dragonflybikes

I have a new Orbea Onix bike. It is all carbon and I have a carbon seat post. I am concerned about where to clamp onto the bike with a repair stand. I am worried about damaging the frame or the seat post. What is the best and safest way to clamp a bike? I have even thought about making my own stand that would the top tube would rest on both at the front and the back. Am I just being paranoid or do I have to be extra carefull?

Thanks

TCR

Either be extra careful or swap out the carbon seatpost with an old post when clamping it into the repair stand. Mark the carbon post with tape so you can easily put it back at the same exact height.

garysol1 

If I am not getting real serious with the wrenches, I will just hang the bike by the front of the saddle from the stand.

RockyMtnMerlin

Great advice. No need to worry when for a few bucks you don't have to.

DannoXYZ 

I don't clamp it, just balance it in the jaws. If you position it somewhere near the middle of the top-tube, it sits just fine.

Old Gammy Leg

Yup, cheap old aluminum seatpost. Or get a workstand like mine, The Park Tools PRS20, which clamps the bike by a QR skewer through the front or rear dropouts, with the BB resting on the stand. It's a minor hassle to remove the front (or rear) wheel, but pro teams use it for a reason - it's an excellent workstand.

gmason

Or get the Park ISC-1, which replaces the seat post when you work.

biker7

Your question is a good one because you can either damage your frame or marr its finish. I never clamp my stand to my frame tubing. I always use the seat post. Purchase a cheap long alloy post or the Park post mentioned by gmason. I can't for example use my current Thomson seat post anyway for clamping to the stand because is has a bend in it about 80mm down the post. Set up your stand tension knob up above to allow a slight freedom in the top clamp to let the bike pendulum and find its natural center of gravity which will be front wheel down. This takes most of the strain off the seat tube and post and puts retention stress primarily in tension and not bending...what you want to not load the seat tube and frame. The last thing is...with the above you can do pretty much all you want with the exception of removing cranks and BB.
You will notice that mounting your bike by the post is a long way from where you would be torquing cranks or the BB. You don't want to tighten the top clamp knob (clamp should be very firm on seat post) so the frame can't rotate. Instead enlist the help of a s/o or friend to steady the frame for big torque application at the bottom of the frame. When I am working by myself, I start before disassembling the bike and don't use the stand for removing cranks and BB. I lean the bike fully assembled against a wall with the front wheel secured by a wheel arch. I then put my foot on the pedal placed on a simple small wood step I made and untorque the crank bolt or BB. This puts the least amount of stress into the frame for removing these items....also works quite well for pedal removal.
HTH,
George

dragonflybikes

biker7: That is a great idea! I can mount onto the wall a QR like you would see mounted on a truck bed, and then I just need to creat something to hold the bottom bracket up at the right height. I know there are simular work stands out there, but I had heard that they are unstable. THis would be very stable, and if I really need to put some pressure on it I can do like you said you do and leave the rear wheel on the ground. This would eliminate any issues about weak points as I believe that the two strongest points on the bike for forces in multiple directions are the bottom bracket and the dropouts.

biker7

Workstands are great for building bikes and I love my Park stand and use it often. That said for BB and crank work, I do not do that on the stand as it imparts too much stress to the frame. If I know I am going to remove the BB and/or cranks or even pedals, I do that off the stand and against a wall with a small wood step as mentioned with my weight standing on a pedal bottomed to the step. That way I can put 50-70 ft-lbs into the BB and not worry about stressing the seat tube if restrained by the seat post.
Some will clamp close to the BB for this kind of work but that isn't me. I will never clamp a stand to any kind of frame member. Others do it all the time...in LBS's all over the country.
George

mscycler

Oh really...not supposed to clamp to the frame?

I clamp mine to the frame all the time (Orbea Onix). I clamp just below the seat tube clamp. But then again, the only thing I have used my stand for (so far) is rewrap the handlebars and for cleaning. I haven't done any kind of maint on my bike with this stand.

mscycler

puddin' legs

NEVER NEVER NEVER clamp a main triangle tube of any material EVER. Any shop you see doing this, run, not walk, far far away from.


Much good advice in the posts above.

cydewaze

I prefer to clamp my bike to the work stand in my basement. It's the safest place, and doesn't get in the way.

Matt Gaunt

Use pipe lagging if you really need to use the stand: I clamp the top tube with the stuff wrapped round it. Works a treat and doesn' do any damage at all. As others have said, for BB removal etc. just get someone to hold the bike for you while you do the heavy work is what I do.

Grasschopper

Be VERY careful if you hang your bike by the nose of the saddle to do any work. Friend of mine had (HAD) an Aliante CF railed saddle and he broke both saddle rails right at the front of the clamping area by hanging the bike by the nose of the saddle.

You saddle is not designed with these forces in mind.

cydewaze

His saddle broke by "hanging" the bike from it, or clamping to it? I can't see how it can hold a riders weight but break from the weight of a 20~ lb bike.

Grasschopper

No not clamping, hanging the bike by the nose of the saddle. By hanging the bike by the nose of the saddle you are putting a force on the rails that they are not designed for, it is the reverse direction of the force that is applied while riding.

2Rodies

I bought one of these a few months ago and love it. https://www.parktool.com/products/det...23&item=PRS-20

I had a PRS-1 for years but this is so much better and easier to really crank on the wrenches.

cydewaze

Ok, no carbon rail saddles for me. I put at least the weight of the bike on it in that direction when my @#$% lycra shorts get caught on the nose of the saddle.

platypus

another +1 for the Park PRS-20. No issues about damaging tubes or your bike's finish, and it makes cleaning and maintainence a breeze.

NMU ringer

Isnt this how triathletes hang their bikes before transition?

lisitsa

Isn't that over-the-top cautious since most car bike racks (except for the ones that go on the roof), clamp the bikes by the top tube?

You could be right though with the more expensive alluminiums common on expensive road bikes, they make the frame tubing so thin (so as to increase weight savings), its ridiculous. I saw a picture of the tubing in another post (which I can't find), but boy was that tubing very thin.

pigmode

I have the Tacx version (Spider Team), which is more lightly built.

puddin' legs

Not over the top. NEVER NEVER NEVER use a car rack that forces you to clamp a main triangle tube either.




not ridiculous. My frame is .4mm...too thin for clamps, but just right to ride.

azwhelan

My bike has a carbon seat post and I clamp it there with no problems. If you're worrying about markings than wrap it in a towel first. I always just tighten it just enough so just don't go to town on it and your seatpost will be fine. The manual that came with the stand said to never clamp it to the frame.