SpongeDad

another cost conscious approach is to hang ropes / bungee cords from the ceiling of your garage / basement and hang the bike from that. I made do with that approach for a few years. In some respects it's easier because you can easily rotate the bike as you work on it, which is nice if the best lighting only comes from one direction.

CACycling

There's no way I'd buy a stand that only allows me to work on my bike upside down. A good repair stand will last for decades of normal use. A cheap one will beg to be replaced every time you use it. IMHO, it is better to do without, save up and buy a good stand (and keep an eye out for used stands). That stand is half the price of a good stand but far less than half the value of a good stand.

tony_merlino

One of the bikes I'd be working on is pretty heavy - an early 1990's Specialized HardRock (steel MTB) frame, done up as a utility bike with fenders, baskets, kickstand, yada-yada. Is the Park PCS-9 a decent stand for working on a heavier bike, or would it just be money wasted?

CACycling

The PCS-9 will do the job but I'd go for the PCS-10. The quick release on the clamp is much better, IMHO. I have several early '90s steel MTBs and the PCS-10 handles them just fine. Very stable and easy to work with. Bike Island has the PCS-10 for $135 delivered and I've heard there are other sites with even better pricing.

HillRider

My work stand is an older version of the what is now sold as the Feedback Sports Pro-Elite and easily handles my Surly Cross Check that weighs almost 40 pounds fully loaded. The lower cost Feedback BRS-50 is rated to hold 60 pounds and that should be enough even for most tandems.

davidad

I prefer to work with a stand. Something like this might fit the bill for yo. https://www.campmor.com/feedback-spor...22-187581804-2

billnuke1 

Buy the PCS-10 from Amazon. I think they may be on sale this week. They pay the shipping! Great stand! You will not be disappointed! Do not buy some cheap ass bike stand that may discourage you from doing your own maitenance! You may get hurt! Good Luck!

citanest

I did everything by mounting the bike on a trainer. My back is weak and it hurts to bend down working for a long time (especially with derailers and BB). That's the only reason I recently bought a repair stand is to make things a little easier. I wouldn't say I needed it to do what I do though. So, think about if you really need one or you can do what I do, get a trainer where it can serve both purposes.

ScottieDog

Just did a 2 minute search on Ebay AU and found this. 99$ AU.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Alloy-Cyc...ht_2010wt_1060

I have this stand, it is excellent. I paid about 70 GBP for it. Good money spent !!

The one you are looking at from the LBS is too expensive imo, not worth it. Get one of the ones above from ebay (there are also auctions for them, so you may get it for less than the 99 BUY IT NOW price, and shipping is free too... Spent the extra money on the "Dates and Going Out With Mates" part. LOL

Cheers

Al1943

There are better places to put your money.
For most repairs and adjustments you do need some way to hang your bike in an upright position with the wheels off the ground. I used a cheap wall hanger for years before buying a stand. I bought a TS-2 truing stand and built wheels and built up a good road bike from a frame and fork before owning a repair stand. As said above, a car bike carrier mounted to a fence or tree or garage wall would work.

FastRod

Thanks all of your for helping me out, I'm quite convinced that maybe I won't work upside down but I'll see. I feel that park tool, I know it's good, but it's expensive I would say. The hanging rope method, I doubt it would work as we have a small garage which my mum parks in it. Currently my mum just bought two bikes for my sis and herself so that means more bike for me to play with =D.

ScottieDog: It seems like a good price and according to you it seems to work well. I might have a look into it =D, thanks for the advice.

aljohn

I think I mentioned this before, but here goes again - in Europe we have Aldi and Lidl supermarkets, dunno about USA or Australia. I bought a very well made stand for Ł30 from Lidl, and Aldi sell an almost identical one for the same amount. Unfortunately these are only sold once or twice a year in either store. You just have to look out for them. If anyone is curious I can take some pics, it's too cold and dark at the moment...

ScottieDog

I'd like to see it aljohn.

ScottieDog

it's great. Really stable, can turn the bike whichever way you like (whilst mounted), change height, whatever. And the one in AUS actually has the tool shelf included which mine didn't have - had to make my shelf for it. you'll thank yourself for it IMO, even leaning over just to do simple jobs is a pain, no more leaning over with a stand. Will be using mine tomorrow to lube up and check over 4 bikes, 2 of mine and the kids, ps. the kids love it too (4 and 5) lol.

BHOFM

I bought a stand today, after working on the brakes on the old Trek, I really don't
know how I got by with out it. I always worked on the bike up side down on a table.
No more, This is Great!

I think it is an XLC? $175, LBS, he wouldn't budge on the price, but I go three of the
"Y" stands thrown in, $15X3=$45. Folds into a very small item.

After 30 minutes I am sold on it. I had it on trial till Monday.

alexaschwanden

I got the pcs-9 park mechanic stand off amazon for around 100$ , well worth it.

Myosmith

I've got a PCS-10 and love it but there is nothing wrong with the PCS-9. When you are working on your own bikes at your leisure, speed and ease of clamping is not a big issue. The PCS-9 is adequate for home use and will serve you well for many years.

At 16 years of age, I suggest you find a part-time job and not rely on your parents to support your interests.

cyclist2000

for years I used a simple stand that attach hooked around the down tube and supported the bike beneath the bottom bracket. It cost $20 new. My park repair stand is better but not essential. I would recommend saving the money for tools.

aljohn

I'm sorry for the delay, but here's a couple of pics of the Ł30 stand from Lidl (or Aldi)I hope you can see them OK, there is an arm for securing the front wheel to stop it swinging. I've not done anything too hefty on it, if I did I would fit a brace (?) from the stand to the frame near the bottom bracket, to stop the bike wanting to move sideways when held by the top tube. I never thought of photographing the stand with a bike in it ! I'm not saying this is the best or ideal, just that it is well built, strong - and cheap! No matter how good other stands are I would never have bought one if they were much more costly than this. If any more pics are wanted then I promise (really) to post them quickly....

rasmith3530

FastRod, you've gotten some very good advice here. I'm going to pass along my $.02, based on both my working on bikes for a number of years and my past experience as a journeyman automotive tech in car dealerships.

First, you can do many/most repairs on a bicycle without the need for a stand. What a stand brings into the picture is convenience, and that can translate into productivity. When I was a teenager, I paid for my first "storebought" bike by working at a small Schwinn shop in my neighborhood. The shop only had one stand, and being the junior employee, it was rare for me to get use of it. So, I learned how to do much on the floor, with the bike either upright or inverted. Most wheel services can be carried out in this manner as can things like gear adjustments, seat/bar adjustments, tightening of cranks, removal or replacement of pedals, etc.

The stand just makes many jobs easier, and therefore sometimes faster. If you are only going to be working on your bike or those of your family, you can probably get by without a stand.

Now, all that said, it may depend how into bicycling you are. Once my friends realized that I knew what I was doing with bike repair, it wasn't long before I was being asked to fix things on their bikes as well. This grew into a money-making venture. It also led to me adapting skills I had learned with bicycles into cars and motorcycles, and eventually work in a car dealer. The bikes went by the wayside for a bit, although I still did ride for recreation.

Through a weird twist of events, I found my way into the IT field. I bought a new bike and started riding more. I began to upgrade the bike. Having the disposable income, I bought a portable Park stand, the PRS-5. I also began investing in my bicycle tool box. A chance meeting with the son and now owner of a bike shop I'd visited as a kid resulted in me doing some IT work for him and receiving parts in exchange. At some point, this grew into a regular Friday night thing where I would come in and help build bikes or facilitate repairs on customer bikes. My portable stand came in real handy. Sadly, a downturn in the economy hurt his business badly and he was eventually forced to close shop.

In my case, that stand and the tools that I invested in turned around helped pay for themselves. In that respect, they were a wise investment. If you invest in a stand and some specialty tools, I would advise that you make use of them in a similar fashion, making money repairing the bikes of friends and neighbors. Get a good manual or two to guide you along and use a number of fine resources on the web.

OK, that should help you to decide whether a stand/tools are a good investment prospect for yourself. Next, let me talk about tools themselves. As you may already have discovered, there can be a wide margin of price between two very similar tools. I'm 58 today, and I have been working with hand (and power) tools since I was ten years old. I have learned a few very basic guidelines about tools in that almost fifty year span. The first lesson that I learned was, that if I needed to use a tool more than twice, I needed to own that tool. Early on, I discovered times where I'd spend half a day hunting down a friend who had a tool that I needed to borrow. That gets old fast! The second lesson that I learned related to quality. I started out like most kids, with relatively cheap tools. It doesn't take too many snapped screwdriver blades and cracked sockets, with possible emergency room visits and things like stitches to quickly teach you the value of a high quality tool! Over the years, I have seen people seriously injured and even one person killed through injury related to working with a sub-standard tool. Spend the money and buy quality tools. Your hands, face, and other parts of your body will thank you! The third lesson that I learned was that, if I bought quality tools, and if I then took good care of those tools, they would last me for a lifetime. Today, I have many tools that I purchased back in the late 1960s or early 1970s that still do the job just as they did when new. To this day, the screwdriver that I use to set float adjustments, air/fuel mixture, and idle speed on Holley four barrel racing carburetors is the first high quality screwdriver I came to own, handed down to me by my mechanical mentor in 1968.

Good luck, and may you have many years of fine riding and wrenching in your future!

amckimmey

All homes should have a bicycle repair stand. Even if you only use the stand for cleaning the bike it's worth it.
Charge your friends to use it for their bikes. Then it's a help for everyone.

I wrote a nice review on my Park Tool PCS-10 Repair stand, there are also lots of good reasons to get one in there.
Read my Post HERE

Yo Spiff

Not an essential piece of equipment, but it sure does make it more convenient. I just spent untold hours overhauling a couple of pawn shop finds for my nephews. I was glad to have a workstand.

FastRod

O I've bought the bikestand already and i've been using it a lot. I got it off ebay cheap around 99 dollars including free shipping. I've done basic wheel truing and maintence on the bike. I absolutely love it!

MarTay6

Thanks to all the info here, I just bought a PCS-10 from Amazon. Wish I'd have bought it yesterday, it was over $10.00 cheaper. Prices vary from day to day.
Wes