Greenfield Kickstand

The installed kickstand

The right sized bolt. 6mm M10

I went for a Greenfield Kickstand some time back for my LHT. I went for it so that I don't have to worry too much during a tea or momo break for the most stable support to keep the bike standing. With some load it might be more difficult. So went for this American kickstand. 

It is lightweight being made of aluminium. Since it is made in the USA I am hoping they have made something quite sturdy. The kickstand cannot be installed without a pair of Surly clamps, which I had to buy also and in fact that costs more than the stand itself. The main challenge for the installation was finding the right sized bolt. The supplied bolt that the kickstand came with was found to be too small for the job. So I went looking for a larger bolt. My first port of call was a shop in Prinsep Street. They specialise in nuts and bolts only. After two sorties I found the right sized bolt and installed the stand, which is a very simple no brainer kind of a job. I was apprehensive that our metric thread pitch might not match with the American thread that the kickstand comes with. The bolt is supposed to go inside the stand. But the fear was unfounded. The bolt was metric despite being American. 

The bottom of the stand

After installation, the stand was found to be too long. The cycle was standing almost erect and not stable at all. I found they had markings on the back side of the stand where you are supposed to chop off according to your requirement. I got Kushuda to cut off about 2 cm from the bottom of the stand. He has the hacksaw required to do the job. Plus I find the sound of cutting metal with a hacksaw very irritating. He didn't take too long to cut off the stand. The bottom of the stand has a peculiar shape. Half of it is a triangle while the other half is like a semi-circle. Kushu-da cut more or less parallel to the bottom so the shape was somewhat maintained. He used my angle grinder to file off the edges. 

The cycle stands perfectly at ease, even on the shiny floor of our living room. I have to get a rubber foot for it, which is again available only with Happy Earth :-(. Asked Sankhadeep in Bangalore to see if he can manage it somehow. Costs just Rs 75. Not a critical requirement but nice to have. Possibly I will need to cut off a bit more when I instal the rubber foot.

Standing its ground firmly. With Mezda at a tea shop on Camac Street

Long term view - I am glad that I decided to instal the kick stand. It's useful to have. I am yet to get the rubber foot for it though. The other day while I had a lot of load in the side pannier - like 5/6 kg as I put the office laptop in it - it seemed a little unstable. I thought the bike might topple. I have to check how it behaves when there is equal load on both sides of the bike. It is possible that the instability was due to the load being only on one side of the bike.

Yesterday as I took it off the bike for a thorough cleaning I realised that the plates had put marks on the frame. The top paint has come off, exposing a black colour underneath. It is not raw steel that is exposed. I guess it is the ED primer. I have asked Surly to tell me whether I should worry. They have not replied yet.