FastRod

Hi, before I start asking questions. I'm going to give some background information about myself. I'm sixteen years old and own a 600 Aus dollar bike ( this is relevant ) I do not make money and rely on my parent's to fund for my hobby/sport. Biking is already very expensive and I really want to invest in a proper bike when I'm older with my own cash but for now I'm wondering if I should really dish out cash.

There's a bike repair stand at my place costing about 220 Aus Dollar the the sales person is willing to sell it to me for 190 Aus Dollar. I was really wondering if i need to spend 190 dollars on a repair stand just for my bike which is only worth 600 dollars? I'm also quite into repairing my bike and maintaining it and currently i usually just hold my bike and repair it. I am wondering if it's really necessary to spend 200 dollars on "just" a repair stand.

Thanks for your help =]

Ps: my parent's don't like bikes and stuff so they aren't keen in investing for me.

reptilezs

its worth it to me. time to learn to pick up junk bikes and flip them to buy tools

okane

Makes maintenance tasks like tire replacement and chain cleaning easy and quick. Bought my first one at a flea market for $25. Don't know about your area, but around here they frequently show up on CL for less than 1/2 the cost of a new one.

trevor_ash

In my opinion, with one bike, and not having income, it's not worth it at that amount of money. But if you can find something cheaper then you should definetely get one. By the way, cost relative to bike worth is meaningless. Cost relative to what you can afford is what matters.

Crashogre

You could consider making a bike stand instead of buying a new one. Instructibles.com has a number of articles for making one. At least this way you could work on junk bikes, flip them and then eventually have enough to buy a stand.

ghsmith54

With no income, it's hard to tell you that you should spend someone else's money.

But, if you ride a lot, somebody is (or should be) doing maintenance on your bike. You can save a lot of money if you do that maintenance yourself and a bike stand will make that a lot easier.

wrk101

Step one: develop an income. I started mowing lawns at age 12, and by 15, was washing dishes in a restaurant. I funded all of my hobbies.

And you should be looking at a used bike stand. But with a fleet of just one bike, not worth it regardless.

Biking does not need to be expensive. With some entrepreneurial efforts, you could develop a nice bike hobby/business. Bicycles have been self funding for me for many years.

+1 Cost relative to bike cost is meaningless. My current work stand cost more used than most of the bikes I work on, and new, it cost more than any bike I have ever owned. But I use it enough, work on a couple of bikes a week, that it has paid for itself many, many times. But I started with a much cheaper used work stand. Took me a while to work up to this one.

One nice thing about buying used is that if you buy right, you should be able to resell it later if you want to move up to a better stand, or get out of working on bikes. New stands lose about half their value the moment you pay for them. I have bought and sold several stands over the years as I moved up to nicer work stands. I made money or at least broke even on every one of them.

Doohickie

I routinely see people selling $250 US bike stands for $75 US. I would look for a used one before buying a new one.

CACycling

Don't know about prices down there but that seems like a very expensive stand. My Park PCS10 was only $135 US and is all the stand I will ever need. However, as you have no income and only one bike, I'd suggest waiting till you can buy it on your own. That can either be when your parents finally kick you out of the house and you are forced to work for a living or you can be preemptive and go find a way to make money now.

fietsbob

Ask if they mind you drilling holes in the ceiling to make hooks
to hang ropes to get your bike up to a height you can work on it standing.

Then helping get a paying home task, say repainting the exterior,
to get a simple repair stand will be met better as a solution,
than disfiguring you mother's house with some ceiling holes .

FastJake

With only 1 bike I would not bother with a work stand. I've worked on/overhauled dozens of bikes in the past few years and still don't have a stand. I've used one and they are nice but I simply don't have the space. Even when I do have the money I end up spending it on another bike/parts rather than a stand.

I know how it goes with the parents. My dad would get annoyed whenever I had more than two or three bikes in the garage saying I was making a mess or something. Anyway, best thing I've found is to keep it to a dull roar until you move out and can have as many bikes as you please. I would definitely not push for a stand if your parents are paying for it. They bought you a $600 bike, that sounds pretty good to me.

Christmas is coming up. If you don't already have them I'd ask for a pair of clipless pedals and shoes.

contango 

The value of your bike isn't really the constraining issue. If you had a bike worth $50 you might still spend $100 on a bike stand so you could maintain it yourself.

A stand makes cleaning a bike much easier. I cleaned mine a few times without a stand and it was a royal pain the backside. Now with a stand I don't finish the job with aching knees and back from working at ground level. Before I bought the stand I tried flipping the bike over and standing it on an outside table but it just didn't feel stable enough.

If you're going to do any meaningful work on the bike then a stand is useful, but obviously it means more money you need to recover by doing work yourself before you end up ahead of the game. Tools that pay for themselves immediately are a no-brainer (I can buy a chain and cassette plus a chain whip and chain tool for less than my LBS charges to supply and fit the chain and cassette, so effectively the tools are free). Tools that take longer aren't necessarily a bad thing, you just need to consider how much you'll save and how long it will take you.

Even if your parents don't like bikes all that much if you can show them how you can do your own work on bikes and thereby save money by not having to take it to the shop they may see it as an investment. And if they buy it for you, you could always use it to work on bikes to flip, make yourself a few bucks, and then give them the money for it. If nothing else it will hone your bike mechanics skills and let your parents see that you're doing something to get your passion to pay for itself rather than simply letting them pick up the tab for everything.

dsbrantjr

FastRod: I have a repair stand but I often use one of these to hold the bike steady, with the rear wheel free to rotate, on a workbench: https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Bottom.../dp/B000C17HJ4 It might be helpful for you while you are searching for a bargain on a regular repair stand.

southern rider

I admire you for posting and your excitement about cycling. I made my first one out of wood and it works ok. I do believe I can adjust my bike better with a good repair stand but like others suggested, keep your eyes out for a used one. best of luck!

zukahn1 

If your serious about being into bikes for years to come a bike stand is worth getting. Considering your income resources I would check around in local bike listings to see if you can get one used if you look for while you should be able to find one for less than half the price of the one you mentioned.

fishymamba

I am in pretty much the exact same position as you. I am 16 years old, I have a $850 bike(CAAD9) and I really mainly on my parents for my bike supplies.
I really don't think it is wise to spend that much money on a repair stand, I say save the money and use it when you actually need it for parts that wear out on the bike.
I do get some money from my dad by doing small jobs for him.(Payed me $200 for putting up drywall in 3 rooms and our garage), but I don't have time to get a real job.

And set aside $50-$75 for going out with friends or going out on dates

zukahn1 

Best advice so far much better than the advice I gave earlier in this thread.

Medic Zero

I want one, they make working on a bike much easier, but I have yet to acquire one again due to the expense of a good one, despite seemingly always working on one of my, or my girlfriends bikes. I had the Park Tools one for a few years that I acquired from a friend, but found it unsatisfactory and sold it when I was planning on moving out of town. In my experience, a person can survive for years without one, if they have to, but it IS unpleasant. I find myself taking breaks every few minutes because of the time spent hunched over (back hurts), and being frustrated going from sitting cross legged to lying down trying to access things.

Ideally? Yeah, it'd be really nice to have a stand. When you have to choose between new tires, winter cycling gear, racks, touring gear, or a stand - to me the choice is obvious - I need to keep rolling first!

My experience with a less than satisfactory stand have led me to believe there isn't any point in buying any stand but a very good one. I may be handicapped by having heavy old steel mountain bikes kitted out with touring gear, but you need a stand that will actually hold your bike in place no matter how heavy it is. Read the online reviews carefully of any stand you are considering buying, and if there isn't enough of that information out there for some reason for the one you are considering, then you should contact the manufacturer with any questions you have about its performance and specs. This is a piece of kit you are going to be saddled with for a long time and will have a hard time unloading if you feel it is less than satisfactory, so you really cannot skimp and get a cheap model.

my zwei pfennig anyway

jolly_ross

If there's a vice in the garage - and you have the right sort of bike rack - sometimes you can hold the rack up in the vice and use it as a cheapo workstand. Bike rack something like this: https://manlybiketours.com.au/wp-cont...-bike-rack.jpg

worked for me for many years. hth

HillRider

I'm in favor of getting a real bike work stand. The work-arounds and substitutes always sacrifice a lot. However, you don't need anything that expensive. There are functional stands at much lower cost and used stands should be very reasonably priced. So, yes, buy one. No, don't spend $200 Aus to do it.

tony_merlino

That's a great suggestion! They have a lot of plans for various stands on that site. Do you have one you like best?

Also - the commercial stands have an easy way to rotate the clamp. How important is this feature in real life? (Until now, the only flipping I've been doing with bikes has been to turn them upside down to work on them - a method that has gotten very old...)

Mauriceloridans

The racks that strap onto cars make adequate repair stands for most operations. They can be hooked on to a fence or a ladder or something if there's no car around to support your project.

CACycling

Not at all important....till you've used a stand with that option and realize how easy it is to get to parts of the bike that were difficult to access with the bike sitting level. I find myself using this feature often especially when cleaning a bike.

stevage

Heh. I know plenty of people who do basic repairs at home, and none with a repair stand.

Also, torpedo7.com.au sometimes has them cheap. (Not right now, sadly). Keep an eye out.

FastRod

Hi guys,

I've been looking at this bike repair stand it seems relatively cheap. I asked my local shop and he asked me to do a DIY one which the shop uses similar to this which I recently found after posting this. To repair your bike you'll have to take out your seat post and flip your bike upside down and clamp it on using your quick release or what you got to clamp your seat post. The bike repair shop down at my place uses this method so I assume it's pretty stable and a useful for repairs. Plus side is that it's pretty cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/M-Wave-Univers.../dp/B001NGF6E0

Thanks guys for all the advice, really appreciate it.