Rustedbird

I like kickstands. I also like bells, lights, fenders and racks.

barba

I like bells, lights, fenders & racks (and I will raise you cloth bar tape), but for some reason I cannot abide a kickstand.

Actually, I don't mind them but I have no use for them either. My bike is either locked up (in which case I don't need the kickstand), under me, or on the rack at home. In the rare instances where I need a free standing bike option, I just do the old pedal on the curb trick.

halfspeed

A bike that is laying on the ground cannot fall on the ground. A bike that is on a kickstand... might. And yes, I know this from experience.

jordanb

I think they're very convenient. As to them working loose. I've never had that problem. Mine are e/f welded on!

top506

I find them quite useful in preventing the bike from falling to the ground when not being ridden.
I've never seen a crushed chainstay, but I DID snap a kickstand in two from overtightening
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cudak888 

...it just gets dirt inside the handlebars.

-Kurt

halfspeed

Velox bar plugs or barcons solve that problem.

KDB

So, in the end it's a matter of personal perference?

well biked

That, and I think it will almost always go along with the type of bike. On a bike where weight is a big issue, such as a lightweight road bike, you don't see kickstands much at all. The cost of the components and frame materials that made the bike lightweight in the first place would be somewhat wasted with a kickstand added. On bikes where weight is not that big an issue, and practicality is more important, kickstands are often used. I remember taking the kickstand off my old AMF banana seat bike as a kid, so I guess I've always been sort of anti-kickstand as a matter of personal preference, as you say-

McDave

That and need I guess.

Thank you all that responded. I'm a reborn cyclist after a 35 year hiatus and fairly new to the bike forums. I was afraid my post would be met with a "Oh no, not another kickstand debate thread". I guess it hasn't come up all that often.

It's been interesting and informative. I can see why mountain bikers wouldn't want to pogostick off a kickstand and tumble down a steep trail. Plus I imagine they wear their bike scrapes as badges of honor.

TimJ wrote: "You've got kickstand issues. Were you beat up by an anti-kickstand zealot as a young child? Rise above it."

Naw, I just have a gross of NOS kickstands and am trying to generate demand so I can sell them on eBay for $400 a piece. (sorry, inside joke from another forum) Actually you may be onto something there. Read on.

Halfspeed wrote: "A bike that is laying on the ground cannot fall on the ground. A bike that is on a kickstand... might. And yes, I know this from experience.

That's a good point but all I can think about after reading that is my dad yelling at me to "pick up your bike before somebody runs over it!!!". Of course that somebody would have been him which would suck since he bought me the bike.

That may very well be the source of my pro ks issues. I was also a paperboy that had to deliver each paper inside the screen door so had to use the ks at each stop to keep the papers from falling out of the saddlebags and into the rainwater or snow (before we had plastic sleeves). So I guess ks usage is ingrained.

I am trying to "Rise above it" though. Out of the six bikes I now own (they're multiplying like vintage steel rabbits ya know?), only 3 have kickstands. The other 3 are lightweight roadies that have been leaning against the walls in my hallway, but I just received a nice new 3 bike rack stand off eBay so they will now be properly supported without resorting to the dreaded pot metal bike destroying spike.

Not sure how I'm going to handle it when I have to stop at a convenience store to refuel once I start venturing farther away from home though. Just thinking about it is giving me the shakes.

bmclaughlin807

I use the heck out of my kickstand! And no, I've never crushed chainstays OR had one come loose on me.

I suppose if I did have a problem with one coming loose, it would take me maybe twice tightening it up before I put loc-tite on it. Problem solved.

My bike stands in my server room on it's kick stand all day, and in my living room all night, and the only time it's EVER fallen over is when the panniers were fully loaded, and I was unloading them unevenly.

Then again, I avoid soft asphalt (Years of riding in Yuma, Arizona teaches you that FAST! heh ) and grass or other soft ground. Usually stand it on older asphalt (where the rocks are showing) or on concrete.

frameteam2003

I have one on my Pizza getter---a 1970 murray L/W coaster brake.Don't have one on the Claud Butler---it an't for stopping and leaning---sam

teambhultima

My Schwinn Suburban has a built-into-the-frame kickstand that just might hold up a Harley. Honestly, I really do use it, because when I ride around the neighborhood & lake with the kids, we stop a lot to visit or feed the ducks. Plus, it's nice to park my Schwinn beside the kids' bikes in the garage. All their bikes have kickstands, of course.

The Raleigh Grand Prix and the Austro Daimler Ultima road bikes have no use for kickstands.

spunkyruss

I ride with a lock instead of a kickstand. The cast aluminum, clamp-on-the-chainstays kickstands that I'm most familiar with weigh about as much as a small lock. I don't park my bikes outside without locking them to something. I hang them from hooks when they're inside.

I've never installed a kickstand, but I've removed several of them. In every case, the kickstand was either loose or so tight that it cracked the paint and/or bent the chainstays. I don't know why kickstands don't come with a torque spec and loctite pre-applied to the mounting bolt.

In the interest of full disclosure, bikes don't generally end up in my hands if somebody else gives a damn about them.

top506

That and the fact that the C&V forum is generally populated by grown-ups (even the ones under 30!)
I log onto a lot of lists and groups covering everything from re-enacting to food to camaras and this is the most polite, helpful, and knowlageable group in my bookmarks.
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oldroads

Kickstands are quite useful on commuter cycles.
Here's a quote from our site:

"There Was A Time When:

Bicycles came with fenders (mudguards)
Bicycles came with chainguards
Bicycles came with kickstands
Bicycles came with a comfortable seat
Bicycles came with a comfortable upright riding position
Bicycles came with one speed
Bicycles came with three speeds and could be shifted while stopped "

TheOtherGuy

Racing bikes don't need kickstands. They're light weight, and with a little thought, can be properly leaned almost anywhere without incident... Touring bikes are much heavier (when loaded), and could make good use of a well designed stand. In past years, some touring bikes had proper stand fittings brazed on, so you didn't need to attach a cheap "chainstay crusher".
For anything but a racer or weight-weenie lightweight, kickstands are fine... As long as they're well designed to support the bike, and properly attached.

Oh... but I wouldn't put one on my Paramount...

cudak888 

I'd say the best stand for a tourer would be a Y stand...no chance of it flipping.

-Kurt

wile e. coyote

The average customer wants one, easier to make them standard equipment (like AM radio). Come to think of it, I can't remember if the Iron Horses at Dick's had them, they ought not to. Speaking of useless appendages, I love seeing barends on mtbs ridden by the local yokels. but thats another thread.

How about a carbon composite kickstand with a delrin keeper? I was just gonna take off the stand on my 8 yr old nephew's bike because it wouldn't stay up and gets in his way. On my balloon tire bike the rear drop stand is a must due to the thing weighing abought 50 pounds. Plus, balloon tire bikes need maximum attachments. My new repro balloon tire bike has a kickstand, and I literally use it as a 'pizza getter'.