I'm sure that's got to be at least 95% as effective at ascertaining its suitability as other methods
Park workstands - worth the premium?
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I'm sure that's got to be at least 95% as effective at ascertaining its suitability as other methods
Today a box arrived:
Inside the box there were some well-packed things..
Some very well-packed things..
Generally everything seemed decent quality and well-finished; some of the tubes were a bit rough around their edges but I think this is down to the powder coat rather than the underlying tube itself..
The now infamous sticky tapered bit (left) on the clamp arm. The cranking handle, along with a lot of the other more complex parts are plastic; which is weighty and again feels like decent quality; I suspect it's some form of glass-filled composite. I'm impressed by the presence of a needle roller bearing in the lever / handle assembly..
I was slightly surprised / pleased to find that all the fixings are metric, despite this being an "American" product. The "made in China" declaration on the box is less of a surprise given the fixings.. again these seem to be decent quality, although the coating present did make it a bit difficult to get my Allen keys fully home into their sockets.
Instructions were pretty decent and it all went together without much fuss; using my own tools rather than the mini ones supplied and oil / synthetic / moly grease where appropriate. I also added washers in a few areas, such as between the main tube clamp and its handle to prevent plastic-plastic contact..
From a construction perspective only a few elements of the design fall short IMO; the stop for the leg-yolk is fixed to the main tube by two machine screws into a thin-walled tube, which IMO is less than ideal. Also there are no bushings at the leg stays where their retaining / pivot bolts pass through - meaning there's a bit of slop and the bolts will probably have a bit of a hard time. This also means that the load required to operate the legs is dictated by the tightness of the fixings.. which again isn't ideal.
The unit folds down to some extent, although it's still pretty chunky:
The clamp assy is very substantial and appears to use the right materials to keep costs down without sacrificing quality / performance..
I'm yet to use it in anger but chucked the Genesis on it earlier. It holds the bike very well by the top tube and feels very stable; however it droops when clamped to the seatpost tube; perhaps because I greased the taper in the head to prevent it seizing as per the few horror stories floating about.. best get that out then!
Few little niggles aside, so far I'm very happy with it. It generally feels substantial, decent quality and well-put together. I know many in this thread have championed the cheaper options and that's great if it works for you; however this feels like a pretty premium product and I don't feel like I've been diddled given what I paid for it.
Looking forward to using it for an actual job
Inside the box there were some well-packed things..
Some very well-packed things..
Generally everything seemed decent quality and well-finished; some of the tubes were a bit rough around their edges but I think this is down to the powder coat rather than the underlying tube itself..
The now infamous sticky tapered bit (left) on the clamp arm. The cranking handle, along with a lot of the other more complex parts are plastic; which is weighty and again feels like decent quality; I suspect it's some form of glass-filled composite. I'm impressed by the presence of a needle roller bearing in the lever / handle assembly..
I was slightly surprised / pleased to find that all the fixings are metric, despite this being an "American" product. The "made in China" declaration on the box is less of a surprise given the fixings.. again these seem to be decent quality, although the coating present did make it a bit difficult to get my Allen keys fully home into their sockets.
Instructions were pretty decent and it all went together without much fuss; using my own tools rather than the mini ones supplied and oil / synthetic / moly grease where appropriate. I also added washers in a few areas, such as between the main tube clamp and its handle to prevent plastic-plastic contact..
From a construction perspective only a few elements of the design fall short IMO; the stop for the leg-yolk is fixed to the main tube by two machine screws into a thin-walled tube, which IMO is less than ideal. Also there are no bushings at the leg stays where their retaining / pivot bolts pass through - meaning there's a bit of slop and the bolts will probably have a bit of a hard time. This also means that the load required to operate the legs is dictated by the tightness of the fixings.. which again isn't ideal.
The unit folds down to some extent, although it's still pretty chunky:
The clamp assy is very substantial and appears to use the right materials to keep costs down without sacrificing quality / performance..
I'm yet to use it in anger but chucked the Genesis on it earlier. It holds the bike very well by the top tube and feels very stable; however it droops when clamped to the seatpost tube; perhaps because I greased the taper in the head to prevent it seizing as per the few horror stories floating about.. best get that out then!
Few little niggles aside, so far I'm very happy with it. It generally feels substantial, decent quality and well-put together. I know many in this thread have championed the cheaper options and that's great if it works for you; however this feels like a pretty premium product and I don't feel like I've been diddled given what I paid for it.
Looking forward to using it for an actual job
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Andy in Germany
Guru
- Location
- Freiburg im Breisgau
One of my clients managed to break a Park Tool stand (to be fair, some of my clients will test anything to destruction; they can break hammers) One part of the problem was that the bike he was dismantling today twisted in the clamp so the weight wasn't over the legs; this caused it to tip and fall backwards. How on earth he managed to lose one of the screws entirely I'm not sure, but as @wafter has said, fortunately they are metric sized so a normal bolt fitted in the screw thread and we were back in business.
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Good work - will be interested to hear how it goes!
Likewise I removed the silicone grease from mine today and it works properly now; just hope it behaves itself..
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
I think the lesson I’ve learnt from reading above links is keep the pivot loose when not in use.
Cool - figures that keeping it under load for a long time could cause issues. Bit of a sod if you have to down tools with the bike in bits for a sustained period..
cool_hand
Über Member
An update to my original initial review which was probably a bit harsh all things considered.
There is still an issue with rotation however I've been surprised overall how useful the stand has been.
I've done a bunch of maintenance jobs using the stand that would not of been possible without and that saved me having to take my bike to my LBS. It also makes cleaning a doddle.
It is not the best quality stand but if you have a limited budget (as I had) then you will be completely happy with this stand for the £20 or less price tag. Maybe when I'm more flush I'll look to purchase something better but for now I'm happy with the purchase! Recommended.
