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Kickstand for full-suspension bike
As with anything in life that is the slightest bit controversial, there are two schools of thought when it comes to using kickstands on mountain bikes. This is mainly because some folks, frankly, have too much time on their hands.
To save you the hassle of having to delve through bike forums yourself looking for the answer to this one, I’ve summarised the main pros and cons below.
Despite what people will have you think, the decision whether to use a kickstand or not is entirely your choice. In my opinion, they’re a good piece of kit and I’ve got one fitted to my mtb. So, before I list the pros and cons, I’ll give you a quick run-through of a few of the best kickstands available.
Shall we take a look?
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Bike kickstand types
Broadly speaking there are three main types of kickstand: Center-mount, Rear-mount, and a new type known as Removable.
I’ve got a recommendation below for each of these, let’s take a look at them now.
Center mount kickstand
This is the traditional style of kickstand. It fits securely to the bike frame and won’t get in the way of disc brakes or derailleur mechanism. This stand has one bolt to fit it and a twist lock to adjust the height of the stand to make it suitable for bikes of 24”-29”.
It’s worth remembering that in order to fit this style of stand your bike frame needs to have a bolt hole just behind the bottom bracket slot (where the pedals crank fits through). The bolt at the top of the stand goes down through this hole to lock the stand in place. Bikes that don’t have this hole can’t use this type of stand.
Rear mount kickstand
This is my personal favorite style of kickstand. This looks like the center-mount stand but attaches further back on the bike frame around the mid-point of the chainstay (between the crank and the rear hub).
You can use this stand whether you have the bolt hole mentioned above, or not. So it is more versatile.
I also find that the pedals have a tendency to catch a center-mount stand as they turn. Not so with a rear-mount stand which is kept safely out of reach of the pedals. This one attaches easily with three bolts and is adjustable to suit bikes of between 24”-28”.
Removable kickstand
This is quite an intriguing style of kickstand, isn’t it?
Fit the bracket on to your rear hub, then pop the stand onto your bike frame using the included bracket (which tucks out of the way beneath your bottle holder). When you need to prop your bike up, just slide the stand into the bracket and voila! Your bike stands up all by itself.
It has the advantages of a kickstand and also the (apparent) advantages of not having a kickstand. Nice piece of kit.
Why no kickstand on mountain bike?
Okay, let’s take a look at the Pros and Cons of kickstands on mountainbikes.
Pros
- Less chance of damage when your bike isn’t laying flat on the ground for someone to trip over
- Easy to load/unload the bike when it’s standing up
- Useful for carrying out simple maintenance tasks
- Great for when you’re cleaning your bike down at the end of a ride
Cons
- Adding extra weight – as with adding anything to a bike, a kickstand will add a (small) amount of extra weight. Would this be noticeable? I don’t think so
- Catching on objects – if you’ve had a kickstand before you’ll know that they have a swept-back position when stowed, so this is unlikely to happen. Also, speaking from personal experience, I haven’t yet caught anything on my kickstand in 6 years…
How to stand up a bike without a kickstand
Fancy a bit of a laugh about life without a kickstand? Then check out this video below. I think that the last method would give me nightmares!
Mountain bike kickstand alternative
Thanks for joining me to look at mtb kickstands today. I hope that this selection gives you a few ideas for choosing the perfect stand for you and your bike. As with anything controversial (even kickstands!), there are always arguments for and against something. To my mind though, the pros outweigh the cons and I’m happy to keep the kickstand on my mountain bike.
Have fun on your mtb and stay sharp.
