Kick stands

[Badger]

Yes or no?

[FredHiltz]

Good question! I'd rather carry that weight in water or Snickers bars. A stand might be useful on a city bike if you can find a city where the bike does not have to be locked to a rack or a lamp post. Definitely good for newspaper delivery persons.

Fred

[DaveB]

No.  They have to be clamped to the frame behind the bottom bracket or to a chain stay.  They won't hurt a "water pipe" frame but I'd never fit one to a thin wall steel or any Al frame.

Otherwise, unnecesary weight, poor stability and useless if you have to lock the bike to any stationary object for security.  I never found anyplace without something to lean the bike against.

This message was edited by DaveB on 2-26-06 @ 9:29 AM

[ptaylor]

Yes. For utility/commuter bikes. I have owned 3 bikes specifically set up for commuting (lights, fenders, rear rack, appropriate bags, and a kick stand). The first two were quality light weight cro-mo frames, and the clamp-on kickstand did not harm the frame. My current commuter is a bike built for the European market - I don't think you can buy one in the US. It has all the features that a good commuter bike needs, a quality aluminum frame, and the kick stand bolts to a braze-on. Wonderful!

Much as I like kickstands, I would never put one on my touring bike. A fully loaded tourer is simply too heavy for the stand to support.


Gramps

[bikeman]

Yes if it's setup right it should support a fully loaded bike provided the loaded bikes center of gravity is the lower half of the bike. If the center of gravity is above the upper half of the bike it will be very unstable. If your handle bar bag has 20 lbs of stuff in it it will fall over everytime for sure

I like parking my bike whenever I want to stop. I don't want to wait till the next mile marker, fence post, tree, railing, building or whatever HaHa.
Seriously. My kickstand is worth every ounce (< 16 oz)for the convenience. I use it many times each day stopping to take pictures, taking breaks, looking at the scenery, visiting locals and resting my tired legs.    

Regards: Clyde
The journey is my destination.

[biker_james]

Definitely yes on the touring bike. There is not always someplace handy to lean it, and sometimes when going into a store or restaurant, its nice to put them right in front of the window-but you can and will annoy people by leaning them against their windows.

[OmahaNeb]

I don't think damage to the frame will occur.  I can think of scenarios where the kickstand could be helpful on a solo tour, especially using a BOB trailer.  In cases where having someone / kickstand holding the bike up-right could be a nice-to-have, but not mandatory.

[Peaks]

I think it depends in part on the stability of the loaded bike.  Some bikes will not stand up when loaded using a kick stand.

[TwoWheeledExplorer]

Coming from a park ranger/EMS biking background, I have always opted for a rear-mount kick stand on my personal bikes, both aluminum and chromoly. Part of this stems from being used to having to get things out of my rack-pack or panniers while on the job, in which case it is much easier to have the bike upright and staying that way than having to pick it up and hold it every time I need something. (Where is that third hand when I need it?) With a kick, I can just leave the bike wherever I want. I don't have to find a place to lean it nor do I have to drop it. Note, though...rear mount kick-stand, under the weight of the panniers. A bottom-bracket mount will not work the same way. (In EMS you often have 40 lbs. of medical gear on the back of your bike, including pricey items like defibrillators. With a mid-mount stand, all that gear literally wants to spin on the fulcrum and crash to the ground. This is not a good thing.) Transition to touring; I like being able to get into my panniers with the bike upright, and having both hands free to do so.

Ride safe,
Hans

Hans Erdman, WEMT
Backcountry Trail Patrol-MN
www.trailpatrol.org

This message was edited by Trailpatrol on 2-28-06 @ 6:34 AM

[Traveler]

In listening to the discussion, I find myself going back 30 years for answers.  We did not have touring bikes in the 70's.  I used a road bike that I fitted with commercial bags.  The outfit I used would be a sight to see this very day!

That bike was with a kick stand.  It never worked and I learned at that time to lay the bike down or up against a tree.  I always took a bungee with me to hold it upright.  

Now, getting back into touring, I will get the 520 and leave the stand behind.  My wife and I will tour together and we will have the bungee cords to band the two bikes together and they will be free standing.

As for the added weight, I leave it out.  I carry ample amounts of water at the present time.  I take the freedom of using a trunk right now, in prepairation for things greater.

[LobodeSolo]

My big tour many years ago (86) down the West Coast I used a gimmick called a "Flickstand" It was made by Blackburn. It would attach to your down tube and when you stopped you would flick it out and it would hold your front wheel straight so that your bike wouldn't "fold". Then I would lean my bike against a pole or whatever and it wouldn't fall over which happens alot when you have front panniers. I e-mailed Blackburn recently to see if they had any kicking around but they don't. Too bad ..it worked well

[Peterpan]

KS are heavy, and they are far from essential so I would hold off until you are completely sure you can't live another day without them.  

On the other hand I bought a very expensive recumbent bike a few years back, and it came with a kickstand built in.  There was a welded on bracket that carried a nice quality stand, and given the way the bike would lie on it's components, and how awkward it was to pick up with low bars under the seat, it was a nearly essential piece of gear.  I'm building a custom touring frame, and I am going to give a KS weld-on bracket some serious thought.

[Badger]

I put one on this weekend to give it a try during a shake down ride with my BOB.  It seemed to work okay.  There were a couple places where I also kept my hand on the bike just to make sure.

[driftlessregion]

The BOB is a great kickstand itself.