Calibration - Getting On The Mark

I suppose this is just as accurate, assuming the kickstand always flicks down to the same spot - I wonder how variable that might be.
I don't have kickstands on any of my bikes, so it wouldn't help me, in any case.

Well Pete I first did this at a measurment workshop you had in Pittsburgh in August 2006.
When we rode the course you had mapped out and I rode past the mark with my front tire
you said I went past the mark and I said no I use my kick stand which I feel is a little
more accurate than looking over the handle bars to gauge where the mark is.
I thought you took a picture of it and I thought it was in the Measurment News
#133 Fall 2006 (web site - http://www.usatf.org/events/co...news/MN133Fall06.pdf )
page 36 but the picture wasn't there but I do know there was one taken. But I do not know where it is and
if I do find it I will post it.

My kickstand is too far back to make it convenient to use this way, but it looks like the one in the picture would work fine-- more centrally located. I had one like that before. Jim you should try using a kickstand, I think it's a big help in measuring, makes it easier to stop, get off to paint a mark or whatever.

What's a kick stand??

That's what buggy-whip makers did after buggy-whips were obsolete.

Looks like the no-kickstand people are close relatives to the Apple computer enthusiasts.

Some of us have Apple computers and kick stands!

I'm going to mess up your correlation too, because I also have both. But I will say the only reason I have a kickstand is because of course measuring.

This conversation reminds me of another gadget I would like to put on my bike-- years ago in Measurement News someone wrote about a clip that keeps your front wheel from turning when you are stopped. Does anyone use one or know where to get one?

quote:

Originally posted by Bob Thurston:
This conversation reminds me of another gadget I would like to put on my bike-- years ago in Measurement News someone wrote about a clip that keeps your front wheel from turning when you are stopped. Does anyone use one or know where to get one?

I actually bought one of these a last year but have not tried to use it yet.

You can find one at :
http://store.velo-orange.com/i...heel-stabilizer.html

Ken,
That's interesting! It looks like something that stays attached all the time and sort of resists turning. What I remember from MN was something like a clip that you engage when the bike is stopped. If you try this device I hope you'll report on how it works for you.

It's called a FlickStand and I had one on a bike that has since been stolen. Pretty neat and effective, but it does require that you lean your bike against something solid, so not sure how useful it would be for measuring "in the field."

Jim, are you saying it won't work with a kickstand or is that an experiment you (as a no-kickstand guy) wouldn't have tried?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Gerweck:
I suppose this is just as accurate, assuming the kickstand always flicks down to the same spot - I wonder how variable that might be.
I don't have kickstands on any of my bikes, so it wouldn't help me, in any case.

Jim, my kick stand is so feeble, a 25-mile-per-hour breeze blows my bike over. I am interested in knowing how you measure, identify timing points, and mark courses without a kick stand.

Lyman - I can't answer for Jim, but I also measure without a kickstand. I ride to my point, set my paint can down on the point (I carry it in my water-bottle cage), then lock my front brake and move my bike out of the way. If, when I lay the bike down, it is in such a position that the wheel may spin, I put my water bottle (I have two cages) in the spokes, so it doesn't move. No problem at all.

Many times, though, there is a curb where I am marking, so I just roll my bike forward 8 feet, so my paint doesn't get on it, then prop the bike against the curb, using the pedal as a kickstand. The bike stays where I put it, and there is no "rolling" issue.

Update on the FlickStand question: there is a biking forum where they've kicked that issue around for a good little while! Some bikers have a work-around (since apparently the devices are not currently being made): they take a thick rubber band and hook one end on the valve stem, wrap it around the down tube, then hook the other end on the valve stem. Not too good if we're trying to avoid turning the wheel while stopped. The other workaround is to use one of those trouser strips to put around the wheel and tube.

Pedal on curb works great, I use it whenever it's handy, but the kickstand saves me a lot of hassle. For instance there are no curbs along the canal towpath, nor are there trees handy for leaning (you have to climb down an embankment to get to a tree) . . .

Here is an option to a standard kickstand.
I purchased this recently to use when riding my carbon fiber bike since I didn't want to attach a standard kickstand to the carbon fiber frame. Works great.

Click Stand

Want a Flickstand? Check out:

Flickstand on Ebay

I just purchased kickstand from Amazon. I also attached it to a carbon fiber of my bike.I am enjoying my ride now.