I am such a dumbass...
 

I couldn't figure out why my ride in to work yesterday was so slow and hard. I felt like I was working twice as much as usual and I was going nowhere.

When I got to work, I looked at my timer and saw that my normally 85 minute ride took 105 minutes. That's a HUGE difference!

At first, I thought it was me and then I checked my bike....turns out my kickstand was rubbing against my back tire and acting as a break slowing me down. Wah-waaaaah.

So, yeah - fixed the kickstand & I'm back to normal. Sure got a heck of a workout, though!

Lesson learned - if you suspect something is wrong - check your bike right away. :)

If you had enough drag to slow you down that much, how much is left of your rear tire?
I suspect there may be something else going on.

It's often said that we don't notice differences (of anything) that's less than 5%. I'm surprised you didn't notice a difference of almost 30% in your case.

Fire the kickstand.:D

Another good reason not to use a kickstand :lol:

What's a kickstand?

Kickstand? What is this that you speak of?

Thanks for sharing that story before you forgot about it. Definitely thread worthy.:)

Had that happen with a real slow air leak, Kept looking at the tyres and they looked OK but I was pedaling hard and going about 10% slower than I thought I should be going, pretty well all day on a tour... :p

I did that once with a rubbing fender, but then again, I am a Giant Doofus.

A stand, designated for kicking?.... phenomenal!

You desecrated your noble steed with a kickstand?

You are fortunate. In my case the problem is never my bike, it's me.

Didn't it make a noticeable sound? My utility bike has a double kickstand, and since I put on 2.15" Big Apple tires, one leg of the stand sometimes gets too close to the tire and makes an odd sound.

fify

Too true though, I remember one ride that was way harder than it should have been, I finally stopped to inspect things, and I found my brake cable was messed up (noodle out of a V-brake?) so that one brake pad was riding the rim, instead of both arms opposing each other and standing off from the rim.

I like rear triangle kickstands.

As for kickstand naysayers, a kickstand is what turns a bike into a usable device, IMO. I wouldn't own a bike without one. More than half the time I'm parking my bike, there's nothing to lean it against and I'm not going to throw it on the ground.

Had a rear brake shoe (drum brakes) dragging slightly. Took me a few weeks to figure out why I was slower. I had convinced myself that it was just the winter blues effect.

I've never heard of people be against kickstands :) I dont usually get them because Im too lazy to put them on my bike, but reading this thread I naturally went "wait a minute... do you actually NEED a fastened kickstand?"

So apparently there's a way to get the best of both worlds: Just google "portable kickstand".... Can post link cos im n00b. so yea.

Btw... why DO you guys not like kickstands? xD Im a bike-newbie'ish.... So maybe I just havent hit the epiphany yet.

In a way it's a joke. There's nothing wrong with having a kickstand - I actually like kickstands, but I don't want one on any of my bikes. It's extra weight, can rattle, can get out of whack and bang on the frame, wheel or ground, and isn't all that useful.

Personally I just prop the pedal on a rock or curb, or else lean the bike against something.

If you're 10, yes kickstands are great. My own 9-year old wants me to put a kickstand on his bike. He hasn't learned to lean it on anything yet. He just drops it on the ground.

Personally I've never had a kickstand on any of my bikes. Never felt it was necessary.

A double kickstand is really necessary for loading a bike used for carrying or pulling lots of cargo. It's a big help when loading/unloading a trailer, whether it's regular cargo, or precious cargo like kids. I've done it on a bike without a kickstand and it's a royal PITA.

But that said, my road bike commuter and gravel grinder bikes do not have stands. Only the utility bike does.

Can we all just agree that the OP is not a dumbass, this guy is a dumbass but not the OP :lol: okay carry on.

It is odd, although I don't personally use a kickstand, I thought the commuting forum was a hotbed of kickstand-enthusiasts. The more stuff is loaded on the bike, the more useful a kickstand would be.

It's a simple, yet clever device that helps transform a piece of recreational sports equipment for enthusiasts into a practical form of transportation for normal people. ;)

+1

I had a similar problem due to a broken freehub body. Tormented me for quite a while. Any time I would stand up the brakes would rub. Set it aside, then I needed a rear wheel so I started using it again. I thought the rim was wimpy, so I over=tensioned the spokes and a spoke broke, so I set it aside again. It bothered me that I wasn't using it, so I worked it over a bit and only then did I realize what the problem was.