Which Work Stand?

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Here you go Garz. 17 years have taken their toll!


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See what i mean about the industrial jaws. To get bike in, you remove the bolt from the jaws, slip frame in, then replace bolt and tighten. The jaws also rotate in 45 degree increments.

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Within the jaws is blocks of contoured mahogany (offcuts) covered in several layers of felt.

I'm not going to pretend its a work of art, but hey. I was 15 at the time ;)

Tollers
 
A few more....

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and this one shows the jaws removed from the frame which illustrates the ...aherm....rotating mechanism ;) (peg through holes)

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I wouldn't suggest following my design! Although it works and was built to last!

Tollers

p.s I went on to do a Masters in Mechanical Engineering. Now people just ask me to fix their cars :smile:
 
What i should have built!

I took delivery of a new stand today. The old one can rust away at my parents house a bit longer. So i got one of the cheapies from ribble....

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=BIKEWORK200000000000

I'm instantly surprised at how rugged it is when standing, whilst still managing to fold pretty compact. Not a bad deal for £54 I think. Only time and use will confirm this though!

Have added some pics for anyone who may be considering buying one. The little pics on website make it look puny.

Folded: With a foot for scale
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Unfolded: (Please excuse my pimp chairs)

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Clamp mechanism:

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Garz

Squat Member
Location
Down
Tollers said:
Only time and use will confirm this though!

Can you not rag it over the next couple of days tollers and put it through its paces for a quick review? ;)
 
Sure Garz. New bike should be arriving tomorrow hopefully and I will have a little bit of work to do playing with set-up, so i'll prob be posting loads on Thursday and will include this as a topic.

Tollers
 

Garz

Squat Member
Location
Down
Awesome as im in two minds to get this stand as its a great price or force the brother-in-law to weld me a manly engineering monstrosity!
 

MartinC

Über Member
Location
Cheltenham
FWIW. There are 3 basic types of workstand - all with pros and cons. Which suits you best depends on your bike and what you want to do.

1. The archetypal work stand that clamps the seat post or tube.
- Quick to use.
- You don't need to take a wheel out.
- Works for all types of bike but you may be restricted on clamp placement
- Not good for bikes with delicate tubes
- Bike isn't held that securely e.g. working on a BB or Headset isn't good.
- If you clamp the top tube it can interfere with the rear brake cable

2. The BB cradle and front/rear fork clamp type (e.g. Tacx Spyder).
- Very stable and secure
- Easy to work on 'cos you can spin it round
- Doesn't interfere with cables or damage tubes
- Works for all bikes without mudguards
- You have to take a wheel out (can't adjust that brake)

3. The BB cradle and down tube clamp type
- Quick to use
- More stable and secure than 1, but not as much as 2
- Works for all types of bike
- Often inteferes with the gear cables
- You need to stop the handlebars swinging from side to side
- Not good for bikes with delicate down tubes

I use all 3 types (and the trackstand type) depending on the bike and what I want to do. I prefer to use type 2 or a trackstand if I can. If you're going to get just one you need to decide which suits you best.
 

Garz

Squat Member
Location
Down
Tollers said:
Sure Garz. New bike should be arriving tomorrow hopefully and I will have a little bit of work to do playing with set-up, so i'll prob be posting loads on Thursday and will include this as a topic.

Tollers

Tollers can you update us on the feedback buddy?
 
Hi Garz. Tiziana (new bike) and Millionaire Bruce Wayne (old bike) have been pretty trouble free these past few weeks so i havent had a chance to call on the stand. Only time was putting Tizi together. My simple comments would be:

- Suprisingly rugged alu frame
- Lots of QR levers mean you can set it up in under a minute.
- Clamp is made of plastic with rubber jaw inserts. Potentially a weak point, but not sure how.
- Clamping mechanism can be rotated pretty easily
- Seems to hold the bike firmly.
- Could do with something to stop handlebars twisting.

If i discover any flaw/exciting points, I will update, but i suspect it's just good enough for the job and will suit me for my occasional needs.

Hope this helps. Happy to answer any specific questions.

Tollers
 

Mark_C

Active Member
Location
Clitheroe, UK
Hi Garz, I've had one of the Ribble stands for about a year. I'm very happy with it considering the price. I've used it to work on diamond frames, a Brompton and a Moulton and it copes well with them all. As mentioned above, you can't apply any welly to a bike is a stand of this kind as it is a bit whippy, but the plastic clamp has held up well and the ability to rotate the bike though 360 degrees is great. If I need to stop the handlebars turning I just tilt the front of the bike down.

A (very) minor criticism is that the quick-release lever for the main clamp doesn't quite have the range to sufficiently open the jaws without also turning the screw. No big deal.
 
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