Pletscher Twin Leg Centre Mounted Kickstand

I was introduced to this twin leg kickstand after buying a very large and heavy bike with one already fitted. So this is my second. Its very simple to master the kick down (of the stand) and pull (of the bike,) up and onto the stand. For a heavy, twin pannier laden bike, there is no peer to this kickstand. It's tough and strong, rated conservatively to support 25kg. There are, I believe two models- they differ in length. I brought the long one, at 290mm- far too long as it turned out for my 700c wheel and 19" frame needs. You too may need to cut it down to your perfect hight... a simple hacksaw job - the legs are marked for easy, identical reduction. Be sensible, cut off less than you think you need to start with...You will need to get used to the 'left hand side' parking mechanism...it folds BOTH legs very neatly together and locates them to the left side. It's seriously substantial and will take a lot of knocks, being solid metal. Definitely NOT hollow- as my hacksaw work testifies!I rate it very highly for solid surface parking of my bike. Not so good for gravel or grass, which the legs tend to penetrate. I believe Pletscher make rubber end caps specially for them- useful if you are parking on , say, a soft tarmac drive or on your nice wooden hall floor.Just lift the bike up slightly again and kick the stand backaway. It folds up, snaps straight back into its stowage position and you are off. The very simple but equally tough folding mechanism seem to shrug off muck and is easily hosed clean after my off road mudbaths.IN A NUTSHELL :-Solid support!

I built a singlespeed from a CycloX for dropping my kid to school. I needed a stand to keep the bike standing while I put him in his seat and got things ready. This does its job well. Very sturdy feeling, and built like a tank (and weighs as much!). It folds away really well too.The clearance between my frame:stand:wheel is extremely tight. Worth keeping in mind. I also cut the stand to length as it was too long to begin with. But this is expected and they mark measurements on the stand for this purpose. Very quick and easy.Main gripe is that they should include some rubber feet for grip. That being said I don't find I need them, but it would make it more secure if they were there.

I've never bought a centre stand before. At first I couldn't see much difference between them all other than more expensive ones being more sturdy. I'd also never heard of Pletscher. But I'm glad I spent the extra and bought their centre stand. Excellent build quality and design. Its not shown in the pictures. But it doesn't store when up in the frame, twin legged either side of wheel like other centre stands. One leg folds into the other and both store on the non drive side like a side stand. I didn't know that before I bought it and in my opinion it's a much better design.I had to cut the legs slightly. When I did that I shaped the bottom of each leg so the whole of the end of the leg sits on the floor. Rather than a point like before. Doing this noticeably improved the stability of the stand and bike. Overall well worth the money and it's the only make of stand I'll buy if I ever need another one.

Bought two of these for our Surly Long Haul Truckers and used them over a 6-month trip. I have three issues with it:1. weight2. stability3. mounting systemThere's not a lot that can be said about the weight - it's just a bit on the heavy side.On stability:The kickstand works mostly okay on hard ground, but on anything else there are single-leg solutions that work much better. With wind or uneven/soft surfaces like grass we frequently had to pick our bikes up from the ground after they had fallen over, which did not happen so much to other travellers using single-leg kickstands.You need three stabilizing points to park a bike securely. If you connect these three points with an imaginary line, they form a triangle. The larger that triangle is, the more stable your bike will be.This twin leg kickstand forms a very narrow triangle, as it allows only its thin legs and the back wheel to stabilise the bike.Single-leg solutions form a triangle between the two bike wheels and the kickstand leg. Much larger triangle, hence more stability.On the mounting system:This kickstand's mounting system is appalling. It appears simple and elegant at first, but then you realise you have to stabilise metal on metal. What happens with all the vibrations your bike experiences during a trip? We had to frequently readjust it, because the kickstand would just get loose and start rubbing against the back wheel or (even more dangerously!) get in the way of the revolving pedals. Once it even fell off my bike completely.I tried screwing it firmly in place (on the bikes' frames), but that only resulted in injuring the frame. (not just aesthetic damage, a proper dent!)We also experimented with adding some shock-absorbent materials like scraps from a bicycle tube or a car tyre but the way the mounting system is built made it impossible to properly position anything and keep it there while tightening the one screw onto the bike frame.We have now removed these kickstands and will install single-leg products with a proper frame mounting system.

This stand does its job really well: the bike is very stable, and the stand is easy to kick down and up from the left. I did, however, find it quite a challenge to fit. The space available on my tourer was not enough to accommodate the very chunky top plate supplied, and I had to take a slimmer one from another bike (which had more room and was able to use the Pletscher part). It was also tricky to clear the front and rear derailleur cables. Finally, I had to cut the legs to a suitable length, which was quite easy, even with the stand in situ. I definitely recommended buying the plastic feet, which surely should be supplied as standard.