Mountain Biking - Making your own workstand?

Tomorrow since I have nothing better to do I was thinking about making my own bike stand as opposed to paying 125+ dollars for a cheap one. Do you guys think this is possible, and if so.. any suggestions as to how I should go about building it? Ideally I'd like it to be freestanding or mounted on a work bench. Are there any websites for this kind of thing? Help would be appreciated... my bike needs work and my back is going to be stiff and sore tomorrow :o

hey Jim :)

I usually just use a couple of adjustable cargo straps to lift the bike and suspend it from the garage rafters... this even works with my tandem.

you could try here.....Build your own repair stand (http://www.ramsays-online.com/treadonline/bikestand.html)

Hmm... I've actually used the cargo straps from the garage... I just wanted something a little more stable. Thanks for the info.

I made one that hangs down from the beam in the garage. It's mostly 1" box tubing with a pair of vice-grips welded in as the clamp. Welded to the vice-grips are four, 4" peices of bar stock welded kinda like angle iron only shallower angle. This clamps to the seat post. It works great and is removeable from the beam so it's only up when working on a bike. At first we glued some foam on the steel to prevent the post from getting gouged up. It fell off so we glued a red shop rag to it instead. This has the added benefit of maybe preventing you from scalping yourself when you take the bike down and forget about the rack.

I wish I had a digital camera so you could see this MOE (Marvel Of Engineering).

Total Cost... about $5 in steel and sacrificial vice grips

Yeah... I kinda want something that will clamp down on the seat post or top tube for stability. I'm going to the hardware store soon to look for parts and see what I can find... we shall see :)

vise grips! genius!

Vice grips are one of the greatest tools know to mankind :o





Oh..... and 300th post for me :P

Do you weld? I built one last year I could post a pic of but I welded it.

Can't weld :o


I actually made one... it works pretty well. Not as stable as I'd hoped, but it dose the trick. And it cost me approximately 125 dollars less than buying one :o

I made one once usine a threaded flange which I bolted to the rafter in my basement and used a pipe clamp to clamp to the tube

Originally posted by Jim311
Can't weld :o


I actually made one... it works pretty well. Not as stable as I'd hoped, but it dose the trick. And it cost me approximately 125 dollars less than buying one :o

pics?

http://www.dirtpassion.com/IM000341.jpg
http://www.dirtpassion.com/IM000342.jpg
http://www.dirtpassion.com/IM000343.jpg


Crappy pics... but you get the idea. Basically I just bought a wall mounted holder and mounted it to my workbench. It actually turned out great, especially since I'm a pretty tall guy. The whole thing folds up and out of the way when not in use so I don't walk into it and gouge out my eyeballs or something. It's at a PERFECT level for me to work on it... I don't think most workstands on the market come close in terms of height. The only thing I don't like is that it's not quite as stable as I'd like. But it holds the bike well for what I need it for. I only payed 5 bucks for the hanger and bracket, too!

Get an old innertube, cut the valve out of it, then in half. use the two pieces to strap the frame down! Cheap!

Looks vaguely similiar to one of the four racks I have!

L8R

Sweet idea.. and I just happen to have some old inner tubes lying around :)



It's ghetto.. but it's cheap and effective.. and its up high enough to comfortably stand and work on, and even folds up completely out of the way when not in use. I'm actually really pleased with the results.. deffinitely glad I didn't buy one for 150+ dollars :D

cool. Think that I will do something similar...I really didn't want to put down 130 bucks for a Park stand...

It really works almost the same as a Park, but it's actually taller. A little less stable, but I'll deal with that :)

A couple concrete blocks should solve that stability problem

I just bought the Spin Doctor Pro II stand and wheel truing rig from Performance for $139. That is about $85 off for a high quality stand and wheel truing rig. As a bonus, the stand will fold up into a nice small package that is easily stowed. Something important for us town home dwellers. I looked at the Parks and others, but they are all considerably larger than the Spin Doctor. Think the price was $109 without the wheel truing rig.

I was thinking of creating one out of old drum hardware. They make very sturdy, height adjustable cymbal stands with tripod legs and rubber floor stops, and "multi clamps" which are used to attach round tubes on both ends. Attaching some rubber padding to the inside of the clamp should protect the frame. And of course the stands are designed to fold up and telescope in for portability/storage.

There's really tons of options. If you have the option of doing a setup like mine, I highly recommend it.

try park tools.com theyve got some good designs for workstands and clamps. :beer: good luck