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Clamping Bike in Workstand
I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How unusual for me! It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the seat post. The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off balance if I were to clamp it there. But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in crushing or snapping the seat post as well? Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would that be fatal? Thanks for any help with this. Oh, I don't actually *own* a workstand yet, but I am think of ones like the Spin Doctor or Ultimate (the ones that run about $150) Ken -- (To reply via email, please remove "ECM" - thanks) |
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#2
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
Use the rotational adjuster so that the seatpost is at an angle to even out
the balance of the bike on the stand. Bottom line, you can always buy a new seatpost if you crush it. There again, you can always buy a new frame too. Paul "Ken Spencer" wrote in message news:2005080101154016807%kspenceECM@i2000com... The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off balance if I were to clamp it there. |
#3
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
Frame will crush like a beer can. Seatpost should be OK, but then
again, who knows how well its made. Don't worry about the out of balance aspect though, that's where I clamp mine and the stand can handle it no problem. |
#4
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
Ken Spencer wrote: I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How unusual for me! It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the seat post. The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off balance if I were to clamp it there. But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in crushing or snapping the seat post as well? Seatpost of carbon are still pretty beefy but if you are concerned, get a 'build post' and old post of the right size and use that. DON'T clamp the seat tube or top tube. Those are pretty thin. Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would that be fatal? Thanks for any help with this. Oh, I don't actually *own* a workstand yet, but I am think of ones like the Spin Doctor or Ultimate (the ones that run about $150) Ken -- (To reply via email, please remove "ECM" - thanks) |
#5
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
Ken Spencer wrote:
I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How unusual for me! It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the seat post. The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off balance if I were to clamp it there. But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in crushing or snapping the seat post as well? Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would that be fatal? Thanks for any help with this. Oh, I don't actually *own* a workstand yet, but I am think of ones like the Spin Doctor or Ultimate (the ones that run about $150) In addition to the great advice given before, you might also consider a bottom-bracket style repair stand. I was all hopped up to get a nice repair stand for my apartment like they have in the shops when I borrowed a friend's "A Sunday In Hell" DVD. The introduction of this movie is a silently reverent overview of a mechanic prepping a bike for the day's race, and the bike is not on a clamp stand. I bought one of the Performance scissor-style stands (Minoura makes one too) and it's been 99% effective in completely tearing down and rebuilding a mountain bike that I'm selling (my test case for the stand). The 1% has been the front wheel sway that exists in all stands, and the lack of rotation such as with the Park version (below). Another benefit: they're cheap at $50-75. Here's the $200 version: http://www.parktool.com/tools/PRS_20.shtml -eric |
#6
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
Ken Spencer wrote:
Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would that be fatal? I've clamped my Waterford 1200 Reynolds 753 steel top tube in my Park PS5 stand for about 7 years now. As long as you don't try to crush it with the clamp, it won't harm anything. When using the top tube the bike also sits on the stand very nicely without even closing the clamp. Its fairly difficult to crush any tubes when the clamp isn't even used. I buy bike frames that are properly sized using the old time method of a fistful of seatpost showing. I do not use the current method of buying undersized frames and making them fit with 400 mm long seatposts. Thus with my road bikes, there is not enough seatpost for the Park clamp to grab. I think you will do far more damage by unloosening the lugged in seatpost clamp/bolt on the frame every time you want to work on the bike just to pull the seatpost up. And then retightening it to put it back to the right spot. Assuming the right spot is within a 1/4" or so of the spot it was. |
#7
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
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#8
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
Ken Spencer wrote:
I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How unusual for me! It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the seat post. The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off balance if I were to clamp it there. The fact that the bike's off balance is always a worry, but it should be okay for light work. Be extra careful of hauling away at the handlebars if you do, because there's a lot of leverage available that way. But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in crushing or snapping the seat post as well? Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would that be fatal? Depends on bike - the cheaper the bike, the thicker the tube walls and the more you can get away with. I wouldn't put a bike in a workstand for anything involving lots of torque (anything stuck or rusted in, and especially anything on the front end of the bike if you're clamping by the seatpost). I've bent posts and frames before, posts are a whole heap cheaper. And carbon-fibre does not like being stressed in directions it wasn't designed to be stressed in, so if I was you I'd get hold of a beaten up old steel/alu seatpost and use that for clamping. As far as your preferred stands go, http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tools/product_88742.shtml suggests the Spin Doctor one is a bit too cheap to be cheerful. Some stands (like my shop's Park stand) have an adjustable setting on the rotation adjustment, so you can set the torque required to rotate the clamp. I'd suggest not cranking that up too high, then it's more difficult to put too much oomph into the seatpost without the clamp slipping. If you've got the sort where rotation is controlled by some other system, that's obviously not an option. |
#9
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
In addition to the great advice given before, you might also consider a
bottom-bracket style repair stand. Thanks so much for your suggestion. I think one of the main uses for the repair stand, for me, will be just to clean the chain, so I think I like the idea of not having to remove the front wheel to put the bike on the repair stand. I was all hopped up to get a nice repair stand for my apartment like they have in the shops when I borrowed a friend's "A Sunday In Hell" DVD. I am intrigued by this DVD. Where did your friend get it, do you know? I quickly checked Amazon, and it was not listed there. Sounds like a neat thing to see. Thanks again, Ken -- (To reply via email, please remove "ECM" - thanks) |
#10
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Clamping Bike in Workstand
As far as your preferred stands go,
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tools/product_88742.shtml suggests the Spin Doctor one is a bit too cheap to be cheerful. Some stands (like my shop's Park stand) have an adjustable setting on the rotation adjustment, so you can set the torque required to rotate the clamp. I'd suggest not cranking that up too high, then it's more difficult to put too much oomph into the seatpost without the clamp slipping. If you've got the sort where rotation is controlled by some other system, that's obviously not an option. Thanks so much for the tips, and especially for the review site. I was unaware of that. I haven't been messing with bikes for about 30 years. Gee... things have change a lot since I bought my Motobecane that long ago... :-) There wasn't even an Internet back then! -- (To reply via email, please remove "ECM" - thanks) |
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