Improved Portable Bike Stand Specification Research
 

Hello,

I am currently undertaking a design & manufacture school project, and am conducting some research for my specifications. The project will concern a small portable bike stand, so here are some questions that will provide me with some valuable information (remember this is all hypothetical, don’t worry about how it will be done):

What issues are there with existing portable bike stands?

Where, when and by whom would a hypothetical portable bike stand be used?

Are there any specific things/functions it would need to be able to do?

What would an expected price-point be for such a product?

What colour/texture and shape would you find attractive in such a product?

Many thanks for your time!

What so you mean by "portable"?

Most bike stands are portable, in that they can be folded and carried around, but are not "portable" in the sense that one could easily carry one on a bicycle, for instance. A bike stand has to be sturdy enough to support a bike very securely without collapsing or falling over---the legs have to support the stand with total security or the bike would come crashing down.

Most stands are made of metal, at least in part, and all the ones I have seen can be folded and stuck in a corner or whatever, when not in use.

A bike stand needs (IMO) a rotating clamp so that it can hold a top tube or a seat tube, and can hold the bike at various angles. It should have an arm which holds the handlebars, so the front wheel doesn't flop around. The arm needs to be long enough that the pedals won't hit the upright when the pedals are rotated.

Many stands include a small tray and rack for small parts and tools. I don't find this useful but apparently a lot of people do.

Color is entirely subjective. Price point? Competitive.

lots of these "research" posts lately.

Idek what to say to that, it's honestly just hypothetical research questions for a school project man.

Great, thanks for your input Maelochs!

"What issues are there with existing portable bike stands?"
Stability when wrenching on a stand. They tend to wiggle a lot and some can even tip a bit.

"Where, when and by whom would a hypothetical portable bike stand be used?"
A portable stand, naturally, is used wherever one wants to use it. Has to be compact when folded down for storage. The person who works on their own bike uses one, of course. Race mechanics as well. When is one used? At the races, at home, at a friends house, etc.

"What would an expected price-point be for such a product?"
It is a competitive marketplace. Price accordingly. If you want the top end of the market, it will need to be something wildly exclusive and desirable.

"What colour/texture and shape would you find attractive in such a product?"
Anodized aluminum. Make the color exclusive to your brand for brand recognition, ie Feedback Sports or Park Tools.

To put it in simple terms look at the Park commercial grade shop repair stands. They are just about perfect for stability, ease of use, and durability, however they are not portable. Look at their more pricey portable stands to see how they approached portability. Look at Feedback Sports for finish suggestions.
Comes right down to it, if you are attempting to come up with the next "better mouse trap" the portable bicycle repair stand has evolved quite nicely over the last 20 years, thus you will need to come up with something truly unique.

Magnetic even better.

Here's an example of your competition.

I own one of those Aldi stands. As a guy who used to run service departments in bike shops, I'm very happy with it. Light weight, easy to adjust, stable, versatile. I've even occasionally pulled out the adjustable vertical tube at the top for use as a cheater bar for, e.g., breaking stubborn bottom bracket cups free.

As noted in the linked thread, the only operations it's not much good for are those involving the use of a lot of force. But then, no portable stand design would be good for that.

Similar (or identical) portable stands are available from Amazon (and probably other sources) at around the same price.

Good thing you're just doing research for a school project. If not, the chances that you can come up with a design that works better and can sell at a similar or lower price are pretty low.

Are we talking about a work stand? Which allows one to make repairs to the bike? Or just something to hold the bike upright for storage or display?

I hear of these mythical ALDI stands but we don't have ALDI and I've never seen one.

Can someone post a pic?

An actual work stand, maybe even double-sided, allowing for multiple mechanics to work simultaneously, it is aimed at both bike charities that run pop-up workshops and need to transport compact stands, and at home mechanics that don't have space to store a full-size stand.

Lidl has them too, I got one mostly to hold the bike while I hose it off, but works well enough for occasional maintenance.

Yeah, and like this one, they're all somewhat vague.

If I give too much detail I think it would put people off, as it should be a quick series of easily answerable questions, what aspect would you like better explained?

I happen to have 4 different portable stands in my garage:
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The first one- the crank arm stand can potentially scratch up crank arms (it only has a thin rubber coating). The two single-wheel stands have a tendency to slide backwards on the garage floor when you try to push the bike onto the stand. The single wheel stand with the swivel tray is not all that sturdy. You have to steady the bike in the stand. The vertical stand works very well but it does require you to wheelie the bike up first and lift the rear wheel into the tray, and it doesn't work for Hed wheels with the soft carbon fairing (a very rare problem granted)

To store bikes in a garage. I have also used the crank arm stand to stand the bike up in the truck bed.

In an ideal world the stands would allow you to do some basic maintenance like lubing the chain. But none of my stands allow for that. The crank arm stand does come in handy when you need to tighten the crank arm bolt. But aside from that a stand just needs to stand the bike up without scratching the bike, and be portable enough that you can move it somewhere else to get to your other bikes.

~$25

It absolutely does not matter to me since my stands live in the garage. If they were in the living room I would probably want chrome finish!

There's a huge amount of territory between too much detail and no details at all (which is where you're at). How, for instance, is someone supposed to answer the following question without any details about this "hypothetical" bike stand. How the heck are we supposed to guess where it would be used?

As noted, they can sometimes be unstable. I suggest a fairly wide folding tripod style base, to allow stability on uneven surfaces (four-legged stands can be unstable). The oft-mentioned Lidl stand has four legs.

I use mine in my garage. I am not a racer, just a casual rider. That said, to answer this question, a repair stand needs to be useful to whoever wants to use one to repair or work on a bike. I can also take it with me to a ride. I use mine for bike maintenance.

Many clamps use a screw-down method to clamp the bike by a fame member or the seat post. These can be cumbersome to use, when simultaneously holding the bike up in the air while the clamp is adjusted. A one-motion cam lock would be much better in most respects. The clamp head need to be able to rotate to angle the bike down. It needs to be light, so there will be a generous use of plastics in construction. However, because of this, there will be a tradeoff between ease of portability and strength (and cost). If you use light and strong aluminum, cost will increase. Those of us who enjoy working on their bikes would pay more for a higher quality stand, however.
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The Lidl stand everyone mentions was $29 when I got it. I think they raised the price to $39. Which is still a bargain. If you have an outstanding stand, $100 bucks would be acceptable to most home mechanics.

I agree, pick a color that sets off your brand. Blue is taken (both Park and Lidl use it--Lidl likely because of its association with Park). Anything meant to be gripped or manipulated by hand (like the actual clamp itself) can have a rubber-textured coating to reduce slip.

Good luck (my son is in design school as we speak).

Cam adjustment should be , once set a simple single move of lever from all the way open to fully locked. My current clamp requires turning before using cam.

inside, outside, on hard level(ish) surfaces and by pro mechanics or riders doing their own work. However This question has more to do with marketing than manufacturing.

Hold a bike securely, at multiple angles and be stable doing so.
Price really depends on target audience and your perceived improvements vs the status quo. If you have a ground shaking innovation in a bike stand price it high. If you are just building a better mousetrap keep the price inline with existing competition. Color is another marketing decision. It does not influence the utility of the product. Make it cool and sexy and use slick advertising and you might get a bit more return on investment.

I think you picked a good topic. The trick to a bike work stand is that it's always going to be a compromise. Lighter weight and more compact will sacrifice stability. Sturdier will sacrifice weight.

Current issues are that they're either clunky to move around or flimsy. If it's going to be light, it needs to always be positioned right under the bike's center of gravity. If it's not that light, maybe it should have some kind of wheels to move it around on.

The target customer is variable. Team mechanics want portable, but usually have a van and don't need it too compact but they want it sturdy for day-after-day use. Someone who goes on bike vacations occasionally probably wants it smaller and doesn't beat it up as much. If you can bridge that gap, your product might be worth its weight in gold.

It needs to be stable. It should hold the bike in the various positions and heights used for various jobs. I find a magnetic parts tray to be useful.

If you want to appeal to amateurs, you'll need it to be under about $150 I think.

I figure neutral colors are less likely to put off picky buyers, but Park Tool seems to have proven that to be otherwise. People are attracted to symmetry, so there's that.

It was the best thing for me, because I would otherwise set something (tool/fastener/part) down on any flat surface nearby and forget where I put it.

Click on the link in post 8 or do a quick search.

Rigidity
Integrated tool tray, not an accessory
Solution for holding CF bikes other than by the seat stem

I got my from Wal-market .... under $50 delivered to my door, mostly metal, tripod base, very stable, pretty light .... has everything I need and does everything I need. I can't see any reason to pay more.

As for holding two bikes .... not feasible because the bikes would need to be more than two feet apart at least, which makes for a pretty wide stand, which would need a very wide and heavy (non-portable) base---two bikes might weigh 70 pounds or so ... and also, one benefit to a stand is the mechanic can walk around the bike or swivel the stand to access both sides of the bike without taking it down ... two bikes on a stand and the mechanics would be interfering with each other.

The target market is anybody who worlds on bikes. if the stand is a good deal and well made, there is no reason a shop wouldn't buy one and no reason a private citizen wouldn't either.

As many have mentioned, this is a mature product---well-developed, fully refined, and hard to improve.

By the way, I imagine S&S couplers might make a stand that can be made more compact yet very solid when assembled. If it can make a rideable frame, why not a workable stand?

I think it is Lezyne here in Japan which sells a portable stand for bikes. It’s basically a slide-on extension which goes over the crank arm, and descends to the ground. Used with a “Flickstand,’ it can keep your bike upright when you need to stop for awhile, and it can be carried in a jersey pocket. It can be used without a Flickstand if the bike is positioned properly.