Bike Workstands

[Ontherivet77]

Thinking of getting a Park Tool PCS9 in the new year. Has anyone got one of these and are they any good? Also, are there any similarly priced stands that are better?

[steady eddy]

I got a really good stand for a very reasonable price from Spa Cycles a year or so ago. Have a look on their web site to see what they have.

[foxyrider]

If you can find one, the sub £30 Lidl stand is brilliant.

[Eyebrox]

I have two - one at home and the other at work. The home one is heavy steel and stands firm. The work one is light alloy and moves about a bit too easy. There are advantages in both. The best though is the light one because it is height adjustable. This is a big factor, enabling you to work in different positions and prevent backache. The quality of the clamp should be thoroughly checked. The plastic ones tend to give way with constant use. Like bikes you only get what you pay for but twice the price doesn't always equate to twice as efficient. Park stands are great in my opinion.

[Graham]

If I ever buy another workstand, I will choose a type where ( under ) the bottom bracket is the main support point.

I don't like the requirement of other types to squeeze the frame tubes : put bendy torque on those tubes : risk scratching the paintwork on those tubes.

[peetee]

My workstand is an unbranded adjustable steel thing which is very sturdy and adaptable but not universally useful. Carbon frames can pose a problem because of the clamp and electric powered and kids bikes because there are no uncluttered sections of frame to attach to. Because of this I have a loop of webbing hanging from the rafter that cradles the saddle. Works perfectly well and cost next to nothing.

[mjr]

I've one of those quick stands that hooks the stays and lifts the rear wheel, plus an axle stand that lifts a wheel by the axle ends. Both are fine for quick adjustments on lightweight bikes without a two-footed stand. The axle stand is usually more stable. Both were under £10 IIRC.

For serious work, I've a rafter-attached winch that lifts the bike by stem (or front of the top tube if you want to drop the forks out) and saddle (or back of top tube) and brings the bit being adjusted up to eye level. £6 from Maplin years ago.

[foxyrider]

If I ever buy another workstand, I will choose a type where ( under ) the bottom bracket is the main support point.

I don't like the requirement of other types to squeeze the frame tubes : put bendy torque on those tubes : risk scratching the paintwork on those tubes.

Clamp the seat post not the frame.

[Hobbs1951]

I wanted a new workstand a few years ago and wanted one that used the BB as the key contact point. I chose the Tacx, which uses the BB and either (wheel out) dropout.

Well made and sturdy (folds up for ease of storage), think I paid around £70.00 for it (included postage from - I can't recall).

John.

[Ontherivet77]

If you can find one, the sub £30 Lidl stand is brilliant.

I'll keep an eye out for one in the local store.

[Des49]

If I ever buy another workstand, I will choose a type where ( under ) the bottom bracket is the main support point.

I don't like the requirement of other types to squeeze the frame tubes : put bendy torque on those tubes : risk scratching the paintwork on those tubes.

A very good point.

For washing and maintenance when travelling with a bike in the car for races etc I got a Park PRS22 stand, which clamps the forks (or rear dropouts) and supports at the bottom bracket. Pretty secure even for bottom bracket work.

My issue is that for a bike with mudguards it is not possible to clamp on the fork, the end of the mudguard stops this as it fouls the main beam. This means the bike has to be clamped by the rear dropouts, this can be more than a bit awkward with sloping dropouts and means gear adjustment work is not feasible.

Oh, while great for the back to have the bike higher, when scrubbing the bar tape it seems that I cannot avoid having water running down my hands and under sleeves, not a problem in the summer but a pain at this time of the year!

So the bottom bracket supported stands are sturdier but maybe not so good for washing except for bikes with no mudguards.

[Des49]

If I ever buy another workstand, I will choose a type where ( under ) the bottom bracket is the main support point.

I don't like the requirement of other types to squeeze the frame tubes : put bendy torque on those tubes : risk scratching the paintwork on those tubes.

Clamp the seat post not the frame.

None of our older steel frames have enough seat post to clamp on so I clamp on the seat tube generally. More modern bikes, no problem, there is normally plenty of seat post.

However some aero frames also have non-round seat posts which cannot be clamped. But I do have an aero seat post adaptor that allows a Giant aero carbon post to be clamped in a normal clamp type stand, just makes the frame wobble a bit more.

[robgul]

Back to the OP - if you can run to the extra cost then a Park PCS-10 is the better stand - have to say I've tried various stands (Lidl, Rose own brand, Decathlon) and they have all disappointed in various ways.

The best one I had as an "amateur" was the PCS 10 ... but I'm now a bit OTT as I have Park professional incredibly heavy-duty workstand that I picked up for £75 from a chap who bought up the bike workshop stuff from ToysRUs when they went bust.

Rob

PS: For the real enthusiast Park now have a workstand with an electric house mechanism!! (for ebikes) - a snip at about £2,000.

[LittleGreyCat]

If you can find one, the sub £30 Lidl stand is brilliant.

I have one (well, two at the moment. The second one belongs to the cycle club.).
My original one is fine for lifting the whole bike horizontally by the top tube if you can find the balance point but the clamps tend to rotate if you change the balance (for instance by taking off a wheel). I would like to be able to clamp the frame upside down (wheels up) but I'm not confident that it wouldn't try and rotate on me at an awkward moment.
The new one (not used yet) has different clamps so they may have improved things.
The serious stand I saw at Spa Cycles had a much better adjustment system of toothed parts which could be eased to move between teeth but when clamped relied on the teeth meshing not just friction.
For just getting access to low down parts, wall and ceiling racks are fine. Not sure that they are as good for things like whizzing round the pedals to adjust the transmission.

[foxyrider]

Aldi are doing a robust looking 'stay' stand for a bargain £4.99 atm.