Up until this weekend I’d always fixed bikes leaning against the garage wall or upside down on the drive.

This weekend I saw this work stand in Decathlon for £50 and thought I would treat myself.

What a revelation. Tuning gears, changing BB’s, all have been done with minimal fuss and much ease. For £50 it is wonderful, a bit industrial but solid and works well.

I have not been this excited about a workshop tool since I bought a track pump.

Ha! Track pump and workstand are the 2 things at the top of my “should probably get one day, but doing alright with out them” list.

This might just tip the balance. Cheers for the link.

I have an X-Tools fold-up workstand that comes with me on race weekends. Fantastic bit of kit.

Plus a tarpaulin sheet for the ground, so I don’t loose essential bike bits in the grass!

Does yours allow the bike to spin a full 180 degrees so you can get the wheels back in?

agree!

I used my new work stand for the first time this week and I genuinely thought, why didn’t I buy this before?!

the same can also be said for:

towbar mounted bike rack – easy to get 2/3 bikes on and off without dismantling and putting the boot.

torque wrench – no more ham-fisted over tightening of bolts

Nedrapier, seriously, treat yourself. The stand I linked to is neither light or foldable but it is solid as a rock. My track pump was only £20 from Decathlon as well and has lasted my 5 years with no sign of wear to date.

workstands are sooo good. no more sore back from leaning over to sort cables/brakes/bolt/anything really. Just makes working on bikes so much easier. nedrapier – you’ll wish you got one a long time ago! get the track pump too. Revelation compared to small pumps.

This is the one I have. Happily holds a 45lb DH bike too.

(Sorry for the large photo!)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=10226

I have the one from decathlon – didnt get it from them though. It was £75 from a bike shop, so £49 is great value. I love it to bots, and use it all the time.

I’m way overdue getting one, so think I’ll pick one up at decathlon this week.

Anyone know why Decathlon only has 10 or so stores in the UK, given that they’re dead boss? You’d think they could easily triple that amount.

Garry they are working on it, With 3 stores opened up last November last year they are planning on getting an awful lot more into the country. The stores are awesome, heaps of choice, shame the Edinburgh store isn’t quite as big as the rest.

I treated myself to 1 after my birthday last year. I now often wonder why I didn’t get one sooner makes working on my (and my mates bikes cause their shit at repairs) so easy brilliant bit of kit

+1 for the one Xiphon has. Had mine about 5 years at least and it’s still in really good nick. Everything is tight and it all still works. Folds away to pretty small. At the time it was £69 from Merlin

i have the lidl one that was £29.99 i had to modifiy it a little but its great.

*EDIT* Beaten to the Lidl ones.

Lidl £30 bike stand. Keep an eye out for their cycling weeks. Have to be there early because they go rapidly.

I spent more on a Superpresta track pump. All fully rebuildable and will do the road tyres up to 120 psi. Never had the stones to go any higher.

2 things I managed without for years until you buy them. Then can never work out how you manged without them.

I’ve got the same one as Xiphon and Cumbrianmonkey except its badged under another name. Awesome stand that makes washing the bike and general maintenance so much easier!

I had the Minoura RS5000 one which is like the one Xiphon linked to but with a better clamp.

Not stable enough – take a wheel off the bike and the stand wants to fall over – gave it away and bought a Feedback which is great and can rotate the bike upside down if I want.

Get some sandbags for the legs on that other stand and it would be ok.

Workstands are great but a word of warning on the Decathlon one in the link.

I bought one years back and the casting snapped at the bottom where the pole goes in which effectively rendered it useless as it couldn’t stay upright. Seemed a weak link in an otherwise good design. It may have been modified since but it looks identical to the one i had (bought well over 5 years ago). i still have the pole section and the clamp mechanism as i thought i could cement a hole in the garden to drop it into but never got around to it.

Bought a Minoura one for around £90 and never looked back.

Buy cheap buy twice was ringing in my ears. Having said that, i’m a big fan of Decathlons stuff in general so i’m not knocking them at all. I was gutted when the Brum one moved from 3 miles from my office to a bloody dreadful place right on the nastiest busiest place on the M6. 🙁

anyone know of any wall-mounted ones that are decent but cost less than the hyper-costly park offerings?

I keep on missing the Lidl ones, the x-tools one is cheap from ribble!

Cheap Wall Hanger alternative

I have a proper workstand (-why didn’t I buy one years ago?!), but I use one of these to store 2 bikes high up on the wall (use big bolts and wall-plugs).
It can also work well as a workstand.

Heh. I posted a very simialr thread jsut after my own revelation. The wasted hours over the years.

That said, I lost two fingernails not long after – beware of spinning wheels

Workstand and track pump should be bought before you even buy a bike, it took me about 25 years.

They are a revelation, once one of my mates got one we all had them within a few weeks.

Minora here too – but a burly one that doesn’t wobble or fall down.

So who of you STILL turns the bike upside down to fix a puncture?

edinburgh cycle co op have really good ones for ~£60

also worth a look is decathlons ‘sv 101’ which props up the rear of the bike for less demanding repairs.

Really sturdy ones avalable from time to time at Lidl for £30 but they go like hotcakes…

I have a lidl stand and it is really good. Got the last one in the shop when I went in at 6pm on the day they came out

My Lidl one can’t hold my 26lb bike by the seat tube without rotating. I’ve heard some folk on here have modified them to prevent this and I’d like to know how.

There are wall mounted and bench mounted work stands on eBay for less than £30.

I have one of the ones pictured above (the large floor mounted) and have found it to be a little unstable at times so I filled the feet with sand which has helped a lot .

My Ribble workstand has just arrived. It is fantastic.
Quick release everywhere, comes fully built. Really sturdy. Folds up quite small.
I was not expecting anything as good for £55. Astonishing value, fab quality. Their Freepost got it here in 2 days.

mine arrived the other day, the wife should have picked it up from the post office this morning. looking forward to getting it into use!

Love my work stand, but still find it easier to change bb with bike upside down on the floor!!

😯

edinburgh cycles is the same as the one sold under various badges that xiphon, cumbrianmonkey and nickswolves also have (and the ribble one by the look of it). I have the edinburgh branded one, often on sale, but Ive also seen it from ebay traders.

the add-on magnetic tool tray is a joy!