Quote Originally Posted by plantluvver
What do you gals think? On my current bike, I avoid positioning my hands across the top bar, due to fear of relying on the suicide bars, so I tend to only hold the brake hoods.

BTW, I want a kickstand on my bike. I don't care how "dorky" it is.
I have both!

My cyclocross bike came with "suicide" brake levers and I don't find that I rely on them any more than the other brake levers. The surface I'm riding on tends to influence my hand position on the bars, and I use whichever brake lever happens to be at hand (no pun intended). I haven't had any control issues yet. They have the same stopping power as the other levers and I haven't noticed any steering problems when I use the flats.

And, I had the LBS install a kickstand when I bought the bike. I said the exact same thing, too: I don't care how dorky it is. I hate to lean my bike on anything that might scratch it or to just drop it on its side. If I leave it standing upright on its own when I stop for a break, then I can stand back and admire it more easily