Bike Repair Stands

Sat AM

OK. So here's what I've learned.

1 - There is no comprehensive bike stand review.

2 - The 2-leg (L-shaped) stands may be unstable, but can be stabilized
by weighting down the legs if needed.

3 - The tripod type stands may be more stable, but you are more likely
to trip over the legs. (The Ultimate brand doesn't seem to get anyone's
vote so is probably no good.)

4 - The quality of the gripper (holding power) varies from brand to
brand and probably model to model. There is no good way to know if the
gripper end works well until I buy one and try it. Obviously, I will
post the question once I pick a specific model, before I actually buy one.

5 - If/when I get over thinking that I need a repair stand, there are a
couple cheaper devices that make it considerably easier to tweek my bike.

Thanks,

Ed (gone biking)

Guys...why do you persist in buying those crappy "clamp style" repair
stands. Been there, done that and finally got the Tacx repair stand that
looks like a sawhorse which is super stable. Can clamp by front fork with
rear wheel on, can take the rear wheel off, perfect height to work on bikes,
folds flat, comes with a tool tray, has a doohickie thingie so that you can
take the rear wheel off and still run the chain, etc.

I prefer the ability to rotate the bike for access to the bottom bracket
area, etc.

No complaints about my Park Pro stand, though since it was a gift I didn't
have to think about sticker shock.

YMMV, of course.


Chris Neary


"Science, freedom, beauty, adventu what more could
you ask of life? Bicycling combined all the elements I
loved" - Adapted from a quotation by Charles Lindbergh

"Zippy the Pinhead" wrote in message
s.com...
On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 20:03:37 -0700, Ed wrote:


In that case, don't get the one I got. I have the basic Park stand,
and
it will fall over backwards if you are not careful.

Put something heavy across the feet of it and it's OK. Using the
deluxe head with the wide jaw opening (for my recumbent) puts the
weight of the bike far enough forward that this isn't necessary.

The only other style that I see is the Ultimate BRS-70. It has a tripod
base that looks more stable, but I don't know anything about the gripper
end.

Before I got the Park, I had a Wrench Force one. If you attached the
bike by the seat post like you're supposed to, the gripper would turn
around until the front wheel rested on the ground. Didn't matter how
hard you tightened the damn thing down either.

I have a WrenchForce too. It's ok for the most part, but I did manage
to bend the large adjustment screw. I straightened it out and haven't
had a problem since. But the fact that it did bend would give me pause
to actually recommend this stand. I haven't tried any others.

It's light and stable. I haven't had any problems tightening it up so that
the bike stays still. It cost about $130.00.

M.

"Ed" wrote in message
...
Cat Dailey wrote:

"Ed" wrote in message
...

I would like to buy a "good" bike repair stand for home use. I've
looked on the web for a comparitive review of the various stands but
can't find any.

Does anyone know of such a review? If so, where (in the world) is it?



Guys...why do you persist in buying those crappy "clamp style" repair
stands. Been there, done that and finally got the Tacx repair stand
that
looks like a sawhorse which is super stable. Can clamp by front fork
with
rear wheel on, can take the rear wheel off, perfect height to work on
bikes,
folds flat, comes with a tool tray, has a doohickie thingie so that you
can
take the rear wheel off and still run the chain, etc. And it's
cheap-they
are charging the exact same price as when I bought mine 2-3 years ago!
Take
a looky here...this is where I bought mine.
http://www.chicagolandbicycle.com/tacx_workstand.htm

HTH,
Cat



Interesting. I had not seen this one before. I did a google on it and
got no hits. Apparently it's only sold at chicagoland.

My only concern with this particular rig is that it looks like it has
less flexibility than the "normal" reapair stands.

Why less flexibility? You can clamp the bike by either the front or rear
dropouts. If in the front, it's really easy to just lift up the whole bike
if you need to clean the bottom bracket shell. IF by the rear, you can run
the chain on the spool-thingie and it works great. You can get super
amounts of leverage on it since the whole bike is supported, so if you need
to tighten/loosen cranks or pedals it works great. And it's the perfect
height to work on bikes. Need I say more....you wanna come to my house and
try out mine??? : (AND it's $114!)

HTH,
Cat

Cat Dailey wrote:
Guys...why do you persist in buying those crappy "clamp style" repair
stands. Been there, done that and finally got the Tacx repair stand that
looks like a sawhorse which is super stable. Can clamp by front fork with
rear wheel on, can take the rear wheel off, perfect height to work on bikes,
folds flat, comes with a tool tray, has a doohickie thingie so that you can
take the rear wheel off and still run the chain, etc. And it's cheap-they
are charging the exact same price as when I bought mine 2-3 years ago! Take
a looky here...this is where I bought mine.
http://www.chicagolandbicycle.com/tacx_workstand.htm

HTH,
Cat


Neato. I've been thinking ... off and on ... about how nice it would be
to have a stand and how much I want to avoid spending the $$$ for a
pre-built one. The Tacx design lends itself to 2x4 construction.
Thanks for the tip!

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 22:26:52 GMT, Michael wrote:
http://www.chicagolandbicycle.com/tacx_workstand.htm

pre-built one. The Tacx design lends itself to 2x4 construction. Thanks

No kidding! Two or three 8' 2x4s, 12 nails, and
a $20 fork mount. Hell, even I can afford that!

For that matter, I can just screw a fork mount
into...a sawhorse! Of course, I have no place
to put it.

--
Rick Onanian

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 17:18:38 +0000, Cat Dailey wrote:

My only concern with this particular rig is that it looks like it has
less flexibility than the "normal" reapair stands.

Why less flexibility?

With even my not-so great Park stand, I can easily rotate the bike upside
down while it is clamped, to get at the cable guides (to lube them) or to
clean under there. Quite a useful feature.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | The lottery is a tax on those who fail to understand
_`\(,_ | mathematics.
(_)/ (_) |

In article ,
Ed writes:
I would like to buy a "good" bike repair stand for home use. I've
looked on the web for a comparitive review of the various stands but
can't find any.

Does anyone know of such a review? If so, where (in the world) is it?

By "good", I mean one that holds the bike in the normal service
positions, and doesn't fall over while tweeking the bike.

I wanna find me a "6-day" stand.

I recently saw what I think was one
on TV, about triathlon stuff.

All it does is raise the rear wheel. That's all I
want. I can do the rest with an adjustable stool &
a trouble-light.

For doing BB's I just flip the bike and put the
handlebar over piled 2x4 cut-offs. That does
the trick real good. The cost/benefit thing
works out nicely.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Tom Keats wrote:
I wanna find me a "6-day" stand.

I recently saw what I think was one
on TV, about triathlon stuff.

All it does is raise the rear wheel. That's all I
want. I can do the rest with an adjustable stool &
a trouble-light.

Here y'go, $9.99 (I paid $14.99 for mine)
http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...ype=&estoreid=
--
Ron Hardin


On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Ed wrote in message ...
Sat AM

OK. So here's what I've learned.

1 - There is no comprehensive bike stand review.

2 - The 2-leg (L-shaped) stands may be unstable, but can be stabilized
by weighting down the legs if needed.

3 - The tripod type stands may be more stable, but you are more likely
to trip over the legs. (The Ultimate brand doesn't seem to get anyone's
vote so is probably no good.)

4 - The quality of the gripper (holding power) varies from brand to
brand and probably model to model. There is no good way to know if the
gripper end works well until I buy one and try it. Obviously, I will
post the question once I pick a specific model, before I actually buy one.

5 - If/when I get over thinking that I need a repair stand, there are a
couple cheaper devices that make it considerably easier to tweek my bike.

Thanks,

Ed (gone biking)


I bought the Ultimate Consumer Stand USB-70B about two weeks ago. It
may very well be the best bicycle tool/accessory I will ever buy. I
went to my LBS (www.lickbike.com) to buy a Park and they talked me
into buying the Ultimate. It is sturdy, gives me 360 rotation, has a
70" height max, and has a folding/telescoping design that makes it
great for getting it out of the way when needed. The clamps are
great. I did trip over a tripod leg once. This happened the first day
I got it. I am now aware of the legs and it has not happened since.
I also tipped it over once. Both of these instances made me aware of
the tripod design and how to use it to minimize or eliminate those
issues. When the bike (with wheels) is held by the seat post at 180
degrees (vertical bike) I just insure that one leg is at that side to
support the weight. When I remove the wheels, which is often, I can
do anything I want in any direction without minding the tripod
position. The rotation clamp screw may seem weak at first, but it
isn't. The clamp rotation screw is very large and round for a good
torquing. It does require some serious torquing when I put the bike
in some positions such as vertical or at a 3/4 angle. And then only
with the wheels on. I have two bikes, one is a relatively light
weight GF Fast City hybrid. The other is an old GF Joshua X0. This
is the bike I work on the most. It is dual suspension with really fat
wheels. It gets heavy. The stand is a cake walk for the hybrid. It
really has no problems with the Joshua either. I just have to be more
mindful. Oh yeah, it only cost me $110! Check it out people, you
will not regret it. Check out www.mtbreview.com for some reviews on
stands.