Bike work stand for carbon frame

quenching

I need a bike work stand for occasional tinkering, would this be ok for a carbon frame?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Relaxdays-Bicycle-Storage-Maintenance-Adjustable/dp/B00EQ5G446/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I presume as long as I don’t clamp it too tightly, or put too much pressure on it once clamped that it’s ok for most DIY jobs?

magicbastarder

it's very similar to the aldi/lidl stand, though there's no guarantees of when that will be back in stock.
use some pipe lagging or similar, and better to clamp on the seatpost than on the frame.

quenching

Cheers, I always miss the Lidl / Aldi ones so my as well just get one of these. Seatpost clamping noted!

Dilbert75

Possibly a dumb question, but is the clamping on the seat post better because the clamp could crush damage the top tube or because the weight of the bike being borne by the top tube is too much?

magicbastarder

well, seatposts do tend to be sturdier - but with most bikes if you crush the seatpost accidentally, they're replaceable. the frame not so much.

ARX

You can also get stands that support the bike from underneath, for example:

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-pro-fork-mount-workstand
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/tacx-bicycle-repair-stand-t3000-25141

A bit more expensive, but the difference is less than the cost of a new carbon seatpost or frame.

DaveyDave

Never had an issue with clamping the frame using a stand from Lidl. I didn't have it tight, just enough to hold it in place so the bike did move a bit but that was fine for working on.

Type 17

It's fine to clamp a carbon bike by the seat post, even if the seatpost itself is carbon (but not if it's an MTB dropper post) - a frame and seatpost combo is designed to take the weight of a heavy rider of say 100kg+ and even a heavy e-bike weighs less than 30kg.
Other parts of the frame, such as the top tube or seat tube are not necessarily designed to bear vertical loads (weight of bike) or tube-wall compression forces (clamp of repair stand) - some alu and steel frames have very thin tube-wall thickness in the top-centre of the top tube (as little as 0.9mm for fancy axially-butted steel).

So while you can clamp the frame if you take care, unless the bike is very unusual, the seatpost will be available and should always be used as a first choice.

However, the big thing to remember with any bike in any design of stand is torque - if you need to pull hard on some part of the bike (eg: pedal, crank, BB, or even a spanner on an old-school axle nut), either hold some relevant part of the bike to prevent your leverage from being transmitted through the seatpost/repair stand interface or, if this isn't practical, you must take the bike off the stand to do that job.
Light-torque jobs like brake/gear adjustments are fine (wouldn't be worth having a repair stand if not!).

07Lapierre

This type of stand is the best. I have a cheaper version of this one and I can’t recommend it enough.


https://www.google.ie/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwiW4bHk_p7wAhXNstUKHRXhA6MYABASGgJ3cw&sig=AOD64_1u8XQDQTkaWFyqISptSVZCNsaINQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwiJ_qfk_p7wAhVTuXEKHU5sDd8Qwg96BAgBEFg&adurl=

G1032

07Lapierre wrote: »

This type of stand is the best. I have a cheaper version of this one and I can’t recommend it enough.


https://www.google.ie/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwiW4bHk_p7wAhXNstUKHRXhA6MYABASGgJ3cw&sig=AOD64_1u8XQDQTkaWFyqISptSVZCNsaINQ&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwiJ_qfk_p7wAhVTuXEKHU5sDd8Qwg96BAgBEFg&adurl=

Ya. A guy I know has one of those. Pure class.
Lifeline have one of those type for €150 on Chainreaction

Edit. Just seen that ARX posted this above. Actually 141 euro

km991148

I use an Aldi stand from about 10years ago and old inner tubes wrapped around the clamps as a dampener to stop scratches etc.

Seen it in a bike shop as a hack.

Go easy on the torques as others said.