Papa Tom

Just thought I'd stimulate some discussion within the topic of this forum.

I own several bikes that are all used for different purposes, including commuting. As much as I've heard people ranting about how kickstands are bad for this and bad for that and how leaning the bike against a curb is just as good, I refuse to ride any bike without one. Even my mountain bike has one. (I don't CARE if it gets caught in a vine and sends me flying over the handlebars...when I'm putting the bike back in the car, I don't want to be looking for a tree to lean it against).

Anyway, commuters carry some heavy stuff that might make kickstand balancing a little difficult. Do most of you use kickstands, or are the tops of your saddles and handlebars all bruised up from turning the bike over?

Bent Bill

All my bikes have stands except for my serious weekend road bike

Spld cyclist

My forks tend to get a little bit of paint rubbed off from leaning the bikes against things, which is something I don't care a whole lot about. Otherwise no ill effects. I did briefly have a bike with a kick stand. It used to go "boing" when I rode over bumps. Which, around here, is all the time. It was annoying enough that I swore off kick stands.

bikemig 

Kickstands are useless. (1) Unless your bike has a plate, it will eventually damage the chain stays (unless you run a kickstand from the rear drop out). Very few nice bikes have kickstands because they are unnecessary. (2) If you're riding the bike, a kickstand the dead weight. If the bike is at home, get a stand or hang it on a hook. (3) If you're going to lock it up, the kickstand doesn't help you.

AlmostGreenGuy

All my bikes have kickstands. Even my mountain bike has a kickstand. I just zip tie it to the chain stay when I go off road. In 40 years of bike riding, I've ever had a bike injured by a kickstand.

I honestly can't imagine not using a kickstand. The inconvenience would be intolerable. But that's just me. I'm sure that others enjoy searching for trees and walls and statues to hold their bikes up. And the 8oz weight savings must make them ever so quick. Hahahaha

bikemig 

(warning - NSFW language)
https://surlybikes.com/info_hole/spew/kickstands_on_long_haul_truckers

Good rant, IMHO, on kickstands.

Bjforrestal

I finally got one for my commuter and am very happy I did

Bent Bill

stanman13

I use 'em. I've had a bolt-on on my mountain bike (without plate) for twenty-ish years with no signs of any damage to the frame. Never had it cause any problems off road, either. Very useful, and I do not care one whit about the miniscule weight penalty.

CommuteCommando

A kickstand is a good indication of a cheap bike, is good to lean a bike on that you do not care enough about to lock to something that makes the kickstand redundant, and will never be found on a bike of mine.

unterhausen

if you are going to leave a bike sitting on its kickstand, you may as well leave it lying on the ground and avoid the fall. If I used my bike for carrying more things, I might put a heavy-duty dual kickstand on it, but the single kickstand is pretty pointless in my view. It was always tempting to leave bikes on their kickstands when I worked in a bike shop, but they always ended up falling over. And that's an ideal surface for a kickstand.

There was a bike on a kickstand locked to the end of the rack at work the other day. That was the best use of a kickstand I have seen since there aren't enough spaces. Don't know if it ended up falling over though, wouldn't surprise me at all.

ThermionicScott 

I'm agnostic on kickstands, and will defend my position to the death.

the sci guy 

Before I had a kickstand put on my bike I got off craigslist earlier this year, it was an absolute goddamn pain to find something to lean it up against when putting it on, and taking it off the car rack. My wife's bike still doesn't have one and it annoys the hell out of me.
I don't see how adding such little weight (as if that really matters) negates the stability and the convenience of just kicking it out and using it.
Trying to prop the bike against a curb, or a pole, or something else, you always have to make sure you've got it just right, or your $2000 bike falls. I don't get it. A kickstand is a no-brainer.

BTW, if your bike falls while it's got a kickstand, then you're using the wrong kickstand.

If it looks like this - it's a cheap crappy one that flops about, and after 6 months of use ends up hanging down 3 inches from the chainstays while it's supposed ot be in the up position.


You couldn't pay me to put that on my bike. Your bike will possibly fall over if you use one of these.

I have one like this:

heavy duty that springs very strongly back and forth into place. thing is solid as a rock.
I took it off my old Trek I bought in middle school in the early 90's, and it's now on my commuter bike.

bikemig 

This could be the first reasonable post on this thread, .

mtbikerinpa

Definitely kickstand for this one. I used to take it off for mtb races but now I just use a velcro strap to lock it up. Its nice to be able to park wherever and not scratch or get dirt in places. Plus when its at work I can park wherever in the warehouse and not need a pole or wall.

As was stated, if it falls at random its not the right length. I also have a wide foot on the end of mine so it doesn't sink on grass.

cyccommute 

I haven't used a kickstand in 30 years. I stopped using them when my bike kept falling over in the slightest breeze and bruised the saddle and handlebars anyway. Falling over doesn't do anything good to panniers on a touring bike as well.

As for finding something to lean the bike against, the world is full of surfaces that will hold the bike. Some are vertical and some are horizontal. In a pinch, you can lean two bikes together and they'll stand up better than any kickstand.

As for "a bike is supposed to have a freakin' kickstand...PERIOD!": If they come in shares, you have mine. I don't feel that I need one. Nor would I tell you that you can't have one.

Erwin8r

I find kickstands useless and make bikes prone to hitting the ground hard. Wife's Cannonde badboy had one--it loosened up just enough to rub the paint off the frame at the contact points.

i lean it against my truck or her car when I'm loading or unloading the bikes. No big deal--and no "stand" to worry about. My opinion. Don't care if you love stands--have at it.

Medic Zero

All wrong!

Hardly useless. I use mine every day. Not only can I lock up anywhere I want, including car parking spaces in front of businesses, but none of mine are damaging my bikes. The trick is to get one of the mounting kits that has the hard plastic "u"s, which also keep the kickstand from rotating on you. I carry a load on my bike 6-7 days a week, 2-3 trips a day, I can't imagine trying to balance my bike while also strapping a load to the front deck, yech!

All my bikes have them. I didn't even bother to take the one off the bike I ended up using as my mountain bike this summer after mine got stolen. I was thankful to have it to stand up the bike in camp and on halts. It gave me no problems while mountain biking either.

Bike Gremlin

A good kickstand is a must for me. I am that used to it.

Rack and fenders as well.

Thinking seriously on putting those (rack at least) on the road bike also, which is the only ever bike I had in 30 years without fenders, rack and a kickstand.

MichaelW

There are a few occasions when a kickstand might be useful but generally , when I leave the bike I want to lock the bike to something.
There is a kick-stand interface standart that uses a two-bolt braze-on bracket at the axle end of the chainstay. No clamp required.

The Chemist

I used to not have one, then I realized how annoying it was to always have to find something to lean the bike on when parking it (not always the easiest thing to do). So I got one and it has made parking the bike much more convenient.

subwoofer

Thanks to the OP for posting this thread. The first thing I do once I've chosen a bike (and therefore made sure it fits me and has the features I want) is to make sure it has a kick stand.

I can't imagine anyone who actually uses a bike for any practical purpose ever going without one. Where I stop and where I want to be is where I want the bike to stand. Now I can accept that road racers, or serious downhill riders might not want one, but these are not in my opinion 'practical uses' for a bike, they are 100% sport use. Sport use has different rules as to what matters compared to 'practical use' as a mode of transport to commute or get from A to B.

If your stand flaps about then it is the wrong stand (get a better one), and if your bike falls over you haven't set it up right.

For me, a stand stops the bike becoming a hindrance when getting ready to depart and once I have got to my destination. I have always had a stand on every bike I have owned, and always will.

WestMass

no kickstands, no masters

BadgerOnBike

Lock up to what!? If there is nothing you can lean your bike on, to what do you lock it?

I see double kickstand as something very practical for bikes with panniers, or carrying some other "cargo" as I have problems with loading my bike up while leaning against a wall/tree/curb. I see no purpose of the usual (single) stand as the bike will tip over if you have something heavy in the panniers (or worse on top the the rear rack).

I see no purpose for a kickstand on my road or mountain bike as you can just leave them on the ground. Nowhere to fall from there

Medic Zero

I'd never leave my bike laying on the ground in a parking space in a parking lot, with a kickstand, I can pull up, deploy the kickstand and lock the front wheel to the frame, immobilizing it. Note, I usually only do this in places where I'm going to be in a nearby window booth so I can keep an eye on it.

And yeah, I mostly use two legged kickstands. The full rigid mountain bike I used this summer being the exception, I didn't go to the trouble to mount a kickstand on it, I just didn't bother to remove the single leg one that it already had. But, like I said, I still found it useful and like the idea someone shared about securing it with a strap. When I finally clear some of the bikes out of my stable to make room for the replacement off road rig I think that will be the way to go.

Maybe if I were shorter I wouldn't mind picking things up off the ground, but it's a long ways to down there, I hate bending down to pick things off the ground! Besides, it seems rude to my trusty steed.