Bike work stand - what to look for?
Discussion
Draper does a heavy duty work stand for bikes which looks good on the surface but I wondered whether it would allow you to spin the crank as it seems to hold the bike close to its main upright:

It's only 15 quid and others in a quick Google search start at 4 times that. Is this false economy?
I used to do all my bike maintenance with the bike upside down on the garden table but with hydraulic brakes it's sometimes useful to have a way of standing the bike upright off the floor.

It's only 15 quid and others in a quick Google search start at 4 times that. Is this false economy?
I used to do all my bike maintenance with the bike upside down on the garden table but with hydraulic brakes it's sometimes useful to have a way of standing the bike upright off the floor.
just looking at that stand makes me think its useless. How can you spin the bike around or reach the angles needed for bleeding brakes, massaging mechs etc...
Get thee to eBay and buy a decent one, you will kick yourself for not buying a decent one. I bought a Minoura one from ebay yonks ago for 50 bucks and it is solid as a rock and gets used every weekend for my various bikes and various mates relatives.

Get thee to eBay and buy a decent one, you will kick yourself for not buying a decent one. I bought a Minoura one from ebay yonks ago for 50 bucks and it is solid as a rock and gets used every weekend for my various bikes and various mates relatives.

I didn't know what to look for other than:
a) it looked like it wouldn't fall over
b) it looked like it was decent build quality
Saw one of these and bought the shop model at my local shop for less than half price as it was scratched (which it would have been anyway after 5 minutes with my hammer). Took a bit of haggling but might be an option
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...
Fits all the family bikes no problem.
a) it looked like it wouldn't fall over
b) it looked like it was decent build quality
Saw one of these and bought the shop model at my local shop for less than half price as it was scratched (which it would have been anyway after 5 minutes with my hammer). Took a bit of haggling but might be an option

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...
Fits all the family bikes no problem.
Just about the whole world use One Of These
They are much more substantial than they look in the picture and they fold up to take up less room than an umbrella stand.
Recommended.
They are much more substantial than they look in the picture and they fold up to take up less room than an umbrella stand.
Recommended.
These stands from merlin get a lot of love on bike radar
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Workshop++...
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Workshop++...
metalsteve said:
These stands from merlin get a lot of love on bike radar
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Workshop++...
Which is the previously posted stand, only more expensive.http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/Bike+Shop/Workshop++...
just make sure all the critical components are made of metal not plastic. i bought an elite workstand from wiggle a year ago and all the plastic bits broke within days so i replaced them with fabricated metal bits. its better now but i wish i had just bought a park tools workstand to begin with.
pablo said:
just make sure all the critical components are made of metal not plastic. i bought an elite workstand from wiggle a year ago and all the plastic bits broke within days so i replaced them with fabricated metal bits. its better now but i wish i had just bought a park tools workstand to begin with.
The Park stands - or at least my PSC-10 - aren't *that* amazing IME. Despite everything being nipped up properly, my still wobbles, things still turn/slip etc. Judging by the amount of similarly-priced Feedback stands you see in bike shops. I suspect they're the work stand of choice these days...BalhamBadger said:
Mars said:
Food for thought. Thanks gents. I'll make my mind up and order one of them over the weekend.
What did you get in the end Mars?So I made a temporary one that I can clamp to the workbench in the garage. It's less than ideal though but as with all things... once you've got **something** (anything) that'll do the job, being arsed to go and buy something that'll do it properly take planning... which I've already failed at.
I will buy one. One day. Honest.
We (ebc) sell those stands i'n the first post, for a tenner. They sell by the bucketload and are far far from useless.
No they are not good for changing bb's or fitting forks - but there superbly useful. Thru hold the bike upright and allow you to pedal the cranks and the wheel to turn. Excellent when cleaning the drivetrain, setting up gear tension etc etc. We use them for holding bikes up on the shop floor, and there good for i'n the garage to stop you leaning all your bikes on top of one another. They are all steel, bolted together.
No they are not good for changing bb's or fitting forks - but there superbly useful. Thru hold the bike upright and allow you to pedal the cranks and the wheel to turn. Excellent when cleaning the drivetrain, setting up gear tension etc etc. We use them for holding bikes up on the shop floor, and there good for i'n the garage to stop you leaning all your bikes on top of one another. They are all steel, bolted together.
snotrag said:
We (ebc) sell those stands i'n the first post, for a tenner. They sell by the bucketload and are far far from useless.
No they are not good for changing bb's or fitting forks - but there superbly useful. Thru hold the bike upright and allow you to pedal the cranks and the wheel to turn. Excellent when cleaning the drivetrain, setting up gear tension etc etc. We use them for holding bikes up on the shop floor, and there good for i'n the garage to stop you leaning all your bikes on top of one another. They are all steel, bolted together.
Could you PM me a way I could buy one for a tenner please? That seems so easy I wouldn't need to plan.No they are not good for changing bb's or fitting forks - but there superbly useful. Thru hold the bike upright and allow you to pedal the cranks and the wheel to turn. Excellent when cleaning the drivetrain, setting up gear tension etc etc. We use them for holding bikes up on the shop floor, and there good for i'n the garage to stop you leaning all your bikes on top of one another. They are all steel, bolted together.
Thanks.
Mars said:
That looks really good. I went for one of those £50 jobbies from Ribble linked to above. Pleased so far, looks and feels pretty flimsy (though the low weight is a good thing) but so far so good.I think yours looks more easy to pack away and store though. Mine will need disassembling to store it anywhere but I am sort of working on the presumption that when I set it up to work with, I'll be using it for extended periods. I take home the bikes from my son's after-school club and attend to a number of the kids' bikes in the area. I wanted something a bit more substantial because (and this is how I use my tools) I can see me pressing it into service for other jobs. Something big and "scaffoldy" is always useful. 

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