Work stand recommendations

seven stars

I'm on the hunt for a foldable workstand. I had a 'wanted' ad in the Adverts section, but nothing stirring, so looks like I'm going to have to fork out for a new one. I hadn't intended on spending much more than €50, but it would seem that I need to stretch the budget. Current shortlist is:

• Topeak Workshop Prep Stand Max from Chain Reaction, €70 delivered (review not great though).

• This one from jimmenzies on ebay for €70 delivered.

• LifeLine Elite stand from Wiggle, €73 delivered

• Bike Tools repair stand from Merlin, €76 delivered

• Raleigh folding stand from Amazon at €88 delivered.

• Park Tool stand from Amazon at €95 delivered.

• Park Tool PCS-9 repair stand from Amazon at €99 delivered.

Any thoughts? Anything else I've missed? Ideally I'd get one of the cheap Lidl ones, but I've no idea when they'll come up again.

cipo

Tacx spider is excellent.

C3PO

I have a Park PCS-10 which is great - the "9" appears to be the same with a less sophisticated clamp!

kenmc

I'd say avoid the topeak one listed first, I have a similar one and it's a pain in the hole trying to do anything that involves the underside of the frame, be it recabling, cleaning or even bottom bracket related. It's sitting in my shed unused in about 2 years, I've got the Lifeline one since and it's sooooo much better.

My basic requirement would be that you can clamp in a variety of places and at different angles. I usually clamp on the seatpost.

seven stars

Thanks for the help fellas. I had a feeling the Park Tool PCS-9 would be decent enough, but it's at the upper end of the price range, and the Tacx Spider is way over budget.

kenmc, is it the LifeLine Elite you have?

Super Freak

I have the Biketools work stand from Merlin and it's excellent. Very sturdy and adaptable for mountain & road bikes.

It's all the work stand I'll ever need.

fran oconnor

seven stars wrote: »

Thanks for the help fellas. I had a feeling the Park Tool PCS-9 would be decent enough, but it's at the upper end of the price range, and the Tacx Spider is way over budget.

kenmc, is it the LifeLine Elite you have?

My mate has this one and its great, i have the pcs 10 mysellf to and they are the best that i have tried.

cdaly_

kenmc wrote: »

I'd say avoid the topeak one listed first, I have a similar one and it's a pain in the hole trying to do anything that involves the underside of the frame, be it recabling, cleaning or even bottom bracket related. It's sitting in my shed unused in about 2 years, I've got the Lifeline one since and it's sooooo much better.

I have (probably the same) similar one and I'm quite happy with it. Yes, underframe stuff is awkward but other than that it does the job. Mine hinges at one point so setup is a matter of pulling it out of the shed and unfolding one leg...

kumate_champ07

I have the Park PCS9, for 99euro its a bargain, think I payed a bit more for it

kenmc

seven stars wrote: »

Thanks for the help fellas. I had a feeling the Park Tool PCS-9 would be decent enough, but it's at the upper end of the price range, and the Tacx Spider is way over budget.

kenmc, is it the LifeLine Elite you have?

lifeline spindoctor. looks the same

dingdong1234567

I have the Merlin workstand. Excellent job. Its all I will ever want in a workstand. Its at a every good price now as well.

johnam

seven stars wrote: »

I'm on the hunt for a foldable workstand. I had a 'wanted' ad in the Adverts section, but nothing stirring, so looks like I'm going to have to fork out for a new one. I hadn't intended on spending much more than €50, but it would seem that I need to stretch the budget. Current shortlist is:

• This one from jimmenzies on ebay for €70 delivered.

Any thoughts? Anything else I've missed? Ideally I'd get one of the cheap Lidl ones, but I've no idea when they'll come up again.

That is the LIDL one, but at double the price.:eek: One of the joys of EBAY!!! It does the job, but I wouldn't be paying €70 for it. IIRC LIDL sold their one at the start of last summer, and a quick google shows up the price on the British LIDL page as £29.99. Check out the pictures to see it is the exact same.
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg//lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_22836.htm?offerdate=&ar2=&ERR=noservice

kenmc

cdaly_ wrote: »

I have (probably the same) similar one and I'm quite happy with it. Yes, underframe stuff is awkward but other than that it does the job. Mine hinges at one point so setup is a matter of pulling it out of the shed and unfolding one leg...

Well I wasn't happy thinking about putting a carbon frame onto it, the clamp needs to be tightened pretty tightly, and it's all in one place rather than surrounding the tube equally. Much happier to clamp on a seatpost which is disposable worst case, rather than the frame.

skerry

Bike Tools Stand is slightly cheaper from Ribble at the moment

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Bike-Tool-Aluminium-Workstand/BIKEWORK200000000000

cdaly_

kenmc wrote: »

Well I wasn't happy thinking about putting a carbon frame onto it, the clamp needs to be tightened pretty tightly, and it's all in one place rather than surrounding the tube equally. Much happier to clamp on a seatpost which is disposable worst case, rather than the frame.

True nuff. I'm on an alu frame so no issue there. You could probably make up a length of half tube in steel or alu to spread the clamp load.



Or you could sell it on in cycling adverts...

kenmc

cdaly_ wrote: »

Or you could sell it on in cycling adverts...

Oooh that's a good idea! I'm such a hoarder!

seven stars

johnam wrote: »

That is the LIDL one, but at double the price.:eek: One of the joys of EBAY!!! It does the job, but I wouldn't be paying €70 for it. IIRC LIDL sold their one at the start of last summer, and a quick google shows up the price on the British LIDL page as £29.99. Check out the pictures to see it is the exact same.
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg//lidl_uk/hs.xsl/index_22836.htm?offerdate=&ar2=&ERR=noservice

They do look quite similar alright. That jimmenzies chap has a cheaper one that actually looks better, but they won't ship the cheaper one over here (even though it says they will in the listing). Bit of a bummer missing the Lidl one - it doesn't sounds like it was great, but for the money it was surely good value, and I reckon it would've done me for the next while.

seven stars

dingdong1234567 wrote: »

I have the Merlin workstand. Excellent job. Its all I will ever want in a workstand. Its at a every good price now as well.

Do you mean the Bike Tools one in the OP? That seems to get some very good reviews alright.

skerry wrote: »

Bike Tools Stand is slightly cheaper from Ribble at the moment

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/road-track-bike/Bike-Tool-Aluminium-Workstand/BIKEWORK200000000000

They won't ship it to Ireland. You can add it to your basket, but when you go the checkout and select a country, they remove it again.

seven stars

Thanks for all the input everyone. I'm leaning towards the LifeLine one because of the good feedback here, plus the fact that it's on a deal from Wiggle - and if I add some other frivolous purchase to bring my order over €100, I get a further €15 discount. I'm a pushover for marketing ploys like that.

The Bike Tools one sounds decent as well, so that's one I'm considering. But I've never bought from Merlin, shipping isn't free, and they don't appear to have any cheap marketing gimmicks like Wiggle do. They're obviously amateurs if they want to secure my custom.

Thanks again for the help.

Super Freak

Merlin do have free shipping to ROI if the order is over £100 stg

This might just tickle your fancy for a cheap marketing gimmick

stevie_b

i have one of these,

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tacx-cycle-motion-workstand/

i find it more stable than some of the other designs.

kenmc

stevie_b wrote: »

i have one of these,

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tacx-cycle-motion-workstand/

i find it more stable than some of the other designs.

how do you set up the front brakes or unbuckle a front wheel with that?

mp31

seven stars wrote: »

Thanks for all the input everyone. I'm leaning towards the LifeLine one because of the good feedback here, plus the fact that it's on a deal from Wiggle - and if I add some other frivolous purchase to bring my order over €100, I get a further €15 discount. I'm a pushover for marketing ploys like that.

The Bike Tools one sounds decent as well, so that's one I'm considering. But I've never bought from Merlin, shipping isn't free, and they don't appear to have any cheap marketing gimmicks like Wiggle do. They're obviously amateurs if they want to secure my custom.

Thanks again for the help.

You could always put the frivolous purchase towards the stand and get a Park tool PCS9 instead.
If you are in town then pop into Cyclelogical (sp?) on the Quays - they have a few bikes on Park stands and you can check them out 'live' so to speak.

seven stars

Good idea mp31. I'll do just that.