krobinson103

They also come in handy loading your kid on the back without having her and the bike fall over.

Monster Pete

You can, of course, lay a bike on the ground and it won't fall. But if you plan to carry anything on the bike, it's much easier to load a bike when it's upright and away from the wall, and far easier than picking up a fully loaded touring bike. Motorcycles always have a stand of some sort- you wouldn't want to be picking that up off the floor It's also handy if you just want to stop for a minute or so for whatever reason.

rebel1916

Racing moterbikes never have a stand.

krobinson103

Any motorcycle used for transport purposes has a stand. All of mine had two, a main stand under the frame and the side stand for quick stops. I wouldn't want to be picking up a 200kg object that leaks fuel when its leaned over anyway. A bike is of course lighter, a stand is optional and I don't use one on my 'fast' bike because it does save weight. As for the 'uncool' factor who cares what others think?

eja_ bottecchia

They are ugly, heavy and don't work.

mprelaw

After I got home, about 5 minutes.

Myosmith

Some bikes aren't designed for kickstands. I wouldn't put a traditional chainstay clamp style on a light aluminum or CF road bike. My aluminum roadie doesn't have one, nor does my trail bike, but I put one on my steel light touring bike to make loading easier and for convenience when I use it as a commuter. If it is really windy or there is some reason I think my tourer is at risk of being knocked over, I'll lean or lay it down instead of using the kickstand, but really, it is pretty stable as long as it is on flat solid ground.

As long as the kickstand is properly designed to work with the frame in question, it boils down to personal choice. Sure there are people who will vehemently oppose the mere suggestion of a kickstand, but then there are people who will have heated arguments over whether you should wear your sunglasses over or under your helmet strap.

jjvw

Kick stands are a tool. Some jobs don't require certain tools. Some tools are better than others. There are a lot of tools who who have a narrow vision of what "serious cycling" is. Does every car need to be a drag car? Must every truck be off-road capable?

chaadster

At 35gm, the Upstand may be a solution for some. For example, I don't usually need one on my utility bike, but occasionally, such as when I have the trailer on it, one would come in handy.

fietsbob

Nermal, I own one of those NL trekking Bikes, Koga Miyata has a deal with Tubus adding a brazed-on piece ,
before they powdercoated the rack, for the ones they buy, in bulk.

and that allows the second KS on the left lowrider rack side.. to be fitted..

Now Tubus offers an add on kit to do that function, to their regular low racks..

so light weight racers No, Practical Commuters , Utility and Loaded tourers, Yes.


maybe not during the actual race, but they do have one back at the pits
to hold the bike up, while replacing wheels and worn tires, and removing the engine.

FrenchFit 

Jeez - You answered your own question. They're utilitarian. A natural sometimes, an aberration othertimes.

Putting a kickstand on a Wilier Zero.7 would be an abomination.

Not having a good, strong kickstand (double) on a loading touring bike is just plain silly.

In-between is a matter of judgment, and if you put one on your psuedo-racer or MTB you can expect to generate some cognitive dissonance.

"Serious" road bikers are often going "black tie", or didn't you notice?.

caloso

Exactly. Does my Cervelo have a kickstand? Of course not. Does my old mountain bike commuter have a kickstand? Of course it does.

GrouchoWretch

The same can be said of me, and does anyone insist that I don't belong on a bike?

triumph.1

If you don't stop you don't need one and on the very few occasions I do stop the ground is good enough to rest it.

storckm

True enough, but if your bicycle has a significant load attached, laying it down can be impractical. I just attached a Pletscher two-legged kickstand to my commuting and utility bicycle.

Burton

(A) Because they spend most of their time just hangin' around out back doin' nothin.
(B) Because even when they actually do something constructive - its never for very long.
(C) Because its hard to respect something everyone else kicks around on a regular basis.

TheOtherBob

Kick stands are frowned upon on serious road bikes for the same reason that fenders are frowned upon -- extra weight, no performance bonus. If performance is what you're after, obviously you won't mount a part like that. But...hey, if you're not looking to win the Tour this year, and you can keep up, and you're happy...who rightly gives a ****?

On serious commuter bikes, it's up to personal preference. Mine has fenders but no stand, while others prefer a stand and won't use fenders. With commuters, I think everyone is basically just looking for whatever setup makes their commute pleasant, and doesn't have any concern about whether your setup matches theirs.

On serious touring bikes, it sounds like a good kickstand is practically a requirement.

Artkansas 

Kickstands add weight and the clamps may tend to squeeze the frame out of shape, that's what I heard in the '70s. It makes sense if you are racing or only use your bike for recreational rides.

But all my bikes have kickstands. Makes it easier to park and lock quickly, easier to load the panniers or the trailer. It allows me to park them close together inside my apartment. It tells a thief that this bike is not expensive enough to not have a kickstand.

frantik

that's easy.. no helmet

chaadster

cyccommute 

You are most of the way to understanding why many people don't use kickstands. I don't because there is almost always wind or some risk that my bike will be knocked over. Once you start leaning it up against something sometimes, it just a small step to leaning it up against something all the time. And once you start riding other kinds of bikes...specifically mountain bikes off-road...it's easy to see that the utility of a kick stand decreases dramatically. Having one deploy on a drop could be a very bad thing.

storckm

True, but only if you define performance simply as being able to go as fast as possible. I would consider a carbon road bike without enough clearance for fenders and without rack eyelets as very low performance, since going fast is not the biggest part of what I want a bicycle to perform.

JohnDThompson 

The most common type of kickstand attaches by clamping on the chainstays; this often damages the frame, particularly frames built from light weight, thin-wall tubing.

TheOtherBob

Yeah, but I reserve the right to use the ordinary meaning of words, and that's how most people use the term "performance." If someone asks for a high performance car, and you show them a Buick station wagon because it would perform well in a cargo-carrying role...

I think the term you want there is "utility." A carbon road bike has a very specific purpose -- high performance -- but not much utility outside of that role.

rebel1916

Sounds like my brother.