Cheap, easy, DIY workstand
 

If you have a trunk rack. Simply screw a 2x4 into the studs in your garage, screw 2 hooks into the 2x4, hang rack on hooks: Ta daa!

Attachment 146683Attachment 146681Attachment 146682

Only drawback is it isn't portable. But it works.

i dont have a garage or a trunk rack. rats.

...and a garage.

I believe this is a pretty good idea.

I made one really similar to the one in the link. There are many ways to make a workstand based on a pipe clamp. I used a 4x4 for the vertical post, a pipe at the top, and 3 2x4s for the legs. Since the wood was scrap the whole stand cost maybe $20.

http://journals.neebu.net/khuon/arch...nd-000517.html

Hooks like:

http://www.lickbike.com/lickimages/3471.gif

work too.

Commonly found at hardware stores for ~$2 per.

I have a Hollywood trunk rack and just use it on the car. Flip the tunes up on the dashboard and wrench it. Your's is a good idea if you really need to use the trunk for something else.

On my car the bike wasn't held out far enough to turn the pedals without hitting the bumper. Plus, if I wanted to clean & lube, etc. stuff would drip on the car.

Just wondering, how much did the trunk rack cost?

Solution: Remove pedals and wipe down car.

I think it was $40 something. It's a Bell; got it a couple of years ago at Dunhams.

This is easier, especially since I don't have a pedal wrench.

My brother gave me mine about 10 years ago and I think it was around $75/$100 then. The ones they make now are similar. Two straps grab the trunk below the rear window, the bottom sits on the bumper against the trunk and two straps reach down and grab the rear bumper under the car. It's mounted to a '99 Camry. I use a huge clothes pin type clamp on each arm that holds the top tube and just at the junction of the seat stays and seat tube, but it's an Elsworth Distance (dualie) so I have to be tricky. The bike rests against the clamps on the horizontal rack arms and it keeps the bike away from the trunk. The pedal clears the bumper by about an inch and a half.

I commonly see trunk racks in thrift stores for $5-20. If all you want to use it for is a workstand, you don't need any of the straps, which are the most common part to be missing when the racks are sold used.

Yeah, they either don't exist, or they are so dried out they can't support the bike and itself.

Lots of low cost DIY stands out there....

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=PVC+bike+repair+stand

I would like to see you take of your cranks and bottom bracket on that stand.

That's something I would not be doing regardless of what stand I had. If I ever get into that type of repair/maintenance stuff I would get a better stand. I mainly wanted something that would make it easier to do routine cleaning & minor stuff like dérailleur adjustments.

I built a DIY bike repair stand. It is made with steel pipe fastened to a plywood board for the stand and uses a pony clamp and a couple blocks of wood with notches cut out for the clamp. I can do anything with that stand, up to and including headsets. It doesn't pivot like a real repair stand, so it's not quite as versatile (and it certainly doesn't travel), but on the other hand, it is heavier and more solid and steady than most consumer repair stands. And it only cost me about $30 in material and about an hour or two of time to build. Been working for me for about three years now; I use it almost daily.

This is portable (and cheap). And you can do anything on it except bottom bracket, bars and saddle (obviously):

http://www.users.on.net/~ianleeming/Bike/stand.jpg

Looks like there would be a lot of movement when you try to adjust anything.

I use my car rack on a Black and Decker workbench.....perfect.

How do you have the rack held in the workbench? I can't tell from the picture. I do have one of those workbenches, so it would be nice to have that option.

Cheaper: no photos right now, but I made what amounts to the Park stand below, using 3 feet of scrap 2x4, an old front axle and QR, and some c-clamps.

What I did was make two mini t-stands. The fork one is about 6" on the bottom and 8" going up (upside-down T). The BB support tee is taller, maybe a foot. I ripped the 2x4 for the front support to the width of an axle minus lock nuts, then drilled a hole across that width and bolted the axle through there. I shot a couple screws through the wood against the axle to pin it in place (no wobble).

For the rear tee, I cut a notch and use a length of MTB tube to tie around the BB. Then I clamp both tees to my work bench in the shop. Works great. I'll post images of the setup later, but it supports the bike just like this:

http://www.parktool.com/images/produ...0218_23899.jpg

I use hooks like those pictured in post #6 screwed in to my basement ceiling. Most of the stuff I just hook the nose of the seat on the hook and it's fine for just about any work. If I have to work on the seat I'll just hang the bike by the rear tire. I had no problem doing a bottom bracket on the hook, but that did require that I steady the bike with a free hand. Not perfect, but it cost about $4 and all I needed was an exposed basement rafter.

Sorry, but this is not a cheap workstand, in fact it is not a workstand at all, since no real bicycle work can be done with it. Get a nice Park workstand and discover the pleasure of bike maintenance.

Call it what you want, but it does what I want, which is mainly to be able to turn the pedals without holding the bike up with my free hand.

With the tools to make the stand worthwhile, you're talking $200-300. If I was going to spend that I'd rather put it toward bike clothes or a wheelset. Plus I'm not real mechanically inclined. In any event I have limited time I can devote to biking, and I'd rather spend that time actually riding.

A little related. Does anyone know where to get or build one of these?

http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/wp...2/DSCN5924.JPG

http://www.belgiumkneewarmers.com/20...parations.html Click the pics. I have a dream.

C'mon, don't rain on the parade. This thread is about cheap DIY ways of supporting your bike while you work on it. All the suggestions will work for 90% of home bike maintenance tasks, most of which are cleaning and drivetrain adjustment type of things. Sorry if you don't consider any of that is "real bicycle work".

Boy, you roadies are fussy. Those mountain bike guys can overhaul their whole bike in a forest clearing with just bubble gum and duct tape. You're saying that you can't do any work on a bike unless you have a full-on professional work stand?

I've just about completely disassembled and re-assembled a bike using a setup that's not too different from that pictured. Haven't found anything yet I couldn't do.