The fact that design is playing an increasingly important role in bicycles and e-bikes can easily be seen in the innovations of recent years: bulky racks have often been replaced by slim pannier holders that fit inconspicuously against the mudguard. Lighting components are becoming increasingly compact or even disappear completely into the frame or handlebars, and the trend towards more integration and less visual clutter is also making inroads into the cockpit. However, until now one part has vehemently defied this zeitgeist: the kickstand!

As before, kickstands look as if they were attached to the bike at the last moment out of sheer necessity — or they are simply omitted at the time of delivery so as not to disrupt the otherwise sophisticated look. Clever, but also complex, in-house designs such as here from Canyon at the Predede:ON CF represented the exception so far.

However, it is also clear that such a bicycle stand makes perfect sense and is often used, especially for urban bikes. The fact that the manufacturers of kickstands are also aware of this dilemma is reflected in the new Invisible Connect (IC) standard. Thus Hebie from Germany and Ursus from Italy specified a new system, which is to make an as inconspicuous as possible assembly of the stand at the frame possible. So IC offers a variable positioning of the interface along the chain stay of the frame. This allows more space to be created elsewhere, usually at the dropout, and an optimal contact point for the bike can be selected.

It should not be long before the first bike novelties will be compatible with the IC standard and especially the example of Hebie gives a already positive impression. Although the kickstand is still clearly visible as an additional component — at least now as a minimalist and linear element, which should fit quite well with the tidy look of modern Urban Bikes!