ClikStand

[Templogin]

In an earlier thread I mentioned that I had removed the Pletscher 2 leg stand from my eXp when I noticed that it had cut through the protective tape that had been applied, through the paint and had left a couple of thankfully small surface rust patches, which were disappeared with a Dremmel and primed and painted over.

I already own a ClickStand which I use with two of my M**lt*n bikes.  It is too short for the eXp.  I would like to buy a longer one to fit, but I am worried that on my bike, which has the brake cable travelling under the crossbar, leaning the weight of the weight of the bike on the Clickstand, which will press on the cable could crush the cable outer.  Am I worrying unneccesarily, and should I just go ahead and buy one.  Are you using one in the same situation?  The theory that there is always something like a tree or a fence to lean your bike against does not work in Shetland!

Thanks

Andy

[mickeg]

I am not really sure how your cable run is set up, so this might not help.  But I had a completely different problem, my solution might work for you.

On a bike I recently built up (not a Thorn), I found that it was hard to adjust the rear brake cable tension at the rear cable hanger for the cantilever when I ran the cable the typical way.  I wanted to add more curvature to the cable routing so that when I tighten the cable adjustment, that excess housing is easily accommodated within that extra curvature.  I am sure this is confusing, but the photo should help.

You can see in the photo that I run my cable from the brake cable hanger, under the right side seat stay (instead of the left side), then curve the cable under the top tube to the cable housing stop that is on the left side of the top tube.  I did this so that when I increase cable tension, the excess housing has more room to fit under the top tube. 

[Templogin]

Thanks a lot Mickeg, I will have a look to see if that would work on mine when I get home tonight.

Interesting saddle on that bike.  Do you ride very upright?

[mickeg]

Thanks a lot Mickeg, I will have a look to see if that would work on mine when I get home tonight.

Interesting saddle on that bike.  Do you ride very upright?

Sometimes ride on the tops, but not as upright as people with flat bars do.  I use drop bars on almost all my bikes.  That saddle is a Brooks Conquest.  Narrower than the B17 or Flyer, it essentially is a sprung Brooks Pro.  It was out of production for several years, but Brooks has it listed on their website again.  But their website has the wrong width, when I compare my four Conquests with my two Brooks Pros, it is very clear that they are the same shape and very similar dimensions.

I hope Dan does not get mad at me for posting a non-Thorn photo, but this is the photo that I cropped my previous photo from.

[julk]

Are you using one in the same situation?

I think I have an equivalent setup on my expr. I find the ClikStand works equally well under the top tube or the seatstay/seattube joint.
I would be amazed if you could squash any Thorn cable outer with the ClikStand. The bike is not leaning very far so the load is a fraction of the all up bike weight.
Julian.

[Danneaux]

I hope Dan does not get mad at me for posting a non-Thorn photo, but this is the photo that I cropped my previous photo from.

'S'okay, mickeg; it sets a logical context for the larger Thornish discussion and more clearly shows the suggested brake routing overall. 

As for the Click-Stand possibly squashing the cable housing, I agree with Julian; I can't imagine it happening. I have a similar concern on my tandem, except the rear brake cable is exposed at that point. I either prop the Click-Stand's cradle on the other side, or move it rearward to catch the intersection between the rear monostay and the top tube. On some of my other bikes, I put the cradle beneath the seatstay, where it attaches to the side of the seat lug, thus avoiding any cable conflict at all. If you decide on a location, be sure to measure from there when you give the measurements to Tom Nostrant to make your Click-Stand.

By the way, a friend in Bavaria just sent me a Dutch-sourced Taiwanese copy of the Click-Stand. Clever, it has many more segments and folds to fit in a case which velcros to the bike; a velcro strap locks the brake. The top attaches to the saddle rails and accepts the "pole". It must surely infringe on Tom's patent, but is a clever variation. I have yet to try it, but I think I see a flaw already: It comes on only one size and if anchored to the saddle rail, will be short enough the bike will lay over at about 40°. The instructions warn against using it at all in cold weather (risk of fracturing the plastic anchor) and it is rated to support only unladen bikes weighing 15-20kg max. An interesting variation, I don't think it will last nearly as long as Tom's Click-Stand, which has no problems holding up even my heavily laden touring singles and tandem.

All the best,

Dan.

[Templogin]

Yes it looks as though there is a gap that the Clickstand will go in between the seatpost bit and the crossbar Dan, so that is one problem sorted.

Thanks a lot for the picture mickeg.  Interesting to see someone riding a sprung saddle with drop bars.  I have ordered the Moonsaddle to attach to my Thudbuster to give my perineum a hoilday.  If the saddle turns out to be too high then I will try a sprung Brooks.  I think my stance might be called semi-sporting, so slightly more raised than you using the tops.  Having 4 sprung saddles could be considered being greedy.  If you send half of them to me, that's 2 saddles not 4 halves, we will say no more about it!

[mickeg]

... Interesting to see someone riding a sprung saddle with drop bars.  I have ordered the Moonsaddle to attach to my Thudbuster to give my perineum a hoilday.  If the saddle turns out to be too high then I will try a sprung Brooks.  I think my stance might be called semi-sporting, so slightly more raised than you using the tops.  Having 4 sprung saddles could be considered being greedy.  If you send half of them to me, that's 2 saddles not 4 halves, we will say no more about it!

I added the bold for emphasis above.

Sprung saddles:  one on the Thorn Nomad, one on the Sherpa, one on the rando bike (photos above), one on the fold up bike.  The non-sprung Brooks Pro:  One on the vintage Italian racer to replace the 1962 vintage one that was on it and is now retired.

When I sit more upright, a wider flatter saddle like the B17 will work for me, but not on a bike where I might use the drops on drop bars.  I bought a B17 over a decade ago, but did not like it.  I eventually put it on a bike that I have on my trainer for indoor exercise, on that bike I sit upright so I can watch TV while getting some exercise.  It is an old mixte frame bike that I picked up when a neighbor put it in the trash, works great on the trainer.

I did not previously mention that I have a Flyer which is a sprung B-17.  I bought it on a whim when it was cheap on Ebay.  I have used it on my Nomad when I am using my Nomad as a mountain bike and not using the drops on the drop bars.  Since I am sitting more upright when I am doing mountain biking, the Flyer works better for that than the Conquest which is better when I lean forward more.

You will find that a sprung saddle like the Conquest or Flyer really is not much better than a non-sprung saddle for comfort.  It is a little better for smoothing out the buzz on rough pavement, but it does not offer the cushioning that you might want if you have soft tissue issues.  But there are some Brooks saddles that have lots of springs that might work better than the Conquest or Flyer.  I think I deflect the springs only about 5 mm when I sit on the Conquest or Flyer, thus the springs are very very stiff.

The photos are of my Flyer on my Nomad while mountain biking.

[Templogin]

You better keep those saddles then!

Clikstand ordered.  USPS have raised their price by about USD6, so the Max, with an extra section and 2 fat feet comes to close on UKP45, but at least I know that they are robust and won't damage the frame from previous experience.

[Andre Jute]

... Interesting to see someone riding a sprung saddle with drop bars.  I have ordered the Moonsaddle to attach to my Thudbuster to give my perineum a hoilday.  If the saddle turns out to be too high then I will try a sprung Brooks.  I think my stance might be called semi-sporting, so slightly more raised than you using the tops.  Having 4 sprung saddles could be considered being greedy.  If you send half of them to me, that's 2 saddles not 4 halves, we will say no more about it!

I added the bold for emphasis above.

Sprung saddles:  one on the Thorn Nomad, one on the Sherpa, one on the rando bike (photos above), one on the fold up bike.  The non-sprung Brooks Pro:  One on the vintage Italian racer to replace the 1962 vintage one that was on it and is now retired.

When I sit more upright, a wider flatter saddle like the B17 will work for me, but not on a bike where I might use the drops on drop bars.  I bought a B17 over a decade ago, but did not like it.  I eventually put it on a bike that I have on my trainer for indoor exercise, on that bike I sit upright so I can watch TV while getting some exercise.  It is an old mixte frame bike that I picked up when a neighbor put it in the trash, works great on the trainer.

I did not previously mention that I have a Flyer which is a sprung B-17.  I bought it on a whim when it was cheap on Ebay.  I have used it on my Nomad when I am using my Nomad as a mountain bike and not using the drops on the drop bars.  Since I am sitting more upright when I am doing mountain biking, the Flyer works better for that than the Conquest which is better when I lean forward more.

You will find that a sprung saddle like the Conquest or Flyer really is not much better than a non-sprung saddle for comfort.  It is a little better for smoothing out the buzz on rough pavement, but it does not offer the cushioning that you might want if you have soft tissue issues.  But there are some Brooks saddles that have lots of springs that might work better than the Conquest or Flyer.  I think I deflect the springs only about 5 mm when I sit on the Conquest or Flyer, thus the springs are very very stiff.

The photos are of my Flyer on my Nomad while mountain biking.