About Kickaroo

Most bike accessory stores ask you to choose between forty things you do not understand. Kickaroo does the opposite: one part, in two ranges, described so you can tell in two minutes whether it fits the bike in front of you.

Two parts, one job

The whole store is two parts that do the same thing. The kids stand has a painted steel body and a rubber foot, and it bolts to the rear frame of a child's bike through a mounting plate that measures 0.98 x 1.65 in (2.5 x 4.2 cm). The plate is 3 mm thick and its mounting hole is 0.41 in (10.5 mm), which takes a standard kickstand bolt of 0.31 to 0.39 in (8.0 to 10.0 mm).

What changes from one kids version to the next is the length of the leg, because that is the only dimension that has to match the bike. The 12-inch wheel version measures 7.3 in (18.5 cm) and weighs 4.9 oz (139 g). The 20-inch wheel version measures 11.0 in (28 cm) and weighs 5.6 oz (159 g). Between those two sit the 14, 16 and 18 inch versions. Five lengths, one design, one price.

The adult stand works the other way around. It is thickened aluminum alloy, it weighs 14.0 oz (0.397 kg), and the leg adjusts in length so a single part covers a wheel range rather than a single wheel size. You pick the range, S for 20 to 22 inch wheels or M for 24 to 29 inch wheels, and you pick the mounting pattern your frame calls for: a two-hole plate, a three-hole plate, or a center mount that bolts under the bottom bracket. Two Allen keys come in the box. It is sold one per order, because that item is capped at a single unit per order.

After you order

If a kickstand arrives with a loose rubber foot, you write to us and we answer. The refund policy runs for 30 days and the contact page reaches a person who knows this part.

What these kickstands are

The kids stand is an inexpensive, well-made steel kickstand for a child's bike. It is heavier in the hand than most people expect at this price, the movement is smooth, and once it is bolted on and adjusted, the bike stands up on its own instead of lying in the grass. That is the entire job it does, and buyers who ordered the right length are almost unanimous that it does it.

It is also a part that solves a specific moment in a child's cycling life: the week the training wheels come off. The bike suddenly has nothing to lean on, and a five-year-old who has just learned to balance is not going to carefully lay a bike down on its side. One buyer fitted the kickstand exactly where the training wheels used to bolt on. Another uses it so a balance bike can be parked upright at the bike park instead of dropped on the dirt.

The adult stand solves the grown-up version of the same problem. Mountain bikes, hybrids, folding commuters and e-bikes are shipped with no stand at all, so they get leaned on cars, fences and other bikes. Buyers have fitted ours to a mountain bike, a road bike, a 20 inch folding bike and a fat-tire electric dirt bike. One of them noted that it is the same stand his local e-bike store sells for $39.95 plus tax.

What they are not

Neither range is a universal part. On the kids stand the length has to match the wheel size, and buyers who guessed ended up cutting the tube down with a saw or reordering. On the adult stand you have to pick both the right wheel range and the right mounting plate, and one buyer got it wrong the first time and reordered. Two minutes with the size guide avoids that.

It is not a workshop-grade component with a lifetime warranty. The return spring is not strong on every unit, so on some kickstands you fold the leg back up with your foot. The rubber sleeve on the foot can work loose, and buyers who had that happen glued it back on. Neither of those things stops the kickstand from parking a bike, but you should know about them before you order rather than after.

The kids stand is not sold with a bolt in the bag. The mounting hole is 0.41 in (10.5 mm) and a standard bike kickstand bolt passes through it, but you should check what your child's bike already has in the rear bracket before you start. The adult stand is the opposite on this point, and ships with two Allen keys.

Meet Dana Whitfield

Dana writes the Kickaroo guides, from sizing a child's stand to fitting one on an adult frame. Questions about a specific bike reach her through the contact page.

Where to go next

If you already know the wheel size, go straight to the kickstand page and pick the matching range. If your child rides a 16-inch bike, the 16-inch kickstand page covers that size in detail, and there is an equivalent page for 20-inch bikes. If you are fitting your own bike, the mountain bike kickstand guide explains which adult frames can take a stand and the adjustable versus fixed comparison explains why the adult range adjusts and the kids range does not. If you are not sure a kickstand is a good idea at your child's age, read do kids bikes need kickstands first, and the rest of the writing is collected in the guides section. Shipping times and the return window are on the shipping policy.