Originally Posted by
Phreon
I can't believe nobody makes a similar flickstand. Does Rhodegear stubbornly hold onto an un-used patent?
Rhode Gear's not holding on to anything; they don't exist anymore. Rhode Gear got bought out by Bell, which went through some mergers/acquisitions/reorganizations in the '90s before eventually selling the Rhode Gear name and/or some part of their IP to Yakima. On a related note, I recently bought a Prorack hitch rack "by Yakima" that seems to be the current iteration of a Rhode Gear rack. Spare parts for my new rack are even listed as being for Prorack or Rhode Gear racks.
Anyway, about that patent... It would've expired in 1994.
Patent US4185850 - Automatic release bicycle holder - Google Patents