I’d read about it on here and was waiting for them to come back in stock. Now Lidl have the bike maintenance stand on sale again … bought one and used it yesterday … are there better ones on the market? Maybe, but an absolute bargain at £24.99!! 😀
It’s a shame everything else that’s “bike specific” isn’t so reasonably priced.

I had to reinforce mine with washers after a year of fairly frequent use. Given the price it’s done the job very nicely.

OK as long as you don’t try to clamp the seatpost and stick to the top tube.

OK as long as you don’t try to clamp the seatpost and stick to the top tube.

Why?

It just rotates till the front wheel is hanging down. Even when I bolted through to hold the angle it seemed to happen.

It just rotates till the front wheel is hanging down. Even when I bolted through to hold the angle it seemed to happen.

I tightened up the thumbwheel and it stopped doing that.

Is the one you had the same as this?

It’s a surprisingly good bit of gear for 25.

That’s the one BoardinBob – I can only connect via the seat tube, but it stays in position perfectly … it is new though, so I can’t comment on longevity. Like I say though, it’s real value for money for a change.

Mine was a bit older than the pic and didn’t have the quick release clamp. I tightened the thumbwheel up so much that it broke up, now I use a spanner and it still slips. The clamp flexes too.

I really hope you lot get on with them, and I think it’ll last ok if you don’t put it under strain by clamping the seat post.

I’ve got one of the older ones, and yes the post clamp does indeed spin under weight.

Sorry if naive question, but is clamping on the top tube advisable? I understood (from a bike shop mechanic) that this was not advisable as the top tube wasn’t strong enough, and you risk denting (ie crushing it) it.

His recommendation was that best practise was to always clamp using seat post.

Right on all points yeager

I bought one last time round and it’s great.

I did replace the round handwheel in the picture above with an old seatpost QR – makes nipping the joint up much easier, and prevents the bike rotating around the clamping point.

yeager2004 – Member
Sorry if naive question, but is clamping on the top tube advisable? I understood (from a bike shop mechanic) that this was not advisable as the top tube wasn’t strong enough, and you risk denting (ie crushing it) it.

How tight are you doing it up FFS? I’m pretty sure you would have to grunt to crush a top tube in a bench vice.

I have the same one as in the picture above. It’s excellent.

I have also been clamping the top tube with no obvious detriment to the frame.

yeager2004 – Member
Sorry if naive question, but is clamping on the top tube advisable? I understood (from a bike shop mechanic) that this was not advisable as the top tube wasn’t strong enough, and you risk denting (ie crushing it) it.

His recommendation was that best practise was to always clamp using seat post.

Maybe if you have a nasty carbon frame 😉 ‘Steel is real’ :p

Old inner tube pieces where the plastic meets the metal helps with gripping stuff.

Can’t complain for the money had mine couple of years now
Had to replace bolt and washer on clamping piece
Used quite frequently. Good piece of kit

Advice I once received on stands was that it is cheaper to replace a seat post compared to a frame

You’d have to be a total ham fisted quarter-wit to manage to damage a top tube

Picked mine up last night. Great heads up.

I have the older one and also find that it doesn’t hold the bike tight enough to hold it properly steady. Still, I manage well enough just ‘resting’ the top tube on the lower clamp and tightening down enough to stop it dropping off. 95% of it’s use is during cleaning so not a big problem.

Picked one up today – looks like it’ll be good.

In other news for STWers, Lidl are selling electric chainsaws next Thursday 🙂

Got one on Monday night. Bike was up in the stand within ten minutes of unwrapping it, clamped around seat tube. The Allen bolt and thumb wheel both need nipping up to stop the clamp spinning, but that is fine. Quality seems good. Way better than my old £70 lifeline spindoctor, which looks a really crap buy now by comparison.

For twenty five notes, I am really impressed so far.

I got one when they were £30 and it worked a treat. It did spin a bit when clamped around the seatpost which wasn’t helped by the weight of a pair of coil bombers. Just had to tighten it up even more to stop it. Lent it to someone who then got really pissed off at me for no good reason then refused to give it back. Git.

You’ll be maintaining your bike in no time donald. Saves a lot of discomfort for a start. A mount for your laptop to stream Youtube videos a must as well 🙂

I got mine on Monday and agree on the spinny clamp when you use the seat post. I just used some old inner tube in the clamp to make it a little ‘thicker’ and it works well. 3 year warranty I believe as well.

So much better than no stand at all!

RE: clamping position

The top tube can be very thin – think fractions of a mm. And you can put a lot of force through a clamp.

Secondly, if you knock the stand/bike over, you bend a post, not the frame.