The pits at any major Cyclocross event can be jumbled area of spare bikes, wheels and people all anxiously awaiting their rider to come by or actually come in for a bike change. The Flashstand Slim by Topeak is a must have in your pit kit. I’ve seen many variations of the “stand up” in the pit. Bikes leaning on bikes, long rows of communal stands, and the classic notched stake approach. Basically, a lot of good looking bikes perched on kind of ghetto stands.
The Flashstand Slim was a welcome surprise for me this past weekend. Big Al handed it to me as I was headed off with his pit bike to the double pit in Gloucester. Once there I had it snuggled onto his carbon crank and his bike was upright and waiting for what I hoped would be the duration of the race. It was great that the long stands were there, but during the elite races they got very crowded. I saw more then a few racers try to tug their bikes free from the jumble only to fetch up on spokes and pedals. The surface of the pit area was flat and grassy and the Flashtand Slim stand held perfectly. A big bonus for me is that it is light and compact. It measures 80mm tall and 35 mm wide when in use. Closed it is the size of an oversized candy bar. You can throw it in a jersey pocket or race bag and you are good to go racin’.
The instructions that Topeak includes with the Flashstand Slim clearly states that it is designed for Shimano Dura-Ace, Ultegra or 105 cranks on a road bike. Although the big "S" has a pretty good stronghold on bike parts in the US that is still a fairly narrow application window. Never to take instructions at face value we went about some experimention at the shop prior to pressing it into service. The intended design is to have the pedal spindle bottom out on the crank arm slot of the stand. After checking several cranks it appears that just about any traditional alloy crank will work the same way. Carbon cranks however with their much thicker profile do not. Not to worry though it still works with a friction fit not quite as deep as the intended fit. This results in a little more upright resting postion of the bike, which with cross tires and uneven ground works out just fine.
; "Topeak Flashstand Slim")
; "Image"){kind=small}
; "Image")
