Since I added my handlebar bag on Tempest I tell them I have better leather than Depeche Mode.

I just bought a Bike Hand because of this thread. Thanks!

Update from kickstand land. Back in March, I claimed:

Summer finally came around, and I decided that the kickstand had outlived its usefulness (it was horrifically corroded) and needed to go. I put a bunch of grease around where the bolt threaded into the nut and let it sit for a bit. Then, I grabbed the 14mm socket wrench and pulled like a champion, until: POP! The bolt broke off in the nut, and it was all stuck in the socket. :mad:

A half hour and a crowbar later, no more kickstand. I think I'm done with kickstands. All the best to those of you who enjoy them and find them useful. :beer:

Welcome to Paradise. Ride toward the light...

It appeared that you were agreeing with ColonelSanders "then kickstands are must" and you amplified that it is the case for people who "embrace practical applications" rather than who "pursue intangible accomplishments". You presented it as a clash of priorities.

Those claims, his and yours, are what I dispute. I don't know where you came up with ignorance, bad judgment and character flaws, but I present my own years of experience biking as a practical application as a counterpoint to the necessity, or even efficacy, of having a kickstand.

Kickstands are inherently flawed because of the extra weight, the relative weakness of the stays where most are clamped, the instability of kickstands not mounted there, the clamping force necessary to mount kickstands in that chain stay area, and the inevitable weakening of the spring which can cause rattles, flopping stands, and sometimes interference with pedaling. Heavy duty center stands also suffer from inherent design flaws similar to those.

In the vast majority of cases, in my own experience, alternative methods of holding the bike up have been not only easier and more secure, but do not suffer any of the flaws and potential flaws. That doesn't speak to a "character defect", just experience. If you like kickstands, more power to you and I'm not trying to persuade you, but if people want objective advice about it, I'm just calling it as I see it.

I'm new so please explain...how do you all manage without a kickstand? What happens when you need a water break? A bathroom break? Keeping your bike from rubbing up against whatever you're locking it to? Keeping your bike from ruining the paint job on the wall when you bring it in for the night? Keeping mischievous pets from knocking it over? Hoping whoever needs to move it will rebalance it properly?

(Yes, I've encountered all this, including the pets.)

Just stopped somewhere, push your pedal down against a rock, the curb, helmet or anything like that.

If I stop somewhere random to help someone, with nothing to prop up on, lay it in the grass drive side up if I have to. It's no big deal.

If someone moves your bike, having or not having a kickstand isn't going to make them more or less careful.

Inside in the hallway, the bikes lean against the wall. They take up less hallway that way, and are more stable than kickstands. The cat climbs all over them. I have area rugs underneath and don't worry about the wall - if I did, I'd tack up a strip of clear vinyl.

Many frames for the world market have mounts for that type kickstand in the frame back by left rear axle dropout

several of Trek's bikes do (Trek Uses Giant's huge OEM division to make a lot of their bikes)...

so they carry the compatible KS available in their shops..





:innocent:

My grocery-getter has a nice kickstand that I pretty much never use because once that thing is fully loaded it'll flop over unless you prop it up with a stick somewhere along the top tube, like one of those click stands some of the touring crowd use.

I use my eyes and lean it up against something stable with a rubber band or something around the front brake to keep it from flopping around. I may or may not use a lock depending on what I'm doing. I don't care about the paint jobs on my bikes since I ride the living crap out of them anyway. That and they're all covered in helicopter tape, so it'll take some doing to actually scratch them.

Kickstands are for nerds, and cyclist are already considered nerds to the general population. Do you really want to be twice removed from the cool kids?

I've played Dungeons & Dragons, I've had drinks with Stormtroopers and Klingons at conventions and I watch science documentaries for fun. One more removal from the cool kids ain't going to make a difference at this point. :D

Penny. Penny. Penny. Penny. Penny.....:D

Till I found the internet I thought all bicycles needed a kick stand. I had seen some bikes in the store that didn't have them, I thought the company was just being cheap.

But now that I have read all about it on the internet, I still think all bicycles should have kick stands.
I think its all a marketing ploy that some people fell for to make it just look like the manufacture is not being cheap...

For me, it depends on the bike or the function. I won't put a kickstand on a bike unless it has a kickstand plate, I won't run the risk of crushing the tubes. There is an exception, I have a kickstand on my touring bike and it is mounted on the rear stays.

What you need is a 'parking brake', which is a piece of tire tubing about 1/2" wide around your handlebar that you can wrap around the brake lever to keep the brake against the wheel. My handlebar tape is black so the rubber tubing isn't noticeable.

Hell they sell bikes without pedals as well. How backwards is that?

That's for nerd
http://www.palmbeachbiketours.com/wp...-kickstand.jpg

That's for people with taste

https://upstandingbicycle.com/wp-con...128_132526.jpg

I have 4 bikes currently. The utility/beater/commuter has a kickstand, the others do not. Horses for courses.

I have hydros on most of my bikes, so a hair band (I think that's what they're called) or larger rubber band puts out enough pressure to keep the wheels from rolling freely. Works with either my mtb or road setups too.

Lay it on the ground, or lean it against something. If I want to take care with the paint, I nest whatever I am leaning it against in between the crank arm and the pedal, or against the bars and saddle, so the frame never comes in contact with anything. It isn't really that difficult.

That said, I still do like kickstands on my more utility/touring/city bikes.

horses for courses , yea .. road race bike, or single track MTB no , daily transportation or loaded touring , probably useful..

easier to make camp and pack up a touring bike that you don't have to pick up off the ground repeatedly..

seen the folding sectional shock cord connected prop stands that go under the top tube??

I must disgree with your claims as they're based on worst case senerios for kickstands, and best case for alternatives.

Many bikes have well engineered mounting points for stands, and many stands are well engineered without functional flaws.

The alternitaves may not be available, allowed, desirable, or suitable for ones needs.

The weight consideration is purely subjective as ones needs and goals will determine if it's a penalty, or benefit.

My other comments were simply because some attach judgmental snark about those who use them as if one can decide what's appropriate for everyone. For myself, a bicycle is primarily a practical vehicle for transportation, I desire enhanced convenience and functionality. I consider things that limit my choices as undesirable.

Yes, because I want to be as far removed from people who think like that as possible.

Every type of internet forum imaginable has its share of zealots, geeks, advocates, sapients, trolls and moderators to debate everything and anything. I'm pleased that bikeforums are no different.


Which am I with this post? Troll, I guess...

My road bike and moutain bike don't have them. So when my cobbled together commuter bike's kickstand started to rattle, I took it off. I'm at least consistent.


I lay the bike down in the grass or lean it against something if it's a short stop. Lock it to something vertical if it's a longer stop. Typically, I'm on the bike or it's in the garage so it's not a big deal but I don't worry a lot about my pretty paint.


Most kickstands that come with a bike aren't adjustable and are short to lean the bike far enough past it's center of gravity to keep it stable. The 3 bikes that belong to my wife and daughters have kickstands and if they use them they take up another bike width or so worth of storage space. So in the garage we use a rack to keep them upright and conserve space instead of using the kickstands. I hang whichever 2 of mine I'm not using at the time on the wall and the other is in the rack.


If you alternate the bikes front wheel or back wheel in a rack you can squeeze them even closer together because you don't get handlebar interference. So we're split 50/50 until my next bike.