And thanks for reminding me about Plasti Dip! My wife refuses to allow me to park any bike in the remodeled area of our house which has the new floor tile; some Plasti Dip on the sharp kickstand leg ends would be perfect to satisfy her concerns.

For those unfamiliar with Plasti Dip, it is just what the name says: a rubberized/plasticized dipping sauce for metal parts to protect them (and things they come into contact with) from rust, corrosion and scratches.

You can get it at almost any hardware store, and some auto parts stores, and you can colorize it to somewhat match the paint on your bike so you can brush it on your frame in the key areas where your locking chain or U-lock is going to contact it.

Note that you can get a “deluxe mounting kit” for a few dollars which will protect your chainstays and also allow you to tighten the bolt down quite a bit more firmly. Either with or without it, I recommend some blue Loctite.

See this Amazon entry:
Pletscher F8 cover plate for double kickstand

You don’t need the cover plate; you get one with the kickstand, and you might even have one on your bike already. But the chain stay supports come with this “cover plate kit” and those are what you need.

BluesCat, if you haven’t tried a two-leg kickstand on Bluetiful, I recommend you do it. It might require a custom mounting bracket to get one of these on an EZ-Sport – the EZ-1, Tour Easy, and many other recumbents have a standard mounting plate but not the EZ-Sport or any Bacchetta or Rans bikes.

ALL of my commuting bikes have been either re-purposed mountain bikes … or my recumbent. I kinda think that the kickstands on these bikes are sort of an afterthought: “Well, I suppose MOST of our customers (except for the weight weenies and competitive riders) will want a kickstand. What do we have lying around the factory?”

On a bike coming from the factory with the express purpose of being a “touring bike,” could it be that the single kickstand is considered an important component in the design of the overall bike, and so is selected with the idea that it needs to hold the bike up more vertically?

Dr. M, Does your tourer seem to “stand up straighter” than the guy with the mountain bike?

The two-legged Velo Orange kickstand that I installed on my wife’s bike was no exception. One nice thing about the Velo Orange kickstand is that the leg length is adjustable without a hacksaw.

I also installed a Velo Orange Wheel Stabilizer to prevent the wheel-swing factor, which works fine as long as I don’t have anything in my Porteur Rack.

Regarding parking your bike with kids in a bike child seat: Those mega-wide-stance kickstands for cargo bikes, such as the Xtracycle KickBack Kickstand, tend to only work on cargo bikes.

And some people really do leave their kids strapped in while they run into a store — the same way you might leave your kids in a car for a few minutes.

However, on a regular (non-cargo) bike you just want the bike to stand upright and stable while you are still fussing with getting the kid into the seat. After that, you are stabilizing the bike yourself — with your hands. You kick up the kickstand, continue stabilizing the bike, and then swing your leg over the seat — carefully avoiding kicking your child in the head.

But… You can get two legged kickstands for bikes that are more like that heavy-duty stand on your A2B. For example:

Sunlite Double Kickstand

You still couldn’t leave your bike and kid unattended, but you would be able to mount your bike, and then roll forward to retract the kickstand — something you can’t do with scissor-style double kickstands such as the Velo Orange and the ESGE.

Longest comment ever. Maybe.

You folks in wetter climes take note!

One thing that must be done to prevent the bolt seizing in the kickstand, use nautical anti-seize compound. Aluminum kickstand, steel bolt, add road salt and in the Spring the bolt will shear off when you try to move it. That ESGE is still sitting in my tool box as a reminder. The replacement is doing fine.