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ShadowStand invisible bicycle stand

7
£15.00

VERDICT:

7
10
Slim, light and effective on hard surfaces, but susceptible to sinking or blowing over
Light and slim
Recycled
Two sizes
Custom options for clubs
Fits a narrow range of bike sizes
Needs firm ground
Can be precarious
Weight: 
18g
Contact: 

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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The ShadowStand invisible bicycle stand is a super slim accessory to whip from your pocket and snap that perfect shot – your pride and joy, framed epically against the landscape, with no ugly stick holding it up. It sinks easily into soft ground and isn't particularly secure in strong winds, though, and I'm still sad it's not a stand for an invisible bike.

> Buy this online here

The bike industry uses various tricks for great static shots – bespoke lengths of thin, stiff wire angled to hide behind components, fishing line held out of shot, clear perspex rods – but nothing as immediately practical and pocketable as the ShadowStand.

2020 Shadow Stand Photography Aid

Made in Hungary from 100% recycled acrylic, the ShadowStand works like a curb to support your pedal, while chain tension prevents your bike from rolling away – so long as it's not wanting to roll forward. Unlike a curb, though, it's see-through and fits in your pocket.

Also unlike a curb, it doesn't keep your front wheel in line, and balancing everything just so can be tricky – anything more than the lightest breeze will upset things. Also, if you have heavy luggage on your bike it's not likely to end well. This is really just for light, pretty bikes. Like this one:

2021 Canyon Aeroad CFR Dura Ace Di2.jpg

It's there, honest

Ideally those bikes will be on a road, too, as the ShadowStand easily cuts into grass or soft dirt as it's so narrow. Should make for some gorgeous shots of your gravel bike collapsing in the sunset, though.

Sizing

This small version is designed for a gap of less than 110mm between the ground and the bottom of the pedal axle. Bikes with high bottom brackets, fat tyres, short cranks or a combination of all three will need the large.

My Sonder Camino is fine on 38mm tyres, but 55mm doesn't work... the extra 17mm of lift mean the pedal is too high. Measuring first is critical, then, as the small is really for classic skinny-tyred road machines only. Happily, there's a size guide on ShadowStand's site.

If your bike is over the 125mm max of the large size, ShadowStand also offer custom fits, and should you want to make your invisible stand visible again, they also offer etched custom logos.

Competition

It's fair to say ShadowStand has cornered the light-small-thin-bike-photo-stand market first crack – a niche too far, perhaps, but their Instagram page is full of admirers. There really aren't any alternatives beyond the usual DIY improvisations, and at €17 (around £15) including postage anywhere in the world, it's pretty well priced.

Yes, there's Topeak's Flashstand Slim X, but that's a £40 folding stand that slips over a crank end, weighs 196g and is restricted to certain crank dimensions. It's certainly more stable, but really it's more of an home/studio tool than a mid-ride photo aid. Plus, while its shiny chrome finish is attractive, it's a long way from invisible.

> How to buy the best bike camera — plus 7 of the best

If you simply must have your cranks level, ShadowStand also do a much longer €25 (£22) Photographer's Stand which fits into the non-driveside crank. It's not pocketable though, unlike this – which, within its rather strict parameters, is a great way to display your bike for that perfect photo. You won't even notice it until that magic moment arrives.

Yes, it's for road and gravel bikes only and doesn't work on grass or in the wind, but otherwise the ShadowStand does what it sets out to do simply, effectively and at a reasonable price.

Verdict

Slim, light and effective on hard surfaces, but susceptible to sinking or blowing over

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road.cc test report

Make and model: ShadowStand Photography Aid

Size tested: One size

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

It's for people wanting to balance their traditional road bike to take nice photos.

ShadowStand says: "Featherweight and so portable, you won't even know it's in your jersey's rear pocket until you come across that perfect spot, where the light is just right and the scenery stops you in your tracks. It is a see-through acrylic triangle with a top curve, which fits below the pedal axle and a wavy bottom to avoid slippage. It's simple, but it works."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

18g (size small)

100% recycled plastic

Small and large sizes

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
10/10

It's very nicely made.

Rate the product for performance:
 
6/10

Good on firm ground with no wind, limited otherwise.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

Can't see how it would ever wear out.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
9/10

18g - basically nothing.

Rate the product for value:
 
5/10

More expensive than a stick, but much harder to see - good value if unobtrusiveness if your goal.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

with practice, pretty well.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

The size and weight.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

No way to attach it so you can shift the bike around.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

There's really no comparison...

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes-ish

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Maybe

Use this box to explain your overall score

I really like the idea, and it's as minimalist as it gets. If there were a way for it to attach so adjustments were easier it could be an eight, but as it is it works well and is a good seven.

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 47  Height: 183cm  Weight: 77kg

I usually ride: Sonder Camino Gravelaxe  My best bike is: Nah bro that's it

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Expert

I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo cross, general fitness riding, mtb, G-R-A-V-E-L

Living in the Highlands, Mike is constantly finding innovative and usually cold/wet ways to accelerate the degradation of cycling kit. At his happiest in a warm workshop holding an anodised tool of high repute, Mike's been taking bikes apart and (mostly) putting them back together for forty years. With a day job in global IT (he's not completely sure what that means either) and having run a boutique cycle service business on the side for a decade, bikes are his escape into the practical and life-changing for his customers.

Add new comment

5 comments

Avatar
armb | 3 years ago
0 likes

> I'm still sad it's not a stand for an invisible bike.

I don't see why it wouldn't work for an invisible bike. Send me one for review, and I'll send you a photo without a visible bike.

Avatar
wycombewheeler replied to armb | 3 years ago
0 likes

with an invisible bike, surely?

£15 seems a bit steep for something you could get the kids to knock up in the school workshop.

Avatar
Yorky-M | 3 years ago
0 likes

jeasus iif there is a room 101 for the bike world let this go in first. feckin loons who spend all their ride taking pictures for instagram taking pictures of their gravel set up the bottom of their garden with mode bags glued to it than in terminal 5 of heathrow.  AHHH self love is w@£$%^g

 

Avatar
KiwiMike replied to Yorky-M | 3 years ago
1 like

A question: Please share the magic ratio of bike-photos-per-ride we're allowed (I fear I may be in breach).

A piece of advice: If you're gluing your bags to your bike, you're doing it all wrong, trust me.

Avatar
Nick T | 3 years ago
2 likes

Amazing, they created something I never knew I didn't need until I saw it

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