billmc40

I am wanting to do more of my own maintenance and repairs on my bikes. Looking for suggestions and a little guidance. I have a budget of 300.00.
BillMc

HillRider

Is that $300 just for the repair stand or is it to cover both the stand and required tools? If for the stand alone, the Park PCS 9 or PS 10 stands are very good and nicely within your budget.

billmc40

Just for the stand, I have a collection of tools. Been buying a few bike septic here and there for little repairs. The LBS has gone out of business, thought I should start doing the basics myself.
BIllMc

_ForceD_

Do you have an Aldi grocery store near you? Check there. They’ve had them in the past (I wasn’t sure about it so I went and checked it out). I already have a Park stand, but sure enough they carried them. For less than $50 (US), they looked pretty sturdy and versatile too. Others in these forums were using them and gave good reports. Tried to search online but am seeing notes that they’re out of stock online, but are available in stores.

https://offers.kd2.org/en/us/aldi/peXXZ/

Dan

kwb377 

I've been using a Feedback Sports Ultralight stand for a couple of years...works great. I picked mine up lightly used off ebay for @ $180 shipped.

Ultralight Bike Repair Stand | Feedback Sports

blinky

Just got this one from Park a couple months ago - have it mounted on a wooden beam in the garage - they also have a sister model that mounts to a work bench - happy with it so far .

PRS-4W-2 Deluxe Wall Mount Repair Stand | Park Tool

Litespud

Amazon has a bunch of stands from <$100, in clouding a number of Park stands in the $200s. Park stands are pretty much the standard. Consider also what kind of stand you want - the clamp style that, if you have a carbon bike, is pretty much limited to seatpost clamping, or the type that supports the bottom bracket and clamps the fork ends

Iride01 

Use the money to get a power meter or something useful while riding. Just continue to hang the bike from it's saddle nose or top tube off the corner of a table. <grin>

blinky

Many of our local bike shops have Park floor mounted repair stands but the guys do the nose hang anyway

smd4

Note: Shops to avoid...

Fendertele

I picked one up at Aldi’s a couple months ago. I’ve used it a few times. Hard to beat for $40.

squirtdad

A good repair stand is the best tool decision I have made over the years. Mine in an older park P....someting 10, it folds, is is super stable for any maintenance that you can do.

big fan of the park ones. buy once and user forever

Trakhak

I used the original Park repair stand in the bike stores where I worked for decades. Very nice, but I'm just as happy with my Aldi stand. In fact, I slightly prefer the clamping mechanism on the latter. I haven't seen any of those stands in any of the three Aldi locations on my bike riding routes for a few months, but Amazon likely has equivalent stands available.

Tip for using the Aldi stand and equivalent light repair stands: don't spread the stabilizer legs more than about the circumference of a road bike wheel, or a bit less. That spread is sufficiently stable for most repair jobs, and spreading the legs wider just means you'd trip over them.

By the way, of interest for those questioning the methods used by nose hang/rope from ceiling mechanics: a number of the top bike repair shops in Europe are known to use the rope hang method. They use heavy-duty jigs for building frames but apparently never saw the need for super-heavy repair stands, maybe because 50-plus-pound balloon-tire bikes never caught on there.

skinz0506

I purchased this off of Amazon. It costs $83 and I am very happy with it. I haven't seen the Aldi stands in the stores by me for quite sometime. I would have purchased that if it was available. Heard good things about the stand.
https://www.amazon.com/CXWXC-Mechani.../dp/B08KLDN46C

cyccommute 

A bit higher than your budget but not by much. The clamp is the best clamp you can find and is head, shoulders, and probably waist line above any other clamp out there. I have two stands with this clamp (one at home and another at my daughter’s house) and have never regretted spending the money. In use constantly.

Edit: the link above is incorrect. The link above is for the cheaper stand. The PCS-4-1 is the stand with the best clamp. It’s more expensive but worth the cost.

SoSmellyAir

Same here!

The Park Tool stands have slightly better clamps, but the Feedback Sports stands are lighter and more portable.

HelpSingularity 

Good on you billmc40. Having even a cheapo bike stand, and the Park stands are several cuts above that, will change the drudgery of doing bike repairs into something that is just downright fun and oh so rewarding. It will change your life (your bicycle life anyways ).

HelpSingularity 

I purchased one of these from Home Depot last year. Has been more than adequate. 81 USD
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bicycle-...1TDI/314111906

70sSanO

After a number of years I finally bought a work stand. There are a few aspects that I would consider; ease of use including clamping and stability/stoutness.

I do not have a Park stand but my impression is that it is a tough durable stand that is quite stable.

I bought a Feedback Sports stand and for me it works well. I don’t think it is a tough/stable as a Park stand, but it is light and easy to setup and clamp/unclamp. For higher torque work; i.e. bottom brackets I use a wheel on the ground to add stability.

Personally I’d stay away from cheap stands. If a stand is a pain to use, it won’t be used except when necessary.

For example, I don’t need a stand to lube a chain, but it sets up so quickly that there is little lost time and it does make it easier. And it makes it nice to do a once over on the bike without going through a production.

John

Edit added: Clamping a top tube is considered a no-no. But I do it all the time since I can lightly dial in the pressure with the clamp. If I had to remove the seatpost and use a dummy post everytime, I would prop the bike against something and not use the stand except when absolutely necessary.

cyccommute 

Having used the Feedback stands, I have to say that the Park clamp is vastly superior. It’s very difficult to hold the bike in the clamp of the Feedback and then screw in the clamp. Older Feedbacks had a ratchet mechanism that slide in but it still needed to be screwed in to properly hold the seatpost. The old clamp also had a button that would release the ratchet. The button wasn’t all that convenient since it drops the bike out of the clamp is something of an unpredictable manner and you have to pull the ratchet out to get the seatpost free. Very fiddly.

I’ve used the newer type of clamp shown in the link and can’t figure out how to make it ratchet like the old one. I usually end up unscrewing the clamp while holding the bike and there is a lot of unscrewing to do. Even more fiddly.

The Park clamp is just a lever that only needs a slight pull to fully release the bike and a slight push to securely clamp the bike.

cyccommute 

Clamping the top tube with the clamp pressure set too high is a no-no. The beauty of the Park clamp is that it is very adjustable. I clamp the top tube of my tandem (carefully!) because clamping a seatpost on that bike makes the stand unstable. Everything else is clamp on the seatpost, however.

70sSanO

Thanks. That’s good to know.

I am not as familiar with the Park stands. A neighbor had one with a lever (cam) clamp and that seemed like an easy way to destroy a frame tube. He rode mtb’s and always clamped on the seatpost.

I don’t think the folding Park stands use that clamp. The reasons I got the Ultralight stand were stand weight and the speed knob (?).

John

MudPie

I had no idea Home Depot sells them! And it looks like free shipping to a store or home. I learn something new every day.

Litespud

The Park cam clamp isn't ideal - mine offers three settings for three tube width ranges - fortunately two of the settings work OK for my oversize Ti tubing and my narrower steel tubing, respectively. This would be less than ideal with a CF frame, but it doesn't hurt the metal frames, apart from trashing one decal high on the seat tube

cyccommute 

Both of you are referring to the old spring clamp design which was on the stands in the early to late 90s. The shop quality clamp on the PCS-4-1 that I (tried to link to, will edit it above) is far more adjustable. You could still crush a frame but you don’t have to if you adjust it properly. I would have no problem clamping any frame in Parks Professional Adjustable Linkage clamp as long as it is adjusted. I tend to clamp on the seatpost to err on the side of caution but clamping on the frame isn’t a problem with some caveats.