Yesterday’s bike ride was done without a working speed gauge. I immediately realised what had happened. The bike stand had crushed and then cut the wires in the cable between the speed sensor on the rear wheel and the motor controller.
This is the third time it has happened and each time the end of the cable going into the motor controller gets shorter. If this continues to reoccur I’ll need to dismantle the motor controller to replace the cable.
The first stand I owned was attached to the frame near the rear wheel. It wasn’t sufficiently strong to hold the bike upright when the trailer was attached. Luckily it snapped on the last day of my first trip to Taiwan.
The second stand has two legs and fits immediately behind the centre hub. The issue is this is also where the cables from the motor exit and the stand tends to catch on the cables.
Arrow points to the cable pinch point
Another solution was required. Initially I thought I’d just prop the bike against a tree, wall or fence. However that only works if one is available. Google had a photo of a purpose made bike stand designed for laden touring bikes. However it would need to be purchased from the USA and was expensive. I decided to try and make one.
My idea involved purchasing a cheap extendable trekking pole from the local KMart ($9.50)
The handle and strap were removed and replaced with a small wooden block and a half section of surplus pvc pipe.
Two small button bungees are used to apply the bike brakes. This prevents the bike from moving away from the stand.
A third bungee is used to secure the new stand to the bike frame.
The idea seems to work, but I’ll need to conduct a few trials to confirm that.
When stored the pole is collapsed and secured to the top bar of the frame using the bungee cords.
It’s obviously not as quick to use as an attached stand. But I’ll only need to use it when there is no readily available tree, wall or fence!
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