Operative Burly
that built the reputation that the new company owner bought at the Bankruptcy
of the original Burly company..

the aluminum thing is rigidly clamped Under a skewer,
Or the Nuts if that is an IG or solid axle hub

But if that is all that is in inventory, any more , that's all you can get.
someone decided to not order another lot of the previous Alternative hitches
From the contract supplier.

Hardy do you know if the spokes in that thing even fit your wheel, are they the right length?
Common to need 3 lengths for the 2 wheels.

I've come to think the spoke holder is a Gimmick for Image, .. when the spokes in the thing
don't fit your wheel just that..

HardyWeinberg

I don't think that hitch would interfere w/ the kickstand. Bummer if the alternative one is no longer available. We actually have a few floating around, I should look into rounding them up, seeing if they have missing parts, and getting them back into circulation.

We also have a couple like the one you linked, but cast(?) flat, not w/ ridges around the edge.

Now that you mention it those spokes are definitely not associated w/ the wheels on that bike right now. I also think the spokeholder is a gimmick. I think they had a 'what else can we braze onto this thing' party when drawing it up. I don't use those spokes, I don't use the frame pump peg, I don't use the chain hanger (I tried a couple times but it keeps falling off). I don't even use the brake stop on the rear triangle since I switched over to V brakes.

Still love the bike though.

Boye

I actually have one of those as well. It is not relevant at this point but might be in the future, so thanks for your considerations.