Kickstand Question......

[Geonz]

I got my Giant withouta kickstand because all the biking books said you just lean the bike and that kickstands added weight.
Two days later I went back and had 'em put on a kickstand. ONe difference is that Giant is heavy - my Aluminum bike I can lean and it doesn't fall. The Giant, even w/o the Xtra, is just too heavy and I take it too many places. Super speed is *not* my agenda.
(One design issue with the Xtra *is* that it falls over easily with a regular kickstand, so I have a "rock sturdy" for making those smoothies. However, I'd like even better a true "kickstand" that I didn't have to actually stick into the bicycle, and I wish I'd known that before I got the rock sturdy.)
The paint issue - welp, could rust be an issue? That would be the only thing I'd worry about.

[Aint Doody]

I got a Park Tool mini stand--can't remember the exact name of it--that has a padded hook to put on your bike which raises the rear wheel off the ground. When I went on an multi-day organized ride, I took it with me. It folds up pretty small. It was good to have to re-lube the chain, etc. I guess you could always use it as a kickstand. I usually put my road bike on that when she's resting at home.

One down side to kickstands--if they aren't on a hard, solid surface, the bicycle can still fall over--wind or not. Gertrude has taken a couple of falls this way. So now I'm more careful of where to put her with her kickstand down.

Edited this because I went home and looked at my Topeak Flash Stand. It wasn't a Park after all.

[pepe6599]

When I got my bike I asked the dude if he could put a kickstand on there, he laughed and went into this whole explaination about why I shouldn't put one on my bike. Needless to say I didn't put one on at that time but I did buy one to install at a later date.

[Barb]

My mt. bike doesn't have one. It's also the bike I use to run errands. I Leaned my bike on a lamp post, it slid and now I have paint loss on my precious Skittles!!! I don't live in a bike town. There are not a lot of bike racks around...I'm thinking a heavy duty cop like kick stand will be just the ticket.

[lph]

When I first started cycling (as opposed to having a bike and using it very infrequently) it was with my SO, then boyfriend. I remember him being very gung ho about the *weight* of a bike, I'd always laugh (ok, sneer) at that, and figure he was just being overly obsessive, as how much could the weight of something with wheels on matter anyway??

13 years down the line - I'm the one obsessing about the weight of my bike. I finally caved and attached a luggage rack last autumn since I was sick of lugging climbing gear around in a backpack. But I sure enjoyed taking that rack off again, and feeling the back end of my bike get lighter again...

Long story short - I don't want a kickstand because of the added weight. But it took me 13 years of biking to get that obsessed, and if I ever had trouble finding things to prop my bike against I'd probably rethink and capitulate. To each their own.

It freaks me out when I see someone wheeling down a busy road with the kickstand DOWN though!

PS. Oh - and to my mind; "real cyclists decide what THEY want on their OWN bikes". ;-)

[DebW]

I've installed kickstands on hundreds of bikes. In the 70s, everyone wanted one. This is one of those fads that runs in cycles. Maybe in another 10 years everyone will want one again. They do have to be of the proper length or you can get a bike that tips over very easily (some are cut to length with a hacksaw). The only part of kickstands I couldn't stand was people riding with them misaligned, so that every time the pedals went around, the crank hit the kickstand with a loud "chunk". Personally, I'd rather lay my good bike flat on the ground where I know it can't fall.

[Deborajen]

PS. Oh - and to my mind; "real cyclists decide what THEY want on their OWN bikes". ;-)

Amen!! I think the variety of personal preferences for/against kickstands by all the different cyclists on this thread proves that.

Deb