General Cycling Discussion - better than kickstand

Perhaps this could be a chat topic. There is a lot to be said in favor of the kickstand: It lets you leave your bike standing without a rack, it makes it easier to park at work, it's convenient if you want to get something out of panniers or rack pack. There are 2 real complaints: weight and clamped across the chainstays they make it hard to clean the bike after wet, muddy rides. I'm currently thinking of alternatives that be easily removed, light weight, and multi-functional. The stand should either allow easier on the road repairs like the Quickstand Terry Cycles sells or carry additional lighting or reflector surface for the rear rack. I'm currently thinking of tensioning fiberglass poles with bungee cords (sort of a 1 foot tall dome tentframe). Anyone have suggestions for this project?

Im afraid Im not a great fan of kickstands.
Ive never found myself short of a place to lean my bikes, and I wouldnt want to leave any bike alone that could be lifted and carried away. I always lock mine to a solid object.
They add weight to abike, but dont serve any function on the move.
They are only vital if you have a child seat.

You can get stands which attatch at the wheel end of the chainstay, and a braze-on fitting is probably neater than a clamp. Esge seem to make the best stands.

I'm with Michael on this one. To me kickstands only add weight and can drop your bike in windy weather. For urban bikes they may be ok though.

Took about 20 years to make the decision to add a kickstand to a bike. Got a lightweight one made for mountain bikes from Bike Nashbar on Old Dan. So far no problems.....

makes it a lot easier to get into the panniers, and not tweaking the BOB. Plus, it sure beats leaning the bike on cactus......

Just remember, if you DO get caught in quicksand, DON'T STRUGGLE. It only makes things worse.

:eek:

uggay, JonR, we all know you're a genius, but..

WHAT ARE U TALKIN' 'BOUT? :D

I absolutely will not put a kickstand on a good lightweight bike, because of damage to the chainstays, extra weight, etc. I was on large (30+) group ride yesterday. When we stopped for lunch, I leaned my bike against a wall, and several other people leaned theirs, in successive layers. [Final score: 1 Bianchi, 1 Pinarello, 1 Cinelli, 4 California Masis, 1 Italian Masi, and 2 Peugeots ... it was supposed to be an Italian-themed ride ... ]

At home, I store my bikes by hanging them upside-down from "bicycle storage hooks" (seemed appropriate!) in the garage rafters, and I never leave a bike without locking it to (and therefore leaning it against) a post, railing, or bike rack. We do have kickstands on my younger son's two old *-Mart cruiser/beaters, which live outdoors, and for which security is a non-issue.

Sorry guys, I'm not talking about existing bike kickstands, I'm talking about designing a new stand, and I'm thinking along the terms of something that will hold reflectors perpendicular to the bike while you are riding. New keywords:

DESIGNING A NEW, MULTIFUNCTIONAL, BIKE STAND

THINK "GEEKY COMMUTER"

Originally posted by Pete Clark
uggay, JonR, we all know you're a genius, but..

WHAT ARE U TALKIN' 'BOUT? :D
Sorry, guess I got in over my head.

Never gave it much thought about designing a kickstand from the ground up, and from scratch...but really lighweight, hey.....


how about using carbon fiber arrow shafts....extremly strong and light....

now, I'll be up all night trying to figure how to build one...geez! LOL

Originally posted by Pete Clark
uggay, JonR, we all know you're a genius, but..

WHAT ARE U TALKIN' 'BOUT? :D

He's right!

If you should find yourself in a patch of quicksand on your morning trip from the bedroom to the breakfast nook, struggling will only make things more difficult. Your best bet is to try to get on your back and float, as in water. Yell a lot too; help may come.

Of course, if you should find yourself in a patch of quicksand on your morning trip from the bedroom to the breakfast nook, those close enough to help you may in fact be trying to do you in. If this is the case, don't yell.

Remember, it's not paranoia if they really are trying to kill you.

I think your dream kickstand has already been designed, there is a type that mounts to the rear-triangle or drop-out , they work well for kickstands. ( I've never seen a kickstand that guarantees the bike wouldn't fall over.)

Ride Far
Pat

>>how about using carbon fiber arrow shafts....extremly strong >>and light....

Too late; AMP already make a carbon fibre kickstand for their Mercedes brand bikes.

http://cycling.org/lists/amp-research-newsletter/amp-research-newsletter-archive-hyper/amp-research-newsletter.199810/0000.html

Steel tubing is fine for this application. Most of the weight is in the clamp. If you braze a bracket onto the chainstay, you lose most of the weight, and have a much more secure fitting. It also works for lamps, dynamos and anything else you want to fit to a frame. Kickstands do have to be quite stiff when used with heavy luggage. Maybe an arrow shaft is too bendy.

Originally posted by JonR

Sorry, guess I got in over my head.

FWIW, I got it JonR. Both times.

Quicksand.

I never gave kick stands a thought until I used my Burney trailer for the first time last weekend.

Trying to strap my son in and hold the bike up proved to be too much for my brain.

I'm looking into buying one.

JonR and Lightboy, thanks for comming out to play.