Originally Posted by
randyjawa
They are not stable. I would much rather lean my bike against a wall or fence. Baring that, gently laying it on its side will also do the trick, safely and with no fear of tipping over.
[...]
To that add that the stand looks pooey stinko (my opinion and perhaps associated with the mentioned "purist" concern) and adds weight to what is supposed to be a light weight bicycle. All in all, not my idea of a great thing to bolt onto the tubes of a bicycle. Particularly if it is an steed with exotic thin wall tubing.
Leaning a bike against a wall or fence is unstable at best and rude at worst. The bike is one flip of the handlebars away from falling over. It is a compromise where you care more about low weight than a safe way of parking your bicycle.
The only safe way that is stable is laying the bike on its side. But good luck doing that in a crowded city without people tripping/running over the frame and causing worse damage.
There are thin-walled bicycles that come with a kickstand plate. They are just exceedingly rare on American market models because bikes are seen more as a toy or just a leisure machine.
In my experience the ones mounted on a kickstand plate hardly come off. Center-mouned clamp-on models do go loose over time and indeed do risk damaging the frame. Rear triangle mounted ones are pretty alright but the bolt-on rear chainstay ones tend to work themselves loose over time since there is a shearing force working on the bolts.