I've been looking for a good kickstand solution for my Big Dummy. Val Kleitz's center stand looks bombproof and is available from Aaron's Bicycle Repair for the not inconsiderable sum of $374.99. It looks nice, but I am going to try a lighter & very inexpensive kickstand to see what I think. I thought I would post it in case someone out there was interested.If you have one of these stands I'd love to hear your impressions of it.
4 comments:
I haven't got one of those stands. It looks very nice, but does it come with a bike? At that price it should come with a cheap one!
Try to fabricate a highly specialized, quite precise niche item in very small batches sometime. Val's centerstand is the only really practical stand for a fully loaded xtracycle, and he spent a long time developing it. Comparing the price of a handmade in America specialty item to a mass-produced made in China junk bike is just ignorant.
I have one of Val's earlier versions and I love it. It cost me less than the current crop, but then again, I bought it 3 years ago before all the improvements and my favorite part about it is that it can be deployed while still on the bike (there's a lever you mount on the handlebars). It makes for a very easy and safe dismounts, ESPECIALLY with children behind you, either on the snapdeck or in a peapod/child seat. The other advantage? You can use the wideloaders, footsies, custom canopy-you-built-for-burning-man and still use the centerstand!
Personally, irrespective of the opinions of anonymous, $374.99 is way too much!
If Val spent a long time developing it, that just means inefficiency! Judging from the photograph, there doesn't look to be anything particularly hard to design or make. I'm sure it's well made [well at that price I hope so], but it's overpriced.
Anonymous is easily fooled!
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