Tandem Cycling - DIY tandem mtc. stand?

Anyone have suggestions for a home-grown tandem maintenance/repair stand, or reasonably priced commercial device? It'd be great to see some ideas for either free-standing or bench-mounted.

Any solid repair stand should work. I use the same stand for singles and the tandem and haven't had a problem. My LBS uses the same stand for singles, tandems, and triples.

Just get one that's reasonably robust, and pay attention to how you balance the bike in the stand and you should be fine.

Any solid repair stand should work. (snip) Just get one that's reasonably robust, and pay attention to how you balance the bike in the stand and you should be fine.

Or, don't balance the bike at all. With ours, I have to remove a wb cage to clamp it correctly, so I cheat. Better than half the time I just loosen up the clamp so it is free to rotate, and clamp onto the stoker seat post. Done. If I need it level, I just put a milk crate under the front wheel.

I don't own a repair stand.

So......I use my (Blackburn) trainer instead. Works well for everything but the rear-wheel and casette related repairs :P

I don't own a repair stand. So......I use my (Blackburn) trainer instead. Works well for everything but the rear-wheel and casette related repairs :P

But my Trek at 145 spacing won't even fit into my (antique POS) trainer, let alone the Santana at 160 spacing! So if you're going to buy a trainer to use for both purposes, take a tape measure with you! :)

This is Ultimate's Pro workstand with a Pro Elite head (http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=202940), but in all practacality their basic model "Sport" workstand (http://www.rei.com/product/752335) has the same capabilities.

Since I currently am using a Thud ST as the captain's seatpost, I support the bike from the underside of the stoker stem. The stand will handle the weird rotational angles I ask of it, not just "straight and level."

http://www.booboodog.net/images/bikes/mt2000/tandem-2.jpg

You can often get by using a regular workstand and just having the front wheel rest on the ground.

Nobody's cobbled together a home-made stand? Another alternative - anyone know where to buy just the clamping part? I can scrounge up some pipe and make the rest.

At triathlons, bikes are hung by the nose of the seat on a horizontal pole which holds the rear wheel off of the ground. Here's a link to a simple idea that's for several bikes at a triathlon (competitors hang their bikes by the nose of the saddle). If you look at the assembly photos on the link below I believe you could see how you could make something very similar but not as wide just for one bike and hang the tandem by nose of the rear / stoker seat.
http://www.altavistasports.com/triathlonbikerackkit.html
Of course it's not as stable but I believe it would be fine for most work you wanted to do.

I also think the Park PCS-12 bench mounted stand would be good and it is less than $100;
Universal Cycles $95
http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=14859

From an ebay seller buy now with free shipping $89
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-PARK-Tools-PCS-12-Bench-Mount-Repair-Stand-Free-S-H_W0QQitemZ130237365307QQihZ003QQcategoryZ27953QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1713.m153.l1262

Bloomington, IN

Anyone have suggestions for a home-grown tandem maintenance/repair stand, or reasonably priced commercial device? It'd be great to see some ideas for either free-standing or bench-mounted.

While this stand only lifts the rear wheel off the ground it does allow you to work on the drive train, and for $13.99 you can’t beat it. You do have to bend down, but I think it works great. If you put the whole bike and stand up on a table you don’t need to bend over. Made in China – where there are a few bikes that need repairs.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95365

OK, great, more ideas please!!

For cleaning I hang my tandem by a noose around the nose of the rear saddle. The front wheel rests on the ground. I make simple brake and gear adjustments using that rig too.

We have a garage/barn and just hang a couple of ropes about 5/6 ft apart. Rubberized metal hooks are tied to the end of the ropes. I place one hook on the rear saddle and the other one on the front stem. I can work on both sides of the bike and raise it as high or as low as needed, level or otherwise. Works for singles, tandems and triplet.

cornucopia -
I tried the "two ropes and a truss" method to do some shifter adjustments. It was driving me nuts the way the bike kept swaying and moving away from me when applying force. Have you learned to just deal with that?

While I've not done the hanging method, I would think that countering the ropes suspending the bike with one tied to a ground anchor (anything heavy) would minimize the swaying.

I have a "Quickstand" from Performance Bike. A very simple, small and cheap (<$20 I recall). It raises the back tire off the ground so you can do drivetrain adjustments. Small enough to put out of the way when not in use.