Thanks for tuning in this is The Sweet
Cyclists and today we're gonna be looking at
the Topeak FlashStand Slim X bike stand.
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Here we have Topeak's latest
iteration of their FlashStand line. This
is the FlashStand Slim X and it's a
really cool pocket-sized display stand
or storage stand. As you can see the
packaging is really nice, you have Topeak's
iconic yellow and white colors.
The actual stand really well displayed
here with the polished aluminum finish. You have
all the specs on here as well as
illustrations of how to use it. I'll go
ahead and start opening up the package
while we review these specifications. The
retail price for this is $50, it comes in
this nice polished aluminum finish and
it's a really clever design. It's
designed to actually go on the non-drive
side crank arm and actually hold that as
a display stand. It is designed for
quite a few different style cranks, the
compatibility is actually listed here
basically you have to ensure the dimensions -
width/height and depth match the
allowances for this stand. Lets go ahead and
slide this out. This looks more like a
multi tool than a stand, but you can see
once you have it out really slick.
They describe this aluminum and polymer
construction with the insides are lined in
plastic you have this faux
carbon fiber finish here. The
rest is really nice polished aluminum and is
really light weight that actually fits in
your saddlebag or your pocket. Inside the
box you'll find a nice storage bag with
the Topeak label on here and a
soft feel to it. Here are the instructions and
the basic cardboard to hold it in place.
Now lets take a moment to look at the
weight of the Slim X stand. The stand by
itself comes in at 200 grams which is
pretty light given the small size and
aluminum construction.
Now let's take a closer look at the
fit and finish of the FlashStand Slim X.
This is a really clever design and
especially with the polished aluminum
finish it looks really cool.
It really is tiny as you can see
compared to my hand, you can definitely
fit this on a saddle bag or your pocket.
Now you see on the front face you have
the Topeak FlashStand Slim X printed
on here. There is also the Topeak logo with this
faux carbon fiber finish. It has
a sliding design so you can see, the lock
button here holds it in place when
it's in storage mode. To release it you
push down that button and then simply
pull and you'll see the bottom pieces
slide out. This is a two-piece design
you have the holder and then the arms.
The arms simply swing out and
that's pretty much it, so
really easy to operate. It's also hollow
here behind the arms to keep the
weight low. You also have these
little plastic supports here to add a
little extra stability as well as the
plastic on the inside of this to ensure
you don't scratch the crank arm. What's
kind of cool here is it's pretty widely
compatible as most cranks will fit in
here. To ensure the height is correct
you actually have one point of
adjustment, if you look on the bottom. If
you take a three millimeter Allen key
you can see this will raise out a little
plastic piece on the inside.
So you can see now with this fully
tightened down we have extra ten
millimeters here now this ensures if you
have a 165 millimeter
crank arm this will actually put you at
the right height otherwise it might be
too low. So a nice little feature really
easy to use. As I've said these arms
fold in, you simply press the lock button
again push that down and then apply a
little pressure to pull it on in place.
Now you can see actually here the
arms actually sticking out with that
little adjustment. Now let's take a look at
the Topeak FlashStand in action. Here
I have it in storage position, hold
button down drop this over now we'll
take the crank arm. Move it down place it
here
and then lean the bike over. Let's
take a look at the stability of this you
can see once it's in place it holds it
pretty well and prevents it from falling over
if you give it a little nudge. If you
pull back the other way
it will obviously fall out as nothing's
holding the crank in place, also if you
push the back backwards you can see
you'll become unstable. So definitely not
a longer-term storage solution but if
you need a more temporary solution or
just for display, it's a really great
stand with a compact size.
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Now lets do a little comparison
between the Topeak FlashStand Slim X
versus it's bigger brother the Topeak LineUp
stand. As you can tell they both have
this really cool polished look and you
can really tell the size different
especially with these next to each other.
This is a stand we actually use all the
time here especially for doing reviews,
this is nice and foldable has a
swing arm design and actually fits in
your backpack. With the folding legs
and the swinging arm design that folds
in, it's really convenient. As you can see here
you have a very similar operation, there is a lock
button and then a nice swing arm design
that'll hold the bike in.
It's kind of funny to
see both of these together just to give
you an idea of the scale. This fits
inside of the other one, so obviously
this will provide more stability and for
longer-term storage I definitely
recommend this but as something that can
fit in your backpack this is a really
cool little stand that you can
definitely use get Instagram shots use
this temporary storage or even bring
with you if you don't have a place to
store it if you have a favorite cafe or
something along on the ride. Now let's go
over the pros and cons for the FlashStand
Slim X. What I really like about it
is the compact size, this fits in your
Jersey pocket or saddle bag. It's really
compact and also the premium fit and finish.
It has aluminum construction that looks really
good.
Also it's compatible with a variety of
cranks from different manufacturers as
long as you're within the width diameter
and length requirements. Some of the cons
are the premium $50 price. This is
quite expensive so you're definitely
paying for that compactness. Also
stability is limited with a crank mount,
if you push the bike backwards it will
fall over or if you push it away it will
also fall over so it's definitely not a
long-term storage solution. Also I found
that crank mounted cadence magnets do
get in the way and will cause the mount
not to fit so you do have to be aware of
that. Taking everything into account I
would give the FlashStand a 9.1
out of ten. This is a pocket-sized
display stand and it's really compact and
easy-to-use. Thanks for
watching for review, if you like the
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Cyclists reminding you to enjoy the ride!
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