Guanto Hilario

I'm trying to decide between two types of Repair Stand. The cost difference is considerable, about $50. I can't post URLs yet, so bear with me.

The bench mounted stand is the Conquer Bench Mount Bicycle Repair Stand Bike Rack runs about $28.

The free standing stand is Bikehand Pro Mechanic Bicycle Repair Rack Stand and is $89.

I would love to hear any experiences anyone has had with either of these types of repair stands. Or if anyone has a preference either way, why?

Retro Grouch 

The bad thing about a bench mounted work stand is that it positions the bike between you and the work bench. That limits your ability to use the work bench. Also, you can only access one side of the bike at a time. Unless you have serious space limitations, that's going to be much less convenient.

Andrew R Stewart 

Freestanding any and every day. One can move it around, put it in your car, loan it out to a friend and much more easily sell it when you want to. Andy

thumpism 

I have one of the early Park single-arm stands that mounts on the square base. I prefer to use it freestanding but current space considerations required me to make adjustments so I now have it mounted to my rolling bench. Not ideal but it gets the job done and I can convert back if I choose to do so.
bench Park stand.JPG


Shop policy for a crowded garage: Everything is off the floor or mounted on wheels so it can be moved easily. We moved from a house that had a basement and an attic but no garage to a house with a garage but no attic or basement, so everything (plus a lot of what we acquired since the move) is in the garage. Trust me, things do expand to fill the available space.

fietsbob

The Race stand supports under the BB, and by the dropouts of either wheel ..

Park (etc) Shop Stands have a pole with the Jaws mounted out one side of the top.

those are easy to walk around, a Bench mount obviously one side only.



...

skimaxpower

Scour your local classifieds for a used repair stand. You can probably get a high quality used stand for less than a medium quality new stand. (And skip the shipping costs.)

himespau 

Aldi (if you had one near you) has a decent looking stand on sale this month for about $30. Supplies are limited to a few/store, but if you life in a region with little cycling like I do, there might still be one - there was one at mine last Sunday and I almost bought it even though I don't need another stand.

wschruba

If it is an option, freestanding is the only way to go. Hard mounted stands belong in shops, and even then, you'd be hard pressed to find one that wasn't mounted mid-floor.

That said, if you have space constraints, and are unconcerned about flipping the bike when you need to access the other side (read: not working for money), a bench/wall mount is both perfectly permissible, and desirable. The wall mount can also be used to store the bike, if that matters to you...

maddog34

get the free-standing one.

Robert P

The bike shops I've seen use a floor-mounted stand with plenty of room to move around the entire stand.

I have a Bikehand stand and it's great. The one thing about it is the two-leg configuration can make the balance less than solid. I can see if you were to accidentally bump it hard at the right angle with a bike on it, it could go over. Hasn't happened to me yet. You definitely want to have it on a level surface or if on a slight incline like on a driveway that you have it angled so it's the most stable. What you might do is have a couple of sandbags to put on the ends of the legs to add stability.

With this familiarity, I would think about looking at something with a four-leg base - maybe something like this. It folds up about as compact as the Bikehand and has four legs. Looking at it, my question is how strong the head junction piece at the upright tube is, if it will hold up over time. Also, the Bikehand has a flip-lever for tightening, this one uses a large turn-screw type.

https://www.amazon.com/RAD-Cycle-Pro.../dp/B0065PHDZE

Here's a video of the same stand.


I see it's on sale at this vendor.

https://bestchoiceproducts.com/produ...FYQkhgodoVsEvA

mtnbke

If you work on a lot of bikes you'll find you need more than one type.

I'm not a fan of Park tools in general, most Park stuff is low rent and closer to Harbor Freight quality, than being professional Snap-On shop quality. I don't like Park shop stands and really don't like Park consumer stands.

I've got a two-headed Pedro's Rockstand which I love. However you can't get them anymore. I still end up using an Ultimate portable stand a lot when a lot of projects are being worked on at once.

Classic Cinelli or Campagnolo stands are awesome.

The best stands hands down are made by EVT but expensive, but they lift the bike with a counterweight.

Robert P

Fantastic. Clearly the winner in overall functionality if you have a large area to dedicate to it.

I'm guessing the price is going to be around the $1000 mark?

If you have fabricating skills it doesn't seem like it would be a big trick to make something similar and mate a high-end Park bench clamp to it. Some wheels welded to the base to give it some degree of portability so you could at least move it off to the side would be a good idea.

wschruba

Minoura made a much less expensive lift-assist stand, no longer in production. You may be able to find one in a warehouse, somewhere. It work(ed) quite nicely, if a bit wiggly in the pivots.

easyupbug 

Do this and you can get a better stand for your $ which even if you are a weekend occasional mechanic you will come to appreciate. I have three stands in my hanger, one is fixed and despite the good advise above to go free standing I use the bench stand as often as the others. Admittedly I have to turn the bike around to the ND side from time to time, but that is rare. It is easy to reach around the bike and grab lots of stuff off the bench.

Guanto Hilario

I ended up getting the Aldi Bikehand repair Stand. It was the last of two on the shelf. Easy setup. Takes up a bit of space when setup, but it's sturdy and folds up nicely.

Thanks for all the input here.

Papa Tom

Free standing

zammykoo

You'll be happy with that freestanding one. I've a makeshift work-horse type of stand and also a freestanding one. I love the portability.