Fifty Plus (50+) - What happened to kickstands?

So, I got this spiffy new $980 "bargain" bike and when I'm not on it, I'm always trying to lean it just right so it doesn't get scratched and/or fall down. Why has everyone abandoned the simple kick stand? Too heavy? Too Fred? Why doesn't any one make one out of carbon 'cause carbon anything is cool, right? I don't understand. Someone clue me in here...

I am not a 'real' bike rider but I think you have hit the nail on the head,,, A real biker does not want the weight...to Fred, not sure. I am with you, and have a problem when I can not park my bike 'just anywhere'..
I apologize ahead of time to the "real" bikers out there...i am an exercize biker. :)
peace

Mine fell off on my first bike in 51 and I never wanted one since.

kickstands rule

Why stop once one starts an adventurous journey?



And ignoring the philosophical perspective: 1)Carbon does not 'wear' well -fibers start to deterioate. & 2)Why add weight, marks up the frame, etc.

Manufacturers have long since adopted the formula N-1 = the number of kickstands that will come with your bike, where N = the number of kickstands you think it should have. :D

Mine was always rattling. But I agree about the scuff marks....I rest the bike against brick at home and cement at work when I'm loading or unloading and I probably should get a two-legged kickstand for that situation (one-legged and the bike might fall over when loaded).

Mine fell off on my first bike in 51 and I never wanted one since.

The one on my old 10-spd stayed on for decades.



And ignoring the philosophical perspective: 1)Carbon does not 'wear' well -fibers start to deterioate. & 2)Why add weight, marks up the frame, etc.

I can understand the weight issue for those who are concerned about every gram. I have to believe though, that there are lots of cyclists who aren't that worried about a few grams. When I asked this question at the LBS, the owner said something about potential liability being a reason kickstands aren't standard on bikes anymore. Was there a big lawsuit involving a kickstand injury (that almost sounds comical) at some point?

If an entire bike frame can be made from carbon, certainly a kickstand could. The end touching the ground would have to capped with plasitc and/or rubber but that could easily be done.

My Novara Fusion has a kickstand. It wasn't able to hold the bike up when it had loaded panniers on it.

Kickstands only show up on commuter bikes these days.

Since I have a kickstand on my road bike should I change its name from "Road Warrior" to "Super Fred"?

It does by the way weigh 21 lbs with pedals, bottle cages, computer and the offending kickstand.

When I was a kid, all our bikes had kickstands. Duh. When I grew up and got into better and nicer bikes, it drove me crazy that not only did virtually NO bikes come with kickstands, but that it was apparently considered dorky, undesirable, no-way, whatever. Screw that. I have kickstands on all my bikes, and feel vastly superior to everyone else who lays down their costly machines on the gravel/cement while mine remains upright, fully supported, ready to ride away. So there!

Screw that. I have kickstands on all my bikes, and feel vastly superior to everyone else who lays down their costly machines on the gravel/cement while mine remains upright, fully supported, ready to ride away. So there!

I guess that's why they have chocolate and vanilla.

None of our bikes have kickstands and I can't remember a situation when I wished that I had one. I will admit to having a gizmo that holds a bike by the left crankarm that I frequently take with me to events. One nice thing about laying your bike in the grass is that it can't possibly fall over.

For mtn biking-too dangerous--wouldn't want a stand to come down when hitting a root, rock, whatever!
Road bikes-don't know-but it's the one part which doesn't seem to have ever been subjected to new technology-they are the same today as I remember them from over 40 yrs. ago. Would seem someone would have come up with a "stealthy carbon fibre, disappear into the frame" type stand somewhere along the line.

No fan of kickstand but it support the bike upright and keep away some debris getting on your chains and cranks if you lay down the bike on the side.

I know two VERY strong riders (one went from Reno to Yosemite, 220 miles over a 9900-foot pass, in a little over 15 hours last year) who use kickstands, but I think it's a fashion statement. One of them also has a basket on the front of his Rivendell. He wants to say, "I have a basket and a kickstand and I'm STILL in front of you."
I had one on my SS for awhile, but it was always falling over. The bike's pretty big, 65cm, and i think the leverage just overpowered the stand. I lay it down now if there's noplace to lean it.

There's no place I'd leave my bikes unlocked, so I don't need a kickstand. Whatever I've locked to holds them up. (At home, they hang from a hook in the living room.)

I just put a kickstand on my Jamis Coda commuter. Think it is a great idea and am considering putting one on my road bike.....but I am 'Fred' personified.

For those considering it, even though I did put part of an inner tube on both sides of the kickstand, I scratched the underside of my chain stays. Now I have 'gaffers' tape (black cloth duct tape) in addition to the inner tube bits.

I have noticed that local cop bikes have one that somehow fits on the rear as opposed to the traditional position.

For mtn biking-too dangerous--wouldn't want a stand to come down when hitting a root, rock, whatever!
Road bikes-don't know-but it's the one part which doesn't seem to have ever been subjected to new technology-they are the same today as I remember them from over 40 yrs. ago. Would seem someone would have come up with a "stealthy carbon fibre, disappear into the frame" type stand somewhere along the line.
Good point.

No bike that is taken off road should have a kickstand. It's dangerous.

A kickstand on a roadbike, OTOH, just seems to be an offense to reason and wisdom.

I've gone without one on my Bridgestone for 20 years now. And, yes, it has fallen a number of times because of it. The last time being last week when my wife bumped it over and into my Trek, which fell into my Sun recumbent, leaving all three sprawled on my garage floor.

The Trek hybrid I picked up last fall does have a kickstand and I have used it 20+ times already.

We put kickstands on the hybrids, Townies, and kids bikes at our shop.
Any other bike (interpretation = respectable bike) you gotta ask for one.

I just put a kickstand on my Jamis Coda commuter. Think it is a great idea and am considering putting one on my road bike.....but I am 'Fred' personified.

I'm definitely a Fred too but I'm still riding alone. I'll probably de-Fred somewhat if I start riding with others (especially in what I wear to ride - thin cotton workout pants over a chamois briefs and a T-shirt).

Who sells kickstands online? Not Performance.com.

It's a sad fact of life that I'm off my bike way more than I'm on it. I keep it in the house since the garage is a mess and we usually leave the door open (half hoping somebody will steal some the junk in there) and the back porch where the old 10-spd lives doesn't lock. One day I'll get that garage cleaned up and hang it up in there but for the forseeable future, it lives in my music room/office. A kickstand would be very convenient. I could take the one off the old 10-spd but it's 25 years old and somewhat corroded. It still works ok but the new bike deserves better.

To expand a little on my indignant outburst above, I have three bikes -- a $50 mtn. bike beater, a $500 beloved old hybrid and a $1,900 custom road bike. They all have kickstands, as I said, including the last one. When I ride, I like to stop periodically, get off and walk around and stretch, drink water, root around in my seat pack for food or Kleenex, etc., and I like the bike to be upright. I also toured once, and really needed the loaded bike to stay up and not be over on its side on the ground. Hey, they invented a way to hold up the bike, why not use it?

I've heard weight as a reason not to use them, but unless you're racing, I cannot believe that would be such a difference. I think it's aesthetic more than anything else.

Good point.

No bike that is taken off road should have a kickstand. It's dangerous.

A kickstand on a roadbike, OTOH, just seems to be an offense to reason and wisdom.

I had a kickstand on my Trek 3900 MTB. Just sayin'

I think it's aesthetic more than anything else.

That's what I'm having a hard time understanding. When did they become uncool and why?

Two thoughts:
1) When I ride, I ride. I ride from my house or trailhead until I reach my house or trailhead again with very, very few exceptions (OK I'm busted...no, I don't ever stop for pie)
2) Bikes on kickstands fall over. Bikes laid on their side don't fall over.

Two thoughts:
2) Bikes on kickstands fall over. Bikes laid on their side don't fall over.

I don't remember my old 10-spd falling over on the kickstand. Sure, it can happen but I don't think that's a huge problem if one is a bit careful. Something about laying a bike on the ground always bothered me.

I gave up kickstands circa 1970 and have never looked back. (My first bike was a Schwinn middleweight with a built-in kickstand, and my second was a bottom-of-the-line Bianchi road bike with a Pletscher kickstand and a Pletscher mousetrap rack.) I am glad no one ever put a clamp-on kickstand on either of my Capos, because of the likelihood of chainstay damage. There is no kickstand clearance on either my Bianchi or my mountain bike.

Stringrazor,

I got mine at the lbs for $8.00.

I just found this at Nashbar............

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=9667&CFID=75026721&CFTOKEN=68585856

I just buy one from Wally World or somewhere and stick it on. If I am going to worry about a few ounces in weight on the bike, I'll give up doughnuts for a couple of days.

There's no place I'd leave my bikes unlocked, so I don't need a kickstand. Whatever I've locked to holds them up. (At home, they hang from a hook in the living room.)

+1 They remind me a little of running boards on cars.

The bike shop I work,at bulding bikes, puts kick stand, on all
the bikes up to the Trek1000's.and above The reason is so the bikes
can stand up on the sales floor. When a bike is sold, we ask
the buyer, if they want the kick stand, the shop charges $8.98
for it, on top of bike price. If they don't want it, the person
getting it ready, takes off the kick stand.

I don't think I can put a Kickstand on the Rockhopper or the XC Comp dually MTBs. I like to put kickstands on all the garage sale bikes I buy and flip and a few that I keep. It's a pracitcal piece of equipment for bikes that I use for local riding to a store or through the neighborhood. So my old Nishiki MTB, my 83 Schwinn Traveler and 87 Raleigh Record all have kickstands. But I have not put kickstands on the newer Bianchi and Cannondale road bikes. I guess I'm not that much of a Fred....... yet.

There's no place I'd leave my bikes unlocked, so I don't need a kickstand. Whatever I've locked to holds them up. (At home, they hang from a hook in the living room.)
:beer:

I have one on my recumbent. It's the schnizzles.

I should put one on my recumbent. There have been times where it would have been handy.

I had a kickstand on my Trek 3900 MTB. Just sayin'

But did you ever take it offroad?

I was in a my LBS today, and I overheard a salesperson tell a customer that they had discontinued kickstands completely...because they were too heavy. I thought that was interesting, since there were a lot of commuters and 30 pound cruisers on the floor. The salesman's tone was very smug, as well.

But did you ever take it offroad?
Yep, over one time, too!

I was in a my LBS today, and I overheard a salesperson tell a customer that they had discontinued kickstands completely...because they were too heavy.

The most popular kickstand is made by Greenfield, out of aluminum. The total weight is 266 grams. I suppose that's more weight than a lot of people would want to add to a lightweight road bike. Wouldn't be noticeable on a lot of bikes.

The kickstand from Nashbar requires an area just aft of the seat tube between the chain stays to clamp to. Ok for MTB and some others but the clamping action tends to scratch the bike.

Tranz-X makes a family of stands that attach to the left rear dropout area. They are adjustable in length to alter the "lean" of the bike when on the stand. I believe that this type of stand has in the past been called a "stinger" since when folded it sticks out behind the rear axle.

Alfred E Bike in Chicago sells variations of the stand online. Mine are purchased from one of the not so LBS that caters to common sense in addition to fashon.

I have kickstands on both my hybrid and road bike. I just make sure that it's not real windy when I use one. "Who sells kickstands online?" Here's one on Nashbar.

http://www.nashbar.com/results.cfm?category=110&subcategory=1091&storetype=&init=y&pagename=

He wants to say, "I have a basket and a kickstand and I'm STILL in front of you.":roflmao:
OK, *that* would be worth it (if I had the conditioning to back it up).

But, I do remember when I was a kid (I can still remember back that far! :D), my bike was always falling over when I left it standing on the kickstand. YMMV, and it may have been the result of an inexpensive bike design and a non-optimal-length kickstand. But it's not a memory likely to induce me to install a kickstand on my beloved neon Klein, which is years past being able to get repainted to factory spec :eek: .

If you go to Amazon and search on "kickstand" a slew of them will turn up. You can get the standard Greenfield one from Niagara Cycle Works.

I have five bikes and zero kickstands. My wife has one bike and one kickstand. Different strokes.

Greenfield rear mounted kickstand. On all my bikes....Except my Mondonico. I can't bring myself to "Fred-up" my Italian beauty.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productdetail.asp?p=GSRKS&tn=0

I've had few problems finding a place to lean my bike - wall, bench, table, tree, bush, fence, road embankment, etc. If there's nowhere to lean the bike, just rest it gently on the ground drivetrain-side up.

Bikes don't come with kickstands because most folks don't want/need them. You can always buy one and install it yourself or have you LBS do it for you.

If you find your bike falls over when you lean it on something, here's the solution: make a wedge of rubber or plastic to fit in the space at the top of your brake lever when you squeeze the brakes. It keeps the front wheel from going anywhere and lets you prop your bike against even the narrowest of poles.

Greenfield rear mounted kickstand. On all my bikes....Except my Mondonico. I can't bring myself to "Fred-up" my Italian beauty.

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/productdetail.asp?p=GSRKS&tn=0
+1, I used one of those on my Nishiki Ariel. Real nice equipment. It has a distinct advantage over other kickstands because you can turn the cranks while the bike is parked without hitting the kickstand thereby allowing for cleaning or lubing of the chain while the bike is parked.

Hey-how about a carbon fiber kickstand????

I've found kickstands to be completely unnecessary. A lot of bikes used to come with mounting brackets under the chainstays behind the bottom bracket. Made it easy to add or remove a stand. My Rans recumbent came with a nicely-functioning stay-mounted stand. It, too, was removed. Unnecessary.

Hey-how about a carbon fiber kickstand????
Oh great, JPPE. Let's start another flame war in here about CF... :eek:

:D