View Poll Results: Do you have a kickstand on your bike?
Yes
150
39.89%
No
198
52.66%
What is a Kickstand?
28
7.45%
Voters: 376. You may not vote on this poll
Do you use a kickstand?
#1
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Do you use a kickstand?
I have not had a kickstand on a bike I've owned since I bought my first good mtb about 10 years ago. I've purchased three more bikes since then and no kickstands on any of them.
My wife however always wants a kickstand.
We just purchased a tandem and the lbs refused to put a kickstand on it - stating it was not made to have one. I was amused but the wife was horrified.
What are your opinions on the subject?
Mark
My wife however always wants a kickstand.
We just purchased a tandem and the lbs refused to put a kickstand on it - stating it was not made to have one. I was amused but the wife was horrified.
What are your opinions on the subject?
Mark
#2
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My dad always thinks that I should have a kickstand. Frankly they bother me though and since I dont park my bike a lot except on the rack in the garage it really doesn't matter that much.
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No kickstand here. Not ever, as far as I can remember. I prefer to rest the bike on the ground, drivetrain-side up. That way it can't fall over... .
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If your LBS won't put a kickstand on then don't buy your bike there. Go to wal-mart, ALL of their bikes have kickstands!
As a local bike mechanic said "kickstands are for kids"
As a local bike mechanic said "kickstands are for kids"
#7
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It looks to me like people's opinion of kickstands is inversely porportional to how much they use a bicycle. Kickstands are very important to people who don't ride at all, not at all important to people who ride lots.
I've got nine bikes in my basement shop right now, zero kickstands. Several of the bikes, like my son's full suspension mountain bike, just won't take a kickstand. The majority of tandems fall into this catagory too. Even if one would fit, on some of them, like my Klein and my tandem, I'd be afraid of damaging the frame or at least scratching the paint if I mounted a kickstand.
Once you pass those hurdles, the fact is that kickstands don't really work all that well. You have to adjust them pretty carefully or they won't hold the bike up. If you're not careful to get it mounted straight, your heel will hit it when you ride. If you don't bolt it on pretty tightly, it'll vibrate loose. (Check the second paragraph on frame damage.)
Having said all that, I still think that having a kickstand on my beater bike might be handy once in a while. I just never think about it when I'm in the bike shop.
I've got nine bikes in my basement shop right now, zero kickstands. Several of the bikes, like my son's full suspension mountain bike, just won't take a kickstand. The majority of tandems fall into this catagory too. Even if one would fit, on some of them, like my Klein and my tandem, I'd be afraid of damaging the frame or at least scratching the paint if I mounted a kickstand.
Once you pass those hurdles, the fact is that kickstands don't really work all that well. You have to adjust them pretty carefully or they won't hold the bike up. If you're not careful to get it mounted straight, your heel will hit it when you ride. If you don't bolt it on pretty tightly, it'll vibrate loose. (Check the second paragraph on frame damage.)
Having said all that, I still think that having a kickstand on my beater bike might be handy once in a while. I just never think about it when I'm in the bike shop.
#8
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I don't have a kickstand on my road bike, but I have one on my hybrid. There's a girl in a group that I ride with who has one on her Specialized Sequoia. It's back by the rear wheel. I don't know if it's attached to the frame or to the wheel hub. I can't really say anything about it to her because she allways kicks my a$$.
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"It looks to me like people's opinion of kickstands is inversely porportional to how much they use a bicycle. Kickstands are very important to people who don't ride at all, not at all important to people who ride lots."
I ride a lot. I guess now I need to start watching out for all the anti-kickstand nazis, as well as all the anti-bicyclist nazis!
Honestly, all kidding aside, until recently I hadn't used a kickstand on a bike since I was a kid, but now most of my bikes have them. In case y'all hadn't noticed, most modern well-equipped cruiser and commuter bikes now come with kickstands (as did almost all vintage cruisers and Euro-style commuter bikes), and I for one find them quite usable and useful...so much so that I've retrofitted my hybrid, which didn't originally come equipped with a kickstand...
Did y'all ever think that maybe kickstands just have more appeal to certain types of utilitarian urban cyclists than they do to your typical lycra-clad roadie? And I have not had one single problem with a modern kickstand interfering with my pedals, or failing to keep the bicycle upright in normal use.
17 bikes, 13 kickstands.
I ride a lot. I guess now I need to start watching out for all the anti-kickstand nazis, as well as all the anti-bicyclist nazis!
Honestly, all kidding aside, until recently I hadn't used a kickstand on a bike since I was a kid, but now most of my bikes have them. In case y'all hadn't noticed, most modern well-equipped cruiser and commuter bikes now come with kickstands (as did almost all vintage cruisers and Euro-style commuter bikes), and I for one find them quite usable and useful...so much so that I've retrofitted my hybrid, which didn't originally come equipped with a kickstand...
Did y'all ever think that maybe kickstands just have more appeal to certain types of utilitarian urban cyclists than they do to your typical lycra-clad roadie? And I have not had one single problem with a modern kickstand interfering with my pedals, or failing to keep the bicycle upright in normal use.
17 bikes, 13 kickstands.
#11
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My bikes won't accept a kickstand and I've found much better alternatives anyways so I don't bother with them. For MTBing, a kickstand is just plain dangerous so I've never had one on my MTB. For roadbiking, I've never found one that's reliable enough to stay put when retracted or keep the bike from actually toppling over anyways when deployed. I either lay the bike down thus lowering its potential energy state to a minimum, lean it against something solid and sometimes secure it using a light cablelock, use the pedal trick, hang it by its handlebars from a rail or by the saddle from a crossbeam or just walk around with the bike.
Here's also another method for holding the bike upright when you're not riding it...
I mean, what else would be considered classy enough to hold up a titanium bike? Why, another titanium bike of course!
Now of course, your wife might not necessarily agree but this is one of the best stands I've ever seen for a bike...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...&postcount=102
Here's also another method for holding the bike upright when you're not riding it...
I mean, what else would be considered classy enough to hold up a titanium bike? Why, another titanium bike of course!
Now of course, your wife might not necessarily agree but this is one of the best stands I've ever seen for a bike...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...&postcount=102
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1999 K2 OzM 2001 Aegis Aro Svelte
"Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send." -- Jon Postel, RFC1122
Last edited by khuon; 06-22-04 at 05:19 PM.
#12
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kickstands on the cruisers only. no kickstands on the "serious" bikes (mtn bikes, and road bikes). kickstands are for tools.
#13
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Originally Posted by khuon
Now of course, your wife might not necessarily agree but this is one of the best stands I've ever seen for a bike...
https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...&postcount=102
-- michael
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Originally Posted by Mtn Mike
kickstands on the cruisers only. no kickstands on the "serious" bikes (mtn bikes, and road bikes). kickstands are for tools.
Road and Mountain bikes - used primarily for recreational purposes; these bikes therefore are not 'serious' bikes.
Cruisers and commuters - used primarily for actual transportation needs; these bikes therefore are 'serious' bikes.
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i dont have a kickstand but that because i very rarely ever encounter times where i would need one...
at home i keep my road bike on my repair stand and my mountain agains the wall.
when im biking and there is a curb/rock/stump/anything curb height where i am stopped i will use the pedal trick to hold up the bike.
if there is a railing i will hook my road bars on it.
if im in the middle of nowhere and there is for some reason flat ground all around me and nothing to lean my bike against then ive biked somewhere ive never been before and the fact i cant lean my bike is not my biggest problem because im lost (but if i still needed to i would lay it down).
at home i keep my road bike on my repair stand and my mountain agains the wall.
when im biking and there is a curb/rock/stump/anything curb height where i am stopped i will use the pedal trick to hold up the bike.
if there is a railing i will hook my road bars on it.
if im in the middle of nowhere and there is for some reason flat ground all around me and nothing to lean my bike against then ive biked somewhere ive never been before and the fact i cant lean my bike is not my biggest problem because im lost (but if i still needed to i would lay it down).
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Your question assume we only have one bike!
We have 7 in the garage.
No kickstands on the roadies, yes on the round-town mtn bikes and the hybrid.
My personal take is that most of the time I put a bike on the kickstand it gets knocked or blown over, falling much harder than if I had laid it down gently.
Wife insists on a kickstand on her bikes - except the roadie!
We have 7 in the garage.
No kickstands on the roadies, yes on the round-town mtn bikes and the hybrid.
My personal take is that most of the time I put a bike on the kickstand it gets knocked or blown over, falling much harder than if I had laid it down gently.
Wife insists on a kickstand on her bikes - except the roadie!
#17
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Originally Posted by markm109
I have not had a kickstand on a bike I've owned since I bought my first good mtb about 10 years ago. I've purchased three more bikes since then and no kickstands on any of them.
My wife however always wants a kickstand.
We just purchased a tandem and the lbs refused to put a kickstand on it - stating it was not made to have one. I was amused but the wife was horrified.
What are your opinions on the subject?
Mark
My wife however always wants a kickstand.
We just purchased a tandem and the lbs refused to put a kickstand on it - stating it was not made to have one. I was amused but the wife was horrified.
What are your opinions on the subject?
Mark
#18
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None on any of my bikes --- all road bikes. Maybe someone should develop a Ti or CF kickstand! Or has this already been done?
#19
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Originally Posted by seely
What kind of tandem is it? If its aluminum, like a Cannondale, they are very thin tubing and adding a kickstand can damage the tubing.
Mark
#20
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Originally Posted by SteveE
None on any of my bikes --- all road bikes. Maybe someone should develop a Ti or CF kickstand! Or has this already been done?
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#21
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well, i use the kickstands on all my big tire cruisers, &
my new schwinn occ chopper. also on my muscle bikes.
but.... on the rigid ,crusty chopper i built......................
no kicker here, i'd have to make a two footer to stand it up. !
so i let it fall or lean on something. this is my "attitude bike"
measures eight feet fron to rear.
my new schwinn occ chopper. also on my muscle bikes.
but.... on the rigid ,crusty chopper i built......................
no kicker here, i'd have to make a two footer to stand it up. !
so i let it fall or lean on something. this is my "attitude bike"
measures eight feet fron to rear.
#22
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the only kickstand i've got is on my huffy cruiser/commuter (yeah, i know), and that's only because i can't find an allen wrench big enough to get the thing off.
#23
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I've got two bikes, both with kickstands. One's a hybrid, the others a bent. The hybrid bike has a lousy one. It would occasionally fall over. My bent which is a LWB has a good kickstand and the bike has never fallen over. I asked my lbs about it and he said that the reason most bikes don't have them anymore was to save money and weight. He said the ones that do offer the kickstand as an option charge about $15. Sounds like another way to get a few bucks more out of the customer.
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#24
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Originally Posted by randya
I take issue with your definition of what is and isn't a 'serious' bike.
Road and Mountain bikes - used primarily for recreational purposes; these bikes therefore are not 'serious' bikes.
Cruisers and commuters - used primarily for actual transportation needs; these bikes therefore are 'serious' bikes.
Road and Mountain bikes - used primarily for recreational purposes; these bikes therefore are not 'serious' bikes.
Cruisers and commuters - used primarily for actual transportation needs; these bikes therefore are 'serious' bikes.
Yeah I use a kickstand, even though it's near useless. Keeps falling over...but it's fine for assisting me with mounting my panniers in the morning. I need to find a motorcycle style stand...the kind that lift teh rear wheel up. Those are kinda hard to find though for a regular bike.
#25
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I have 11 bikes in the garage. 5 of them have kickstands. I don't have them on my main riders. What I don't like is that they always scratch up the paint. That and the extra weight is the origin of the "anti-kickstand bias", I think.
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