Work Stand Reccomendations.

[S1m0nR]

Hello all,

I'm about to invest in a work stand to hold my bikes while I work on them and was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for ones that are particularly good or bad for classic road bikes.

I was looking at the Park Took one as a benchmark but have noted that the vertical part of the stand gets in the way of the pedals so you can't actually pedal the bike while it's clamped unless you remove the pedal on one side.

A friend invested in a cheap Aldi one and it's fine for occasional use but the clamp is fiddly and seems to be pretty poor quality so probably wouldn't stand up to every-day use.

What I'm after is something pretty sturdy that will stand up to medium to heavy duty work - I'm happy to spend a bit more for quality.

Cheers!

 

[Matth2012]

Re:

Hi there,
Have you looked at Kestrel stands (metal clamp) expensive but solid, great for every day use and heavy duty.

 

[gxaustin]

Re:

I bought a repair stand for about £30. It has a large plastic clamp, folding legs (4) and the clamp can be extended horizontally so the cranks miss the upright. handy for getting the gear cable tension right. It probably isn't as good as a professional stand costing several hundred £, but it has been very useful for building/repairing my bikes. Because the legs fold umbrella fashion they can be partially or wholly retracted so it takes up little space when not in use.

 

[schwartzy16]

I have worked with a bunch of park stands and never have had the pedal get in the way. If you don't mind spending a little money I would go with the Park PRS 3. It will last forever and you will not be disappointed.

 

[gxaustin]

Re:

Park stuff is well regarded and will no doubt last forever but this seems either to bolt to the floor or requires a 30kg steel plate. Not one for the kitchen then

 

[joss]

Re:

This really is an area that reflects:
"You get what you pay for"
Most are barely adequate, fiddly, can be unstable for heavy bikes.

Park tools are excellent

Feedback are excellent

Bontrager are excellent, but as rare as hens teeth

For top quality, ease of use, lightweight expect to spend approx £200 for NEW.

Avoid stands that require you to remove the front wheel, pain in the arse for quick jobs.

 

[stringfellow1946]

This is the best work stand its portable & folds up & comes with its own bag. Its what i used when I worked for pro teams & it went all over the world with me.
Its what all /most of the pro mechanics use.

 

[omegastrada]

I use an older version of this. Its the only stand I've ever had so can't compare it to anything else. However I can say it's strong, very well built and I've never found myself needing anything more.
http://www.tacx.com/products/tools/spider-team

 

[94chas]

Re:

Hi All
my friend gave me this stand when he moved over to carbon frames,very useful.

 

[S1m0nR]

Evening chaps and thanks for all the replies. I hoped when I posted that I'd get a variety of recommendations so they've been really useful.

I absolutely love the Kestrel stands, beautiful bits of kit but sadly a bit out of my price range I think. Also very interesting that the Park Tools stands don't have the problem I'd seen before. I wonder if it had been set up incorrectly...? No problem with the Park Tools stand needing to be bolted to the floor as it'll be for use in my new workshop once I've built it, although I may well buy a second lighter-duty one for the time being - the Tacx one looks like a nice little thing.

I've spent some of today servicing a friend's hybrid bike which has been a bit of a pain without a stand as it's heavy and awkward and keeps falling over so I suspect I'll be deciding soon.

Anyway, please do keep on posting recommendations!