I'm new to road cycling and have always had a kickstand on my old non-road cycles. Is there a better way to stand up your bike besides leaning it against things? I know some of you just lay them down, and a lot of you lean, but is there any other way? I've heard of flipstands on this forum and those are supposed to help make it easier to lean your bike but i can't seem to find out much more about them. Any info, or suggestion, or anything?

What's wrong with leaning it against something? If you lean it so that the rear tire and the handlebars are the contact points then nothing gets scratched. If you have to lay it down in the grass, then just make sure that the drivetrain side is up so that you don't knock the derailleurs out of alignment.

Road bikes should never have any of the following:

- bells
- stands
- mud guards (unless you're in Paris-Roubaix)
- reflectors in spokes
- flags
- platform pedals
- flat bars
- panniers
- racks

what's a flip stand? Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like much of an improvement over simply leaning it on something, or lying it down. It's simple, it's free. It's not going to hurt your bike, unless you do something wrong (ok, I've done this, but it's not the end of the world)

flickstand

Unless your commutting or touring on a road bike. Not every road bike is used only to go to Starbucks on the weekend

Oh man, do I need to take out the playing cards out of my spokes? I'm feeling insecure now.
Cannondale used to make a little gizmo that you put on the brake bolt. Is that a flickstand? Been a while since I've seen it.

Flickstand didn't help much, as I didn't know what that was either. But it at least gave me something to search for. They look interesting. Any body know of any pictures where I might be able to see what it looks like in the up position?

You had me worried. Thought for a second there you were going to ban my handlebar streamers.

Oh yeah. I assume you own the bike in question. Put on it whatever you choose.

you forgot DORK DISCS!!!!

I haven't seen a flickstand since I donated my old Raleigh Super Course 12 (bad idea, now that I think back). It was a little plastic collar that clamped to the downtube that had a polished wire bail with a back-curved loop at the end to lock onto the front tire surface when the front wheel was straight. You could then lean the whole bike as a unit without the front wheel turning.

- mirrors
-ANY reflectors
-lights
-chainguards

Yeah! Yeah! That's it! Man that is old school! I remember those. Blackburn made them I think?
I like the rubber band trick on the front brake too.

Here's another tip if you leave a bike in front of the coffee shop and don't have/carry bike lock. Undo the rear quick release. By the time the guy sits on the bike to steal, he can't go 5 inches.

LOL, if I was him, I'd just take the Wheels... If their decent... Then again if you wanna ever have kids you won't TOUCH another man's bike! Well, my bike any hows...

10 CANNONDALE stickers

You forgot:

- arrogant pricks who ride them, & tell other riders what they can/can't have on their bikes

I have a kickstand for my MTB that I ride on the roads. Don't let these guys tell you what you can or can't have on YOUR bike. I live in a rural area where there are NO trees to lean a bike against. Most roads have a considerable ditch and no shoulder. There is no way to lean my bike on something or to lay it down on some nice soft grass. My only option without a kickstand is to lay it in the street or hold it up myself. If you race, then take it off before the race. But on a training ride, who cares? Go ahead and put on a kickstand, extra reflectors, a parachute, whatever. All that extra resistence and weight during training will just make you better than the weight weenies anyway.

I am a runner, play racquetball, and I ride horses. And never in my life have I seen such snobbery and elitism as I do in cycling. Even in horseback riding which has its snobs, doesn't even come close to what I see in cycling. So what gives? Does having a kickstand really make you less of a person? How about Sora components? Loser! Loser! Platform pedals? You don't deserve to live! Triple chainring? Don't even bother to get out of bed!

What's with all the bitter newbies lately?

its your bike, and you can put anything you want on it. However, there are multiple reasons that the vast majority of people with decent road bikes choose not to use kickstands:
1) weight, (it doesn't make a lot of sense to pay a $1,000 to save a pound of weight off the bike and then put it right back on.)
2) most kickstands don't work very well, and can put the bike at more risk than leaning it or setting it down gently,
3) problems with clamping on a kickstand on lightweight frame materials.
4) to many they just don't look cool (admittedly a poor reason, but often the actual one if people were honest)

The "steel is real" crowd says, "what's a couple of pounds among friends?" A good reason to ride a boneshaker aluminum bike - save enough weight that you can use a kickstand.

Anyway, I hear that kickstands are the hip must-have item. The new fixie, if you will.


I have one of those flickstand dealeys. I don't see the point. Sure, it locks your front wheel from rotating or turning, but you still have to lean the bike over onto something. Maybe I'll sell mine on ebay...

I've seen more bikes fall over with kickstands than just leaning them... when you lean it, you're going to be watching what you're doing and how steady it is... with a kickstand, you take things for granted and then next thing you know the bike has slammed down on it's side (usually from uneven pavement, a strong breeze, meteor showers, etc.).. stick with leaning it correctly.. If there's no place to lean it, then get on it and ride until you find someplace to do so

Thanks Bob. I've always wondered what my problem was, now I know

By, the way, you seem to have mistaken my reply for something serious, you did notice the smiley at the end?

Natch. Beat me to it. Pity they're pretty much gone.

Just tired of all the elitist nonsense. Perhaps if people were as good as they think they are, they wouldn't need to spend an extra $1000 for a carbon frame or components that way 2 less grams. As it has been said before, Lance Armstrong(or insert any pro) can ride circles around any of us on any X-mart bike. It's about the engine, not the vehicle.