FiftySix

I like leaning my bikes onto their kickstands. If I lay my bikes on the ground that means I gotta bend over, which means my shirt will come untucked, which means I'll be exposing the public to a case of plumbers butt. So, I like kickstands for the sake of public decency. Y'all can thank me later.

macbobster

Thank you kindly. I didn't come right out and say it, but bending over does have drawbacks (more than one)!

bobwysiwyg

Consider submitting this to Duluth Trading as an ad line, you might make some $$.

livedarklions

A kickstand is great if you're keeping your bike in your hotel room. I just found that out.

When I really found them the most useful was when I had the baby trailer attached. Not always easy to line up a place to lean it, and laying it down is awkward at best.

FiftySix

Strikes close to home.

macbobster

Like this: https://upstandingbicycle.com/shop/the-upstand/

Gresp15C

Oddly enough the place where kick stands come in handy is in my garage. There's only so much space to lean or hang bikes, and I have to move things around to get at the stuff in the way back. Many bikes won't take a kickstand due to delicate frames or no good mounting scheme. Those also seem to be the more sporty bikes in the family fleet. Fine. The bikes that can accommodate kickstands, have them. They are for commuting, shopping, getting around town.

I attended a large organized group ride that was non-competitive. A large number of "nice" bikes had kickstands. If I noticed anything, it was that older riders were more likely to have kickstands. Maybe it's just a habit from our childhood, when every Schwinn had a built-in kickstand whether you wanted one or not.

one4smoke

one4smoke

When I got my first carbon fiber bike about 3 years ago, it was hard for this old dog to learn the new trick of managing a bike without a kickstand. But even after a hard learned lesson that resulted in a big paint chip on the top tube (still makes me sick), I have gotten used to not having one now and have progressively gotten better at the art of leaning, despite my original disdain for it.

livedarklions

.

The older I get, the less I like bending over to pick up stuff, so that could also explain the age difference.

mrt2you

for the delicate bikes that won't take a kickstand. look at a greenfield sks2b rear stay kickstand. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Greenfield-...UAAOSwyFddZc-m

i had one on my CF specialized roubaix for 4 years without any problems. it was nice to be able to support the bike without leaning it against something and messing up the paint. they work great. now i have a CF specialized roubaix disc brake bike and can't use one. the disc brakes mount where you would mount the kickstand.

thumpism 

I have kickstands on most of my bikes and don't worry about coolness. Center mount ESGE or Greenfields, rear axle mount Greenfields, center mount Twinn on the touring bike. When you're as far beyond coolness as I am you can even advertise.

FunCommuter

A kickstand comes in handy on my commuter when I’m bungee strapping my lunchbox to the back rack. I dropped it several times while doing that before I got a stand. The bike I ride just to ride doesn’t have one.

xroadcharlie

A kickstand (Center mounted), Rear view mirror and bell are essential to any bike I buy. I use them all the time. I also have a rack, trunk bag, compass, small computer, 2 small lights and a water bottle. With 9 "things" on my handle bar, There isn't much room left. If it makes my commuting safer or more convenient, I'll put it on. Coolness isn't even a factor. I'd have fenders too if used this bike for commuting.

jskash

I have never had a bike that did not have a kick stand. My current Giant Escape disc did not come with a kick stand, but one was easily put on at the LBS before I brought it home.

MikeyMK

I need a central/two-legged kickstand but haven't found one yet that'll fit the full-sus e-tandem.

livedarklions

https://www.jpcycles.com/product/530...g-center-stand

MikeyMK

Haha cheers, but if they ship that to England it'll be about 300 quid... I hadn't considered motorcycle ones or that they'd be in light alloy, I'll have a look nearby.

canklecat

Nice bike. I switched my '93 Univega Via Carisma from flat bars to Nitto albatross, so it also needed a longer stem. It's now wearing a 120mm or 130mm off a road bike. Pretty similar to your setup.

I removed the kickstand awhile back so I could thoroughly clean and inspect the bike. But I think I'll put it back on.

And I'm going to put a double kickstand on my errand bike. The original single leg was too wobbly, but it needs a kickstand when I'm hauling full panniers. And it already has a massively strong plate between the chain stays for a double kickstand.

Now that I have a couple of road bikes to satisfy my pretensions that weight and aero matter (at my age with a cranky engine, it doesn't matter much) I can quit trying to make a perfectly comfy 30 lb hybrid "faster" by omitting a sensible bit of metal that doesn't weigh enough to notice.

canklecat

BTW, nothing wrong with stem shifters. I've used them. But if you try bar end shifters with swept handlebars I'm betting you'll like them.

Main advantage is keeping the hands on the grips while shifting, if anything unexpected occurs - rut or pothole, debris, etc.

I'm not sure I'd like bar end shifters on drop bars (I'm about to find out with a road bike project) but they're darned near perfect for swept bars.

Miele Man

That's a nice looking bicycle.

A number of years ago I was looking at getting a Surly LHT frame from a local bicycle shop. I was very interested in that frame until I found out that putting a kickstand on it would void the warranty. I even corresponded directly with Surly and was told by Surly that yes, putting a kickstand on a LHT did indeed void the warranty. Perhaps they've changed their policy since then. Voiding the warranty by putting a kickstand on the frame killed my interest in that Surly frame.

I had an MTB years ago that I used for extended logging/mining road touring. My friend had one too. Sometimes when touring or even just riding around certain areas there is no convenient place to lean a bicycle especially a loaded one. I've been in many areas where leaning the bicycle against the small trees there would result in the bicycle falling over. That's true of many of the rail-trails near where I live too. The bicycles my friend and I had had TWO kickstands each on them. One kickstand was a chainstay mounted one and the other was mounted at the rear onto t he chainstay and seatstay. With those we did NOT have to lay the bicycles down when we stopped or when we load up or gear onto the bicycles.

Like I said, sometimes there's nothing nearby to lean your bicycle against such as in this old photo.



Cheers

FiftySix

Cool old photo.

Miele Man

Thanks.

That's my friend's old NORCO BIGFOOT.

Where I live now there are a lot of farms not far from town. There often is nowhere to lean a bicycle around when I stop for a break or to take images. I also sometimes carry a small stove with me on which I'll cook a quick meal or heat a mug of tea or coffee. It's nice to have the bicycle standing up whilst I get stuff out of a pannier or put it back in a pannier.

That being said, I have seen slightly crushed chainstays or bent kickstand top-plates where the kickstand was installed by some ham-fisted ogre who figured you have to reef on the bolt until it can move ant more. I find a bit of locktite or other thread locker on a kickstand top-plate bolt along with a rubber shim under and over the kickstand plates works wonder for keeping the kickstand in place in use. I've never had one of mine come loose.

Another thing I like on my touring bicycles that many will ridicule, is a "Dork Disc" aka spoke protector. When I'm miles away from home and if a chain should for some reason derail into the spokes I like to know that the spoke protector is there to protect the spokes from getting chewed up or worse breaking. When you're bouncing over big stones and or ruts on dirt roads that spoke protector is nice added insurance against having to walk many miles back to civilization.

Cheers

westrid_dad

Similar concept, I have a Click-Stand for my Surly Ogre. As others have mentioned, leaning a bike on the ground with a trailer attached can be a concern.

Click-Stand Home Page

JanMM

I don't see a kickstand - what am I overlooking?