Is it worth installing a kick stand?

[Aloha_Cyclist]

I recently purchased a Surly Long Haul Trucker and I'm outfitting it for a Trans America ride this summer. Is it worth getting a kick stand, just wondering if this simple option is justifiable to consider for a long tour?

[tri girl]

I think it's just a matter of personal preference.  I know people who like it one way or the other.

I can't speak for using a kickstand on a long tour, but on the short weekend and week long tours I've done I've really liked my kickstand.  It makes it a lot easier to stand it up rather than always looking for something to lean it against.  And for me- weight isn't an issue- what's another .5 lb when I'm already lugging around 40?

[geegee]

I have one of these double kickstands and they are great:
http://www.biketrailershop.com/catalog/270-esge-double-kickstand-p-53.html?gclid=CKaBsq3p4pgCFREhDQodlQ_Hcg

They are particularly useful when you have to change a flat tire since the bike can stand up with only one wheel on. It is also great for fine tuning your shifting/derailleurs as you can lift and spin the rear wheel easily by tipping the bike forward. It's almost like having a repair stand on the road.

[whittierider]

The Surly LHT may indeed be made for a kickstand, seeing as what kind of application it's designed for, but it would be good to check anyway unless you're absolutely sure already.  Most of the modern road bikes, including thin-walled steel ones, are not made to handle the clamping pressures of a kickstand down there, and you could badly damage the frame when you put the stand on, before you even use it.

[biker_james]

I'm sure that the Surly can handle a kickstand.If it wasn't built for attaching one behind the boittom bracket, a stand can be mounted to the rear traingle. Thats what I have on  my aluminum Cannondale, and it works fine. I like kickstands, and can't think of a reason not to have one on a touring bike.

[staehpj1]

Purely personal preference.  I wouldn't have one on my bike; others love them. 

[Westinghouse]

It is not a bad idea to have one. Often you may find yourself out there somewhere miles from nowhere and needing to stop a while. You look around and you do not see the familiar guard rail, tree, or fence to lean your velocipede against, or maybe the fence starts at the bottom of a steep downgrade paralleling your road. What do you do? Do you want to set your nice new $1500.00 touring machine over on its side resting on the panniers on a rough surface, or do you want to stand it up on its two wheels,  or one wheel as the case might be, and then do whatever it was you stopped to do?

Go ahead. Install the kickstand. You will never regret it.

[RussSeaton]

If you are talking about installing a kickstand on a loaded touring bike, make sure the kickstand can hold the bike up when it has panniers on it.  The double legged one mentioned would work.  I would not trust single leg kickstands with a loaded bike.  I've always figured its safer to lay the bike on the ground, that way you know its not going to fall over and damage anything.  Laying a bike down on the ground does not hurt anything, or the panniers.

[driftlessregion]

Then there is this option, I first saw in this forum a couple of years ago: http://www.click-stand.com/Home_Page.html.

[John Nettles]

I have used and recommend a kickstand.  As others have said, be sure to have enough "uprightness" so that it doesn't want to fall over but not too much so that it can be blown over.  You can attach a Greenfield kickstand to the rear triangle and works well.

[BC]

I put a Greenfield kickstand on my Cannondale for $8 on a lay-over day on the Northern Tier in Whitefish, Montana, and found it really useful going across the Plains - as already noted, you can't buy a tree or guard-rail to lean the bike against. After the "parked" bike fell over on a sweltering day in Minnesota (the narrow kickstand poked right down through the heat-softened tarmac), I kept the lid to a jar of tomato sauce handy to place under the stand in order to give it a bigger footprint. The lid is still part of my kit. Kickstands are cheap. Why not try one? If you don't like it, you can always take it off.

[John Nettles]

I kept the lid to a jar of tomato sauce handy to place under the stand in order to give it a bigger footprint. The lid is still part of my kit.

I use a golf ball drilled to fit.  It's sort of whimsical and takes forever to wear down.

[Aloha_Cyclist]

I kept the lid to a jar of tomato sauce handy to place under the stand in order to give it a bigger footprint. The lid is still part of my kit.

I use a golf ball drilled to fit.  It's sort of whimsical and takes forever to wear down.

Now that's imaginative! I'm sure it makes for a great conversation piece as well 

[jfitch]

I recently purchased a Surly Long Haul Trucker and I'm outfitting it for a Trans America ride this summer. Is it worth getting a kick stand, just wondering if this simple option is justifiable to consider for a long tour?

I like the Greenfield rear triangle kickstand, recommended by some. However, on the LHT, the spoke holder on the chain stay interferes with the Greenfield mounting system to the point that I was unable to mount one successfully on my LHT (I like kickstands -- VERY handy). I eventually gave up and installed a kickstand that mounts just behind the bottom bracket.

Jim

[Westinghouse]

I get the impression BC and Tulsa John have done some camping on tour. The problems they had with standing their bikes in camps are the same we have all had. I push the bike into a wooded area, and want to prop it upright on its stand. Of course, the stand just knifes into the ground and the bike falls over. The lid of a jar works just fine, as does the odd piece of wood you find somewhere. For a while I used a running shoe. I saw somebody with a tennis ball on the end of his kickstand. I tried it but I stopped. Sometimes you might be in a wooded area where the trees are too flimsy to suppport a loaded bike, or they are small and not a good place to balance the bike against. I have toured with and without a kickstand. All in all, I prefer to have one on the bike to not having one. It is that little added bit of convenience that makes a long tour a little nicer at times. I have also toured with no kickstand at all, and it was was not bad at all.  It is not an essential item. It does add a little to the weight. As it is with all small light items on a tour, you bring some with you and the weight can add up to pounds and pounds. Pare weight where you can.