iolas

ok, I'm a chick, so listen to me. keep your wife happy, but don't ruin your bike. tell her you are saving it for a project. if that doesn't work, get a cheapy old $10 thrift store beater, put it on that, and tell her you're restoring it (act very excited, tell her it's PERFECT, you would have never thought of it yourself, she's so thoughtful, blah blah blah) problem solved. wife feels special, your bike is saved.

or... don't jump through hoops over something silly, and just be honest.

Doohickie

My wife would see through that in about 0.004 seconds.

destikon

Try being completely honest about it. Tell her you don't like it and don't plan on using it. Tell us how it goes. You can't always please other people at the expense of your own satisfaction/happiness. Tell her thanks for the thought, return it, and buy a bottle of wine with the refund. Then she'll know that you are a truth speaker no matter what.

LupinIII

holy hell

just tell her it isn't compatible with your bike. Unless the person is into cycling and rides in groups or is on forums, they'll completely buy it. Out of all my friends, I have maybe 3 that could call me out on that bluff. If she asks why, just say it wasn't engineered with a kickstand in mind and could mess it up, and that you don't think you can safely mount it. Like I said, any non-cyclist will buy this because skinny tires = racing bike and finnicky and expensive.

if you don't give a ****, use it. your bike isn't real light, it isn't fragile, and when I see another fixed gear rider there's a lot of other things i'll scoff at in my head before a kickstand. these include wheels costing more than the rest of the bike, huge saddle to bar drop with flats/risers, 650c fronts on a bike not intended for it, colored chains, and brakes not on handlebars. kickstands are low on my snark list unless it's on something super nice like a landshark, bob jackson, or a cervelo.

TheBikeRollsOn 

HA! She bought him a kickstand, you think she reads BF?

lostarchitect 

you have a spare room?? sigh. i gotta get out of this city.

wroomwroomoops

This is one of the dumbest advices I've ever read on BFSSFG.

johnnytheboy

you don't need a kickstand.
if it's a fixed gear, it'll track stand pretty much anywhere you need it to.

iolas

don't take it seriously. if he is honestly worried about her being upset about a KICKSTAND, come on. if she's that sensitive he is probably used to walking on eggshells. I should have added winky faces or something, I'm not actually being serious here.

tashi

Marriage success tip #1: Don't upset your wife unnecessairly.
Marriage success tip #2: Don't be dishonest with your wife. This should be rule #1 actually.
Marriage success tip #3: Don't take jump through hoops that are going to make you resent your wife. This will turn you into a *****, making your wife actually like you less, and make you dislike yourself.

Tricky, eh? But not really. She was doing something nice for you, let her know that you appreciate it. She was trying to be involved and interested in something you like, because she likes you. Tell her about how kickstands aren't too useful on some bikes, and yours is one of 'em. Tell her you love her, and follow the return/bottle of wine idea presented above. Now this has the potential to turn out quite well...

spcialzdspksman

+ kickstand = - street cred

fact.

cc700

you're either a really good liar, your wife is blind and has no intuition, or she already knows by looking at your face that you aren't excited about her present.

just explain that you really appreicate her getting you something that would help you biking, but it doesn't fit on your bike and your type of bike doesn't use a kickstand because it gets in the way.

if she's not someone who can understand that, you don't want to be with her.

and if you'd hide it or manipulate her to not hurt her feelings, she shouldn't want to be with you either.

i can't understand people getting married to people they don't want or can't be honest with. i mean really...

spcialzdspksman

https://talkaboutmarriage.com/

Brian

No, a spare lounge room. You know - bookcase, pool table, fireplace? I used to have two spare bedrooms, but one is the cat's now. And the missus doesn't mind where I leave my bikes in the house.

If she got me a kickstand, I would take that as some sort of hint.

tashi

Wow. Ho-ly. My marriage is gooooood. Those are some messed up folks over there. "My husband won't have sex with me and neither will my male friends, and this makes me mad."

I think I'll text my wife and tell her I love her.

day1si

*DING*
If not, next you'll be wearing matching Christmas sweaters.

wroomwroomoops

That's always a good idea.

Yo!

This is why I love my gf. She knows not to buy me anything bike related unless I tell her exactly what I want. My xmas gift from her was a set of Kreitler alloy rollers. HELL YEA.

I think you should "attempt" to put it on, find out that it won't work with your narrow chainstays, and see if she's cool with you returning it for a computer or new rear tire or lights or something. I bet she is, she bought the present and was excited bc she knows that you love cycling and she's happy to contribute to a passion of yours. It's not the kickstand, it's the thought and her being involved with your hobby.

Pretty badass wife you got there. If you're honest she's gonna be be ecstatic no matter what.

beatnik0422

When I went home last night, I gave my wife a big hug and kiss and told her I loved her. Then I grabbed the kickstand, put it somewhere close to where it should go, and shook my head incredulously.

"Bummer...it's not going to fit," I said, staring up at her, smirking. (I never actually took it out of the package.)

We went back and forth for a bit, she tried to explain to me how it would fit.

Both of us were laughing the whole time.

She thought she grabbed the wrong one and ended up telling me to just go pick out the one I wanted. At which point, I confessed to not really wanting a kickstand at all. She gave me those eyes and said facetiously, "see if I ever go out of my way to get you anything again."

I can understand why she went out and bought the thing. The other day she saw me scooting my bike up to a curb to prop it up. I really appreciate the thought, and I am going to use the money from the kickstand to buy her some scrapbook stuff.

My wife's pretty cool. If my honesty really did hurt her feelings, she did a pretty good job of concealing it.

All the feedback was much appreciated and most of it was rather amusing.

How silly of me, I forgot to mention that she just had a baby 22 days ago and that her emotions have been capricious to say the least. I've got to say though, she is a beast. I don't know how she does it.

On little to no sleep, she manages to take care of the baby, clean our entire house, and run errands on a daily basis. she bounced back from the delivery like it was nothing. Even right after she had the baby, she had to make a trip to the lavatory. when she brought it up, the nurse said, "oh no, hold on, I'll be over there in a minute." My wife said, "na, I got this," and walked to the bathroom on her own 5 minutes afer the strenuous task of delivering a baby.

Aside from not sharing my passion for cycling (not that that's a bad thing in any way--we are of the opposites attract school) my wife is perfect for me. And rightly so, I did marry her.

wow that turned from kickstand explanation to wife praise pretty fast.
oh well.

riot2003

I'm glad it worked out for the best. Thats awesome. As an engaged dude, its nice to hear so many people quite happily married. sigh.

rumrunn6

leave the gun; take the cannoli

skip the stand; keep the good wife

personally all my bikes must have a stand. I am now fond of rear stands that attach to the stays.

dude, any scratch they cause will be invisible.

destikon

Well she would like that. Congrats on the little one. I have one (daughter, 3) and one on the way.

xavier853

Just tell her it got jacked when you had your ride locked up outside. Hopefully that doesn't result in her buying you another one though...

wroomwroomoops

I think your wife is fantastic. We got a baby 8 weeks ago, and with the experience I have, I can appreciate your missus' strength of will.

I know I will sound crazy to you, but I think in a few years you'll feel a bit sorry for returning her kickstand and not installing it on your bike. You'll think "my wife's been so awesome to me, I could have really just accepted her gift, for her sake." The reason I think this will happen, is because I had similar regrets.

wroomwroomoops

I really like this attitude.