I’ve startered tinkering with the bike more and seem to be taking on the role of street mechanic somewhat so I’m looking for a bike stand to make things easier. Has anyone got the Aldi one that’s back in stores? Any good or are others available for a similar price that are better?

Also, the image shows it being mounted by the top part of the frame but most people seem to use the seat post, is this just a safety measure if it’s a carbon frame or is there a benefit on alu bikes too of using the post as the mounting point?

Sorry if it’s been covered before but a quick search didn’t show anything.

I bought one about 3 years ago. I don’t know if they’re still the same. I would have been better off putting the £30 or whatever it was, towards a better product.

I think folks use the seat post as not all stands go wide enough to fit carbon frames. There is also the question of squishing the frame of course but that depends on how hard you clamp. I prefer to clamp the frame but it’s not always possible

I clamp the seatpost, I’m of the view that a frame wasn’t designed to take the forces at that point. A seatpost is shorter so likely to be more capable to taking the force. Also it’s cheaper to replace a seatpost if i overclamp.

I think it’s a great repair stand for getting the bike off the ground for completing minor tasks and cleaning. The clamp arm tends to twist under torque.
When it comes to b.b removal or jobs that require lots of force then I resort back to a 15 year old minoura.

Terrible, you will be forever tripping over all the legs. Get a better one with legs that lay flat to the floor.

I’ve got one from a few years ago and it’s absolutely fine. Not as good as the Park ones that I also use from time to time but it’s absolutely fine for working on bikes at home and it was only £30.

Fine for standard tinkering and bike builds. I clamp the top tube gently. There’s a big step up in price for something a lot better. I’ve never tripped over mine!

It’s OK, but mine stays outside for bike washing duties only, as it’s handy to be able to spin the pedals etc. The clamps aren’t great. I use an X-tools one for working on bikes, much better.

They’re good for £30.

Perfectly fine for the home mechanic. When I use mine for cranks or BB I tend to drop the height down so the wheels are on the floor, otherwise the bike can swing about a bit. But that’s no different to stands that cost £200.

Good proper workshop stands that don’t move are a fair few hundred pounds. Unless you use it all day everyday then there are better things to spend your money on. I’d rather have a pile of good tools than the best stand and no tools.

Bit mixed comments then!
Is there anything better for not much more cash?

It’s fine, it works. Better to spend £30 in it and another £30 on a vice or other tools than £60+ on a different stand.

They’re good for £30. Perfectly fine for the home mechanic.

This. Really good for the typical brake and gear fettling that needs doing regularly, not so good for getting a stuck BB out – drop the wheels to the floor to put some weight on it. How often do you change a BB?
For common jobs there’s a big difference between having one and not.

I bought one last time and to be honest I got fed up tripping over the legs.

If you’re anywhere near Aylesbury you can have mine for £20 🙂

I have the Lidl one which I think is the same. I’ve built a couple of bikes using it with no bother at all.

I live in Rotherham Pickle, but thanks, lol.
Halfords do one for £40, any better or much of a muchness?
http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-maintenance/bike-work-stands/bikehut-repair-stand

For £30 have found mine fine.

Uses for several bike builds and general tinkering – gear set up, bleeds etc

Everything else I looked at was quite a bit more which as I’m not using it every day I couldn’t justify the cost of say a Park one

My stand came from fleabay for about £30 a couple of years ago, it’s almost exactly like that Halfrauds one, not much better than the aldi/lidl jobs IMO, certainly not worth a tenner more…

I had one of those cheap generic ones for years, then last year bought this

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/s?q=pcs9&cat=direct

I would advise to spend the extra if you can. Removed an octalink bottom bracket that was murder tight with an extendable bar on the park tools one, the clamp on the cheaper one wouldn’t have taken that kind of load. I now use it for holding the bike when washing

Perfectly functional. Like everything to do with tools it is only worth investing in more expensive/better quality ones if you are going to use them regularly. So if you’re a professional bike shop mechanic or a routine bike builder/tinkerer i’m sure it’ll start to wind you up pretty quick. But if like me you use it once in a while then it is perfectly fine and absolutely no point spending any more for a better stand.

There are two things that annoy me about it – the first is that the knob that adjusts the clamp jaws has a wing nut on the other side, so when you turn the knob the wing nut just spins round, so often you need to hold iwith the other hand which is a bit of a PITA. Also the rubber jaw protectors can slide off if the jaws are in a vertical orientation. I always make sure I butt upto something like the saddle or a frame tube junction to stop it happening, but again a minor PITA if you only use it very occasionally. I’m happy with mine despite its faults, and could not justify anything more expensive of rate amount I use it.

Lidl one is in tomorrow for £25

I like mine. Yes the legs stick out but it’s not a problem if you line it up well. The tool tray is dead handy and it adjusts quickly and easily for both height and rotation.

I’m sure there are ‘nicer’ ones around to use but from a functionality POV- there’s not much more you need?

I’ve the Lidl one and for £30 it’s fine. Better stands available but they’ll cost you more

As for clamping – using the seatpost can be advantageous with some frames. My Anthem doesn’t have full outer gear cables – and they run under the top tube. Clamping here prevents the rear mech working as the cables get snagged in the clamp

I’ve got the Lidl one. For £25-30 it’s fine. Use it all the time.

Had mine for about a year now and it’s been fine (got it reduced for £12.50!).
You don’t need to extend the legs out all the way. I have mine about halfway and it still holds a bike ok only with a much smaller footprint.
Also, popping the front wheel out helps to balance the bike a bit better if you’re holding it by the seatpost (unless it’s that you’re working on of course!).

I bought one a few years ago and it’s been very useful. Only gets used once a month or so, but no real issues with it. Legs are indeed massive, but I stopped extending them all the way too. Have heard about issues with the clamp, but I generally clamp it quite lightly when it doesn’t need to take any abuse. Most of the time I’m only using it for cleaning and gears anyways.

£24.99 in Lidl

Just seen the advert for Lidl on Tv (thanks to those who pointed it out above too) for £25 it’s worth a punt!
Thanks for all the replies

It’s alright.

Our local Lidl has a Lidl outlet store next door (piled high with shite) got one for a tenner, it’s not a bad stand, my old minoura was only good for steel tubed hard tails, the Lidl one has a far better clamp, despite being a tenth of the price.

Don’t get the Lidl or Aldi ones, at some point you will regret it.

I’ve had 2 over the years (an older model which broke was replaced by the newer design which looked much better but was just as turd). The clamp rotates because it can’t support the weight of a fully built bike. Wheels off and you might be ok. For context I have XL bikes which are quite heavy (27lb HT & 33lb FS.

I wish I bought a decent one in the first place but I was too tight to do it. I’ve wasted £60 which could have bought a good one.

Buy cheap, buy it twice.

Happy enough with mine at £30. Not as sturdy as my Dad’s Park Tools one, but that was 4 times the price.

Good enough for general tinkering, fettling and cleaning. Anything needing serious force then think of a different way to do things.

Tomfun, they say it takes bikes up to 30lbs on the Aldi site, my bike’s just short of 29 so that could be an issue.
I’ll get one, use it and report back.

My bike is 33lbs and fine on the Aldi stand. There is always a significant factor of safety on hear things. I’m probably more at risk of doing my back in liftin the thing into the stand.

I bought a cheapie stand for about £25 or £30 from eBay a year and a half ago. Compared to not having a stand before it’s awesome. Compared to a park tools one it’s not going to be as sturdy. But for home bike settling from time to time it’s well worth the money.

Holds my hardtail or my FS with no dramas. If you’ve got a tight bb then the stand is unlikely to hold the bike tight enough, but for everything else it’s fine.

To update the thread, I bought the £24.99 one from Lidl today, think it’s spot on for what I’ll need. Just had an hour and a half tinkering (reverb bleed, wire adjustments, new rub patches, bit of a clean etc). If it dies after a few years then I’ll invest in a more expensive one but I’m certainly happy for now 🙂