So has anyone got any clever idea's of how i can prop up the rear wheel so i can tune the gears and get out on the damn thing?

I don't have/can't afford a stand and can't for the life of me work out how i can prop up the back end.

Forks are back from a service and tune friday so i need to get the build finished and ridden.

Cheers

I drop the seat and turn it sideways then rest it on a workbench which lifts the reat wheel about half an inch off the ground, you have to be careful, but it works for me.

ah see that's clever. I cand do that on the kitchen table if the mrs doesn't kill me ha.

Turn it upside down.

turn it upside down

upside down and i can't fine tune. anyone tried the £10 stand from Halfords?

Upside down works for me.

no im sure it works i just cant do it that way. Tempted just to take it to the LBS to set up the gears for me.

Upside down; its a mountain bike, not a **** orchestra…

washing line… tie it in a door way with some hooks maybe?

hang from saddle on low tree branch…i have a handy one in the garden….

hang it from a rotary line by the saddle.

The best advice that was given to me was to set the gears up initially with the chain off, by line of sight (top jockey wheel to cassette chain rings. That sets them up roughly inline, that's best done with the bike upside-down. Then I put the chain on and ride the bike and fine tune by 1/4 turns. It's worked for me every time with both types (hi-normal and low-normal or whatever the terminology is).

I drop the roller down on my turbo and use that to keep it upright to fettle

cheers B.A.Nana i'll give that a go.To be honest ive never set up the gears before so to me yeah it is an orchestra!

Follow the step-by-step instructions that come with Shimano mechs (they're on the Shimano website if you haven't got them) and you shouldn't have any problems. Just follow the steps and you should have super sweet shifting, it's all pretty straightforward stuff.

If you can suspend a horizontal bar/plank/pipe etc between two posts/fences/trees/tables/chairs etc and hook the nose of your saddle over it (lower your saddle all the way if you need to) it should work as a makeshift workstand to get your rear wheel off the ground and allow you to rotate the cranks and rear wheel.

Enjoy finishing the build, it's always a really satisfying time.

Oh, and the one thing you will need to get your drivetrain really fettled properly, a beer (go on, make it two). A very chilled way to spend an evening I think.

Simon above does the same thing I believe. I was hopeless at setting rear gears up, until told to use this method (possibly by Simon), it works everytime. when you do it by line of sight with the chain off, you can get it nearly perfect (or absolutely spot on if you're lucky). Then you just need to fine tune to get it perfectly smooth. You can probably fine tune with the chain on whilst it's still upside down, but I find it better to ride it and fine tune, as it's under load etc.

In my flat I used to hang the bike in a doorway by hooking the nose of the saddle onto the top of the doorframe. Worked great.

Get somone else to lift the back end up?

This helped me work it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3bVgP_MNwc&feature=related

As for adjusting tips – set the end stops by line of sight; then adjust cable tension so that the drop from first (biggest) sprocket to second is lazy but just goes, then give the barrel a quarter/half turn in to make it just about snappy, and you're almost certainly good to go.

The Halfords stand is a bargain for a tenner…pop in and get some of their GT85 for £1.99 a tin. B.A.nana speaks the truth

two chairs and a broom handle – broom handle thru the main fram trialngle and across the backs of two chairs

Hang the bike by the saddle from a clothesline. Works a treat!

hang it from the antlers above the fireplace?

Brick under the bottom bracket or call a friend.

Put nose of saddle on top a vice?

Strong washing line outside?

Old turbo trainer?

Halfords stand is designed for bike fettling-take your bike in to see if it fits before buying.

you could use the bike rack on the car if you have one and if it clamps the top tube and holds the bike away from the car.