Categories
Gear

No Visible Means of Support

I love taking photos of Basil and his sidekick Argyll.  Sometimes it’s tricky to find something to lean them against, though, and sometimes I get a little bored with the uright folded pose, with the Brompton rear wheels tucked under.

ks-blSo I was intrigued when I ran across the Click-Stand, a portable kickstand meant for bikes without integral stands.  Our Bromptons don’t need them to remain upright, but I thought this might be a good tool for photos.

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It’s basically a rod that lets a bike “stand” without requiring any hardware.  It looks like a promising solution for a lot of bikes, but I was a little dubious about how this would work for a Brompton, so I sent a question along to the company.

Tom sent back a picture showing a Click-Stand in use on a Brompton, but set in the middle of the cross bar.   The bike’s frame slips into the cradle, and then geometry does the rest.  (It’s critical to put the foot on solid ground; Click-Stand offers a bigger food for mushier situations.)

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I use ours in the underseat triangle, though, to minimize the chance of slipping.

ksbslstGetting the angle right is crucial, too, for good support.  That’s Basil, above, standing tall using the Click-Stand, and Argyll, below, ditto.

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The Click-Stand is available in custom sizes (instructions on the website), and folds up compactly for carrying on a bike or in a bag. Following the website instructions, I ordered the Mini-4 with a contact height of 19.25 inches and the x-large cradle size.  (These measurements may be different if the Click-Stand is used elsewhere on the Brompton frame.)

The Click-Stand comes with restraints to hold brakes in place while using the device.  That’s critical; if the bike rolls with the Click-Stand in place, over it goes!   The loops supplied weren’t long enough to go over Basil’s Ergons and across the brake levers, so I improvised my own, which were not as powerful as the ones that came with the Click-Stand.

My improvisation was a huge fail; the brakes slipped and Basil . . . well, let’s just say I hope he’s forgiven me.

Now I use a vinyl-wrapped wire cable tie, and wrap it well around the brake lever and the grip.  Works a treat.

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The Click-Stand is a little fiddly, and does require some careful placement on the ground, but it’s light and sleek, and I like the options it offers for photos.

(Incidentally, Click-Stand’s Tom is responsible for Argyll’s color scheme:  It’s the same one as in the Brompton photo Tom sent to us.  We hadn’t seen that combination before, and Dr. Diarist liked it a lotAfter hours on the Configurator, it was amusing to have found Argyll’s colors in this most unexpected way!)

Categories
Miscellaneous

Not precisely on topic . . .

The last couple of months or so have been a bit unusual around here, and, as a consequence, poor Basil (and his blog) have suffered a (large!) measure of neglect.  Things are not yet back on track, but at least the various distractions are winding down.  It shouldn’t be too long before things settle, and, weather cooperating, Basil and I are back on the road again.

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Our first and toughest challenge came when Sally, our little grey-and-white cat, suddenly developed diabetes, which proved uncontrollable, and a host of associated symptoms.  We lost her after a valiant fight to stabilize the disease.  She was, surprisingly, mostly un-fazed and un-bothered by her difficulties, fortunately, and her end was peaceful.  Our little herd numbers only four felines now; that’s quite a change, as all five had been with us for many years.

Then Dr. Diarist had a stretch of vacation time available, which he coupled with the various holidays, and we decided to dismantle most rooms of our home and put them back together in a configuration that best suits the way we use them now. That was a lot like moving house, but without, fortunately, the agony of actually packing.  I’m allergic to dust, though, and it turns out that when you don’t move floor-to-ceiling bookshelves for a decade, dust bunnies proliferate.  My lungs are gradually recovering; by the time we’ve finished with the house stuff I should be able to breathe normally again and put those pipes to the test on two wheels once again.

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The Brompton Garage:  the only untouched room in the house.  The Brompton Brothers:  bored.

At any rate, we’re through the worst of it, and I’ll be back posting now, albeit perhaps a bit infrequently during the next few weeks.  By mid-February all should be resolved, and Basil and I (and Dr. Diarist and Argyll) should once again be as active as Bromptons, and riders, are meant to be — just in time for early spring!