Do I really need a workstand?

rrsodl · May 2007

Hello,

I'm new to bike maintenance and I think I'm going to need a workstand to do the maintenance of my bikes.

I hope to learn, as I go along, how to repair/adjust/change parts and hopefully I don't make a mess of things [:D]

I have staterted with cleaning my bike and cleaning the chain.... for that purpose I got myself a Chain Cleaning System which does help but I think a workstand would have come very handy indeed [:)]

I am not keen on turning the bike outside down to perform the cleaning so I found the job a little more difficult than it should be.

What workstand would you recomend for a price of œ60 or less?

Thanks

Cyclistm · May 2007

Workstands make life a lot easier, although using an old rear tyre to hole the rear wheel of the ground is much easier if you can hang it off of something like a washing machine or garage rafters,

the cheapest workstands are those that lift the rear wheel off the ground and are a good compromise - but fiddly if you need to grease headsets or change forks.

Aidocp · May 2007

RRSODOL,

I use one of the rear seat stay stands a Minoura 500, I think it was under œ20 from the lbs. Its nice and portable and allows for easy storage of the bike too as well as a workstand. Its not always the most stable on a rough garage floor, but I see they've brought out the 510. I usually support my bikes by their left hand seatstay (non drive side) as its most stable, fine for chain cleaning, however to spin the wheel (gear maintenance) I need to support the bikes on the other side. Its got me by for basic maintenance but as Cyclistm its a bit fiddly for other maintenance, for example taking the rear 700mm wheel off.

If I had a baby elephant, who would take it for walks?

CraigUKcp · May 2007

I bought one of these off EBay last year and I have to say that it rates alongside my track pump for value of money IMO. It's great as you can angle the bike however you want which is alot more versatile than alot of the other stands. Like most thing's you get what you pay for I supose, of course maintenance stands come alot more expensive than this too>>>

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/bike-stand-Veloma ... dZViewItem

My Bikes Van Nicholas Quest Giant MTB

My Ebay

tabs · May 2007

If you're stuck, use a broom handle between two dining chairs, and hook the saddle over.

psmiffy · May 2007

No but if you have one everything takes about half the time to do and generally works first time

rrsodl · May 2007

Thanks all for your suggestions.

Aido, I did look at that workstand and it looks okay for what I need it now, however, I might need something that can rotate the bike when I'm ready to attemp more advance maintenance.

Craiguk, Funny enough I had already looked at that one too but I was not sure of its build quality. It's the type of workstand I had in mind [:)]

I don't know if I'm too new in bike maintenance but I quite enjoy riding a well maintained bike and even more if I did the work myself [:)] Perhaps in years to come I might change my mind and see it as a pain in the backside all this maintenance work [:D]

It is interesting the ingenuity of the human mind [:)] a broom handle is a good idea but I don't think my wife would aprove of me borrowing a couple of dining chairs... [:D]

Unknown · May 2007

they do make things much easier....I'm gonna have to get one when i'm unable to use the hall one

--

Insert stupid, possibly baby elephant realated, comment here......

2191flint · May 2007

Have a look in Argos,(Extra stores only) that is where I got mine, it is height adjustable, so you won't hurt your back, made of aluminium tube, with a strong composite jaw clamp with rubber protector,(kind to seat pins) the clamp articulates through various angles, all the tubes are lockable, a la QR clamp style, wide feet for stability, folds flat for storage makes working on the bike soooo easy. I think I paid œ70, bargain IMHO

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the elephant was lost, for want an elephant the battle was lost. My Kingdom , my Kingdom, my Kingdom for...An elephant?

Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/

rrsodl · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by 2191flint

Have a look in Argos,(Extra stores only) that is where I got mine, it is height adjustable, so you won't hurt your back, made of aluminium tube, with a strong composite jaw clamp with rubber protector,(kind to seat pins) the clamp articulates through various angles, all the tubes are lockable, a la QR clamp style, wide feet for stability, folds flat for storage makes working on the bike soooo easy. I think I paid œ70, bargain IMHO

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the elephant was lost, for want an elephant the battle was lost. My Kingdom , my Kingdom, my Kingdom for...An elephant?

Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I think you mean this one - it looks very good, I wonder how it compares with the Park workstand

Thanks for the info, I'm impressed with that one.

Roba154 · May 2007

Check out the Edinburgh Bicycle Company, they have a nice looking workstand on their site for around that price, and they have a very good reputation on this forum. I can personally recommend the Tacx spider professionl workstand, popular with pro bike teams so the advertising says, it is more than you wanted to pay (œ99.00) got mine from Ribble, but it is a fantastic piece of kit and i'm glad I spent the extra money.
Rob............

rrsodl · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Roba154

Check out the Edinburgh Bicycle Company, they have a nice looking workstand on their site for around that price, and they have a very good reputation on this forum. I can personally recommend the Tacx spider professionl workstand, popular with pro bike teams so the advertising says, it is more than you wanted to pay (œ99.00) got mine from Ribble, but it is a fantastic piece of kit and i'm glad I spent the extra money.
Rob............
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Thanks Rob for the tip - that workstand looks quite good and it looks a lot like this one for œ59.95 - they claim that C+ gave it a 10/10 in a recent review - did anyone read that review?

Rick

Unknown · May 2007

Only really need one to get the gears working right imo

all the rest of the stuff can be done without a stand

and eat more baby elephants, they are good for you [;)]

2191flint · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by RRSODL

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by 2191flint

Have a look in Argos,(Extra stores only) that is where I got mine, it is height adjustable, so you won't hurt your back, made of aluminium tube, with a strong composite jaw clamp with rubber protector,(kind to seat pins) the clamp articulates through various angles, all the tubes are lockable, a la QR clamp style, wide feet for stability, folds flat for storage makes working on the bike soooo easy. I think I paid œ70, bargain IMHO

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the elephant was lost, for want an elephant the battle was lost. My Kingdom , my Kingdom, my Kingdom for...An elephant?

Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I think you mean this one - it looks very good, I wonder how it compares with the Park workstand

Thanks for the info, I'm impressed with that one.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That's the one, I was a bit out with the price[:I], but IMO well worth it[:D]

For want of a nail, the shoe was lost, for want of a shoe the elephant was lost, for want an elephant the battle was lost. My Kingdom , my Kingdom, my Kingdom for...An elephant?

Me and my bike- http://aolpictures.aol.co.uk/galleries/flintosaur9/

gandalfcp · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Roba154

Check out the Edinburgh Bicycle Company, they have a nice looking workstand on their site for around that price, and they have a very good reputation on this forum. I can personally recommend the Tacx spider professionl workstand, popular with pro bike teams so the advertising says, it is more than you wanted to pay (œ99.00) got mine from Ribble, but it is a fantastic piece of kit and i'm glad I spent the extra money.
Rob............
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Same here. Ribble was the cheapest I could find for the Spider Pro. Lovely bit of kit.

rrsodl · May 2007

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by gandalf

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Roba154

Check out the Edinburgh Bicycle Company, they have a nice looking workstand on their site for around that price, and they have a very good reputation on this forum. I can personally recommend the Tacx spider professionl workstand, popular with pro bike teams so the advertising says, it is more than you wanted to pay (œ99.00) got mine from Ribble, but it is a fantastic piece of kit and i'm glad I spent the extra money.
Rob............
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Same here. Ribble was the cheapest I could find for the Spider Pro. Lovely bit of kit.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Well the spider pro certainly looks like a great workstand but the cheapest I can find is œ114 and that is realy twice my budget for it, so I think I will go for the "BIKE TOOLS WORKSTAND" at œ59.95 is just about right for my needs.

Thanks everybody

Rick

11tooth · May 2007

Cheapest workstand is to use a turbo trainer if you have one - you have to bend a bit but its handy for adjusting gears etc and mounting new bar tape etc.

ghitchen · May 2007

The Merlin/Edinburgh CoOp/Argos stands are all basically the same thing. I bought one from Merlin and can recommend it. If you do your own maintenance you won't regret it.

rrsodl · June 2007

The workstand from Merlin is the same as the one in Ribble. I bought the workstand from Ribble cos it had a 10% discount. I am very pleased with it - I can see that I will make good use of it [:D] - I can recomend it.

Rick

Do I really need a workstand?

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