Originally Posted by Bike Gremlin

For saving space, it's ideal when stuff in the workshop can serve multiple purposes.
Sandbags, for example, are also handy in case Bulgarians attack.

Jokes aside, I prefer having a stable stand in a workshop (bolted down if needed).
For working in the field, any improvisation that works is good and not stupid.

Originally Posted by Wattsup

So I borrowed a friend's Feedback Sports Pro Mechanic HD stand to see how that compares to the Park 10.3. That thing is a beast, rated for 100lbs max! Guess what though, it's not more stable to a push with the rear wheel off. Maybe less so, no matter how you orient the tripod legs. When you reorient the legs, you are just repositioning the direction vulnerable to a push.And the higher you raise the bike, the easier it is to push the stand over. Even with the rear wheel on, the bike is less stable than the park to a push. The Park, because of the slanted vertical tube, compensates as you raise the bike. The stability to a push remains the same pretty much. Neither tripod resists a push better than my 4-leg $50 Walmart special though! The cheap stand has other issues though. I wouldn't trust a heavy mountain bike or fat bike on it, and certainly not an e-bike.

The way the Feedback clamp tightens up and releases is interesting. It's a little simpler to accomplish, but might not be easier. For instance, the quick release releases, well, quickly! You have to be ready to absorb the weight of the bike immediately. The Park is a two step release, giving you a little time to firm up your grip on the bike before the clamp lets go completely. I think it might be easier to lock the latch quickly on the feedback though. I think either would be acceptably easy, with a little practice.

The tilting mechanism seems smoother on the Feedback. Without a bike mounted, it actually feels less smooth than the park, but with bike mounted, it's quite smooth. The Park tends to grab and stick a little. Depending on the position of the bike, you sometimes have to really clamp it down to stop it from slipping a bit. It seems though that when it does slip, it only slips a bit, but then seems quite firm.

The Feedback is aluminum, and the Park is steel. Both weigh about the same I think. The Park is rated for 80 lbs. The Feedback is 100lb max, but Feedback quotes 75 lbs for the "optimized" weight, whatever that means. The unpainted interior tubes on the Park will tend to rust if you wash your bike with it. The Feedback is aluminum, so no problem there. My plan is to continue using the cheap Walmart steel stand to wash the bike.

Originally Posted by Koyote

I've got that Feedback HD stand, and an older version of the Park two-legged stand. They're about equally stable with my bikes, none of which are more than about 27 lbs. With the three-legged FS stand, the key is to have one leg directly in front of the bike, i.e. positioned so that it extends under the BB -- which puts it exactly where you will be standing while doing many repairs. That's a bummer, but I can work with it.

The FS stand's clamp is indeed an interesting design -- not better than Park's, but different. It sure is convenient if you work on a lot of bikes with different seatpost diameters, as it ratchets down to size (with a quick twist of the knob for final adjustment) pretty much automatically.

Originally Posted by Garthr

After having used the monopod Park shop stands w/baseplate on and off since the 80's, portable stands are just barely adequate. The sandbag idea can help for sure, but like the Feedback Pro stand I have, the portable nature of it is it's also it's weakness. Too many moving parts wiggling and jiggling and the bike sagging. One of these days I'll buy a Park shop stand as I don't need portability, but I do prefer stability ! What they hey, what's a grand-i$h anyways ? I had an original Park consumer PSC-1 that I sold after I bought the Feedback. In hindsight I wish I had kept it. At least the clamping arm was rock solid. I would stand on the the legs if I could. for stability as it was prone to rocking. Sandbags would have helped it, or just a big dummie ! It offered no height adjustment however, which I thought the Feedback would work for. In real use the Feedback is too unstable to raise up though, so I went nowhere with that supposed benefit. I hate when that happens darnit ....

Originally Posted by Wattsup

My 23lb bike doesn't jiggle much at all on either the Park 10.3, or the massive FS Pro Mechanic HD. My $50 Walmart special with four legs DOES jiggle, something I never really noticed until after using the FS and the Park. But even with that stand I had little problem wrenching loose a bottom bracket (it was tight), but hammering out the crank was a little difficult with the stand jiggling so much. I don't expect I'll have any problem with the new Park. My cellar is pretty tight, so I need the ability to easily move the stand around from time to time. I don't have the room to semi-permanently position a stand,

Originally Posted by Garthr

I appreciate the input but after checking out all the current Park stands, if I were to get a portable model, it would be the 4-1, with the cast aluminum 100-3C shop quality linkage clamp. I had not seen that model, now I'm tempted ! I love those clamps. The design of it is very much like the original PCS-1 I had, but so much improved ! The consumer clamps of the 10-3 and 4-2 don't inspire confidence in me. If I'm going to spend anything this time I won't compromise. Buy the best now once.

I don't have any faith in Feedback designed repair products anymore.