Need Kickstand for Carbon Fiber Touring Bike
 

I just started hauling my 12 year old pup (10lbs) around in a Burley Tail Wagon (23lbs). It works well with my utility bike which has a kickstand.

I acquired an expensive part to be able to attach it to my thru-axle, light "tourer", but it doesn't have a kickstand
and is simply a PITA when on the road/trail when we stop for a break or to put the dog in & out of the trailer.

Is there a kickstand that is designed for and will work on my CF bike?

Thank in advance!

If not attached to the axle or QR or TA somehow, most (all) kickstands are fastened through some type of clamp on the frame, and no, you shouldn't clamp anything to your CF bike frame.

Is there a way to use the trailer itself as a "kickstand". I'm not familiar with how the trailer is attached to the bike, but if it can be made temporarily rigid, it would hold the bike upright.

I've never felt the need for a kickstand and wouldn't clamp anything to a carbon frame, but if you need something how about a click-stand?

Does the trailer prevent just laying the bike on it's side when there is nothing to lean it against?

If I had the OP's challenge and I had aluminum welding skills, I'd design a kickstand in the form of an upside down "Y". Vertical leg would run behind the seat tube with padded aluminum semi-hoops similar to those on crutches of long-term users. Just above the chainstays, it splits and short plates run down with a bolt running across serving as pivot for the "V" of a double kickstand with a padded plate across to support the bike's weight. (Don't build this without researching further. I've invested about 1 minute of time above typing time on this concept.)

Yes, I thought the trailer connection would allow the bike to stand, but no. In addition I can't lay the bike down all the way as it stresses the attachment hardware.

Looks like a good excuse for the acquisition of another "special purpose" bike! --- but, on second thought, I may become homeless thereafter...

Clickstand? I think that is what it is called.
I've seen pictures of a longish strut that has the "Y" on the top, it goes under the top tube and then the bike leans on it.
Rubber bands on the brake levers to lock the brakes might help as well, what ever you end up wth.

Clickstand won't prevent bike from falling over sideways.

Since you'll be hauling a trailer, might as well carry a bike-store-type wheel stand.

That is what it is designed to do. Are you saying they don't work? Quite a few people swear by them. I have never used one.
Click-Stand Home Page

You're right, of course. I confused it with the long-out-of-production Rhode Gear Flickstand.

This thread has enthused me to tear the house apart in search of my Clickstand

I left in a hurry on my last tour and it didn’t come with me, so it’s been nearly a year since I’ve seen it last.

I never bought a click stand, instead I made something similar out of a tent pole. Cut the segments shorter so that it would fold and fit in my handlebar bag.

My frame had seat stays that joined behind the seat tube, not attached to the side of the seat tube. Thus, there was a small pocket there that I could put my pole into. Used some trekking pole rubber feet on both ends.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...9f7e0e7238.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c8b78a7290.jpg

YOu need to be able to lock the front wheel so it does not roll. I used thick hair elastics for that. I have two of them in the photo.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8437803ac5.jpg

I have heard of these but I have never seen one or talked to anyone that has used them. So, I can't recommend one, but it looks interesting.
https://www.amazon.com/Upstanding-Bi.../dp/B07CMK36PR

And there are some lower cost knock offs too.

I have considered one (or a knock off version) for my road bike, but it is a low priority so have not gotten around to it.

Think about the real risks with any sort of click stand etcWhen, not if, his bike falls over, in his own words, the mounting attachment will be overstressed, as he can't lay the bike down all the way.

Heck just the other day I stopped at a small airport to look at some WW2 aircraft being wheeled into a hanger, leaned my commuter bike with two heavy panniers on it against a fence, and a big gust of wind funneled through the hanger and air museum toppled it over, kabang!

But ya, cf and stands are just asking for trouble.

I'd argue that applies to any kick stand. I've seen my buddies who claim their bikes never blow over with their kick stands do just that more times than I have seem my own non stand equipped bikes blow over. The question remains, what is the OP to do? Always lean the bike against someting if he can and unhitch it when he can't?

Will the bike really not stand with it jacknifed 90 degreees some setups will and some won't. Maybe changing out the tongue on his trailer to one that attaches to the seatpostn would allow that?

How far will the bike/trailer jacknife? If far enough maybe some kind of improvised strut between the two would work?

Stae, ya it seems that this fellow will have to make a judgement call on options.
Good luck
This isn't the first time that I've read of this issue with trailers. I suspect the most common solution is just always having to find something solid to park against, just like most of us do with full panniers (or I just lay the bike down)

I agree, but it is harder for him. The thing is that laying the bike down isn't a big deal for us, but for him it is a bigger deal if it would require unhitching. Also I can imagine that it might be a bit harder to find a place to lean the bike with the trailer attached in some cases. He needs a place to lean the bike where there is room for the trailer behind it. I can recall many parking spots where the bike barely fit.

mebbe look at this from the another end.
that trailer has two wheels and a squared-off front.
the canvas/cloth body sits atop a square metal frame.
looks like there is an optional stroller kit with a cheapish dropdown front stand.
(see 00:20 in the video)

think you might be able to ruggedize/modify the front stand to hold the trailer stable while
you unhitch and park the bike separately?
with a single-arm mount, you'd need Trakhak wire-loop floor stand to hold the bike upright while
the trailer stand holds the trailer stable.

djb raises a good point, and if the trailer hitch perishes, the tour may come to a grinding halt. Can said hitch be made to be a universal joint? That way, when the bike falls, well cushioned by its panniers, no harm is done.

I bought my Ultimate repair stand in the mid-90's.
It came with a rod that attaches to the bars and frame, keeping the front steerer staight.
Perhaps something like that, combined with the trailer, will keep your bike upright.
Or maybe you can run a short bungee cord around the frame and front wheel.

It appears you made a great job of your alternative - well done.

I wonder, given the OP’s carbon fibre frame, there might not be garnered extra anti-fall security by way of a front rack stand to help alleviate the tendency for front end movement

https://bicycletouringpro.com/produc...ont-kickstand/

Due to my propensity to pack heavy when on tour, I’ve been considering looking at one myself or on the other hand, maybe one of these:

https://bicycletouringpro.com/steerstopper/

I have never seen one of those front wheel things. But some people have wrapped velcro around a front wheel and downtube, a less convenient option.

I have really wondered why some people want to tour on carbon frames. But, some people do. Here is another example of what can go wrong if you are not careful with a carbon frame.
https://www.roadbikerider.com/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-did/

A friend of mine had a bad crash on his carbon frame. He had his frame inspected after that, an engineer put a tv camera inside tubes that he could access and found that the downtube had been cracked. The frame went into the dumpster after the inspection, but they cut out a dropout to make sure that nobody grabbed the frame out of the dumpster.

I have kickstands on my steel touring bikes, but the one where I use that cut down tent pole is a titanium frame, I do not want to risk damaging that with a kickstand.

It is just another material with lots of great properties. It can make a great frame that is plenty durable. No one makes one that is specifically designed for heavy touring, but that has more to due with whether it would sell than whether it could be durable enough. It just happens that the frames on road bikes are probably designed to be light, stiff, and durable in approximately that order.

People probably tour on CF road frames because they are touring light and a light frame suits their setup and is tough enough. Some may do it because it is the bike they have. Some may just be misguided.

There are CF frames that are designed to take more abuse. Carbon fiber MTB frames are made to take a beating. Gravel bikes should be as well if they are actually designed to stand up to real gravel riding or maybe even gravel racing. I know that I wouldn't hesitate to ride a carbon fiber gravel bike on tour particularly if packing either light or ultralight. If I were ready to spring for a new bike to tour on and price wasn't holding me back, a CF gravel bike might well be my first choice.

I can see your point though in that for heavy touring there wouldn't be a lot of point in going to a CF frame and mounting 4 panniers ahd 40-60# of gear on it. The thing is though, a wonderful heavy touring frame could be built out of CF that would be bullet proof and quite up to the task. It might not be super light though as we usually expect from CF. If built to the same weight as a steel frame it could be quite a bit tougher.

Another thing with composite materialis that a framecan be designed to be stiff in the places the desigher wants it to be and flex ithe the ones he doesn't. All that can be dialed in and fine tuned in a way that would be difficult to do with other materials. That may be an argument for or against using a road frame for touring depending on how far outside the design parameters you go when you load it. I'd say it would be against,loading one with 4 heavy panniers, but carrying 20# or lessof gear is probably just fine. In between is probably a judgement call. Trailers are another issue and I am not so sure about them. I know the guy I rode with on the ST seemed to have a lot of mechanical issues the manufacturer of his CF bike blamed on the trailer. I don't know what all he had done, but he got stopped waiting for warranty support a few times. I think he got a new rear wheel (or two?), a couple derailleur hangers, and I don't know what else. I suspected the one wheeled trailer was flexing the rear triangle. I was surprised they covered it under warranty given the load in the trailer causing the issue on an endurance road bike.

Some of this is a little moot since I doubt there are many people going heavy touring on CF road frames other than with trailers.

Oh, and just an anecdotal point. The frames or forks I have managed to break, bend, or crack bad enough to ruin were all either steel or aluminum, mostly steel. The only broken aluminum was a broken fork killed in a fairly high speed crash into a car. I got an abulance ride with that one and the bike got a ride in the cop car after I refused to go in the ambulance unless the cop promised to take my bike to the station and hold it. The rest of the frame survived and I still ride it today. It even did the ST from San Diego to Pensacola with a cheap replacement CF fork.

I really do not consider your touring setup to be the norm. As a former racer that carries less gear on a bike than most backpackers carry, I can see how a carbon racing bike would make a lot of sense for you. But you are not carrying the typical bike touring setup. I think you are the only regular participant on this forum that uses a bivy sack instead of a tent.

Your point that nobody makes carbon frames for loaded touring (four panniers, etc.) is directly related to my comment, perhaps I should have said that I do not understand why people with lightweight carbon racing frames use them for bike touring.

Your comment on four panniers, I readily admit that my titanium touring bike is the ultimate in bling. I think the titanium only knocked off a couple pounds of total bike weight, so financially for a buyer it makes no sense to build a touring bike with that material. But I got the frame with factory warranty for less than half the cost of it through normal sales channels, and I had always wanted a titanium bike so when I saw it I decided that I wanted it. (Lynskey puts dealer returns on Ebay instead of putting it in inventory, thus I bought mine from Lynskey, but on an Ebay auction.) But that frame is specifically designed for touring.

But when I read that a carbon bike fell over because the wind blew it, and the frame cracked, that is something that helps perpetuate the reputation that carbon has. And it makes me wonder why someone would want to tour on such a bike.

FWIW, none of my bikes are actually carbon. I do have one with carbon fork and stays (I haven't toured on that one) and one with a carbon fork that I have toured on. None of my bikes are expensive enough to be carbon. I don't remember what I paid for them all, but none were all that much over $1000. Certainly they were all well under $2000. So in my case not much bling. Of course $1000 was a lot more money back when some of them were new.

I think we mostly agree that a CF road race bike is a poor choice for a fully loaded touring bike. I just don't blame the material itself. I also don't think that applies to lighter touring loads. I think loads in the sub 20# range are becoming somewhat common and fairly sensible on a cf road bike.

Risk of breakage is real, but probably pretty overblown in my estimation.