Clamping Bike in Workstand

Use the rotational adjuster so that the seatpost is at an angle to even out
the balance of the bike on the stand. Bottom line, you can always buy a new
seatpost if you crush it. There again, you can always buy a new frame too.

Paul

"Ken Spencer" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:2005080101154016807%kspenceECM@i2000com...

Quoted message said:

The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off
balance if I were to clamp it there.

Frame will crush like a beer can. Seatpost should be OK, but then
again, who knows how well its made. Don't worry about the out of
balance aspect though, that's where I clamp mine and the stand can
handle it no problem.

Ken Spencer said:

I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How
unusual for me!
It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work
stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the
seat post.

The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off
balance if I were to clamp it there.

But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in
crushing or snapping the seat post as well?

Seatpost of carbon are still pretty beefy but if you are concerned, get
a 'build post' and old post of the right size and use that. DON'T clamp
the seat tube or top tube. Those are pretty thin.

Quoted message said:

Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would
that be fatal?

Thanks for any help with this.

Oh, I don't actually *own* a workstand yet, but I am think of ones like
the Spin Doctor or Ultimate (the ones that run about $150)

Ken

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Ken Spencer said:

I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How
unusual for me!
It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work
stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the
seat post.

The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off
balance if I were to clamp it there.

But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in
crushing or snapping the seat post as well?

Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would
that be fatal?

Thanks for any help with this.

Oh, I don't actually *own* a workstand yet, but I am think of ones like
the Spin Doctor or Ultimate (the ones that run about $150)

In addition to the great advice given before, you might also consider a
bottom-bracket style repair stand. I was all hopped up to get a nice
repair stand for my apartment like they have in the shops when I
borrowed a friend's "A Sunday In Hell" DVD. The introduction of this
movie is a silently reverent overview of a mechanic prepping a bike for
the day's race, and the bike is not on a clamp stand. 🙂 I bought one of
the Performance scissor-style stands (Minoura makes one too) and it's
been 99% effective in completely tearing down and rebuilding a mountain
bike that I'm selling (my test case for the stand). The 1% has been the
front wheel sway that exists in all stands, and the lack of rotation
such as with the Park version (below). Another benefit: they're cheap at
$50-75.

Here's the $200 version: http://www.parktool.com/tools/PRS_20.shtml

-eric

In article <[email hidden]>,

Eric Hill said:

In addition to the great advice given before, you might also consider a
bottom-bracket style repair stand. I was all hopped up to get a nice
repair stand for my apartment like they have in the shops when I
borrowed a friend's "A Sunday In Hell" DVD. The introduction of this
movie is a silently reverent overview of a mechanic prepping a bike for
the day's race, and the bike is not on a clamp stand. 🙂 I bought one of
the Performance scissor-style stands (Minoura makes one too) and it's
been 99% effective in completely tearing down and rebuilding a mountain
bike that I'm selling (my test case for the stand). The 1% has been the
front wheel sway that exists in all stands, and the lack of rotation
such as with the Park version (below). Another benefit: they're cheap at
$50-75.

If this is what you mean:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=3636&subcategory_ID=4
216#

I can add my vote for this as an inexpensive alternative as well. I've
used it on road bikes, mountain bikes, retro cruisers and even my
Montague folding bike - they all fit. Folds up and goes behind the door
to the garage, too.

When extra stability is needed, I put sandbags on the feet.

N.B. - Performance puts these on sale regularly.

--
Strayhorn

³Excuse me, brother, who you jivin' with that cosmik debris?" - F.Z.

Ken Spencer said:

Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would
that be fatal?

I've clamped my Waterford 1200 Reynolds 753 steel top tube in my Park
PS5 stand for about 7 years now. As long as you don't try to crush it
with the clamp, it won't harm anything. When using the top tube the
bike also sits on the stand very nicely without even closing the clamp.
Its fairly difficult to crush any tubes when the clamp isn't even
used.

I buy bike frames that are properly sized using the old time method of
a fistful of seatpost showing. I do not use the current method of
buying undersized frames and making them fit with 400 mm long
seatposts. Thus with my road bikes, there is not enough seatpost for
the Park clamp to grab. I think you will do far more damage by
unloosening the lugged in seatpost clamp/bolt on the frame every time
you want to work on the bike just to pull the seatpost up. And then
retightening it to put it back to the right spot. Assuming the right
spot is within a 1/4" or so of the spot it was.

Quoted message said:

I've clamped my Waterford 1200 Reynolds 753 steel top tube in my Park
PS5 stand for about 7 years now.

That's TERRIBLE! That's too nice a bike to leave hanging in a work
stand for 7 years. Take it down and go for a ride!

Carapace Completed Umber
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| The people who live in a Golden Age usually go around |
| complaining how yellow everything looks. |
| -- Randall Jarrell |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

Ken Spencer said:

I just bought a new Trek 2100, and actually read the manual. How
unusual for me!
It mentions that the top tube should not be used for clamping in a work
stand - I guess they are worried about crushing it. They suggest the
seat post.

The seat post in my bike is carbon fiber. And the bike is way off
balance if I were to clamp it there.

The fact that the bike's off balance is always a worry, but it should
be okay for light work. Be extra careful of hauling away at the
handlebars if you do, because there's a lot of leverage available that
way.

Quoted message said:

But, OK, I will do that, but I am curious - is there any danger in
crushing or snapping the seat post as well?

Can the top tube be used, if I am *careful* about clamping it, or would
that be fatal?

Depends on bike - the cheaper the bike, the thicker the tube walls and
the more you can get away with. I wouldn't put a bike in a workstand
for anything involving lots of torque (anything stuck or rusted in, and
especially anything on the front end of the bike if you're clamping by
the seatpost).

I've bent posts and frames before, posts are a whole heap cheaper. And
carbon-fibre does not like being stressed in directions it wasn't
designed to be stressed in, so if I was you I'd get hold of a beaten up
old steel/alu seatpost and use that for clamping.

As far as your preferred stands go,
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tools/product_88742.shtml suggests the Spin
Doctor one is a bit too cheap to be cheerful.

Some stands (like my shop's Park stand) have an adjustable setting on
the rotation adjustment, so you can set the torque required to rotate
the clamp. I'd suggest not cranking that up too high, then it's more
difficult to put too much oomph into the seatpost without the clamp
slipping. If you've got the sort where rotation is controlled by some
other system, that's obviously not an option.

Quoted message said:

In addition to the great advice given before, you might also consider a
bottom-bracket style repair stand.

Thanks so much for your suggestion. I think one of the main uses for
the repair stand, for me, will be just to clean the chain, so I think I
like the idea of not having to remove the front wheel to put the bike
on the repair stand.

Quoted message said:

I was all hopped up to get a nice repair stand for my apartment like
they have in the shops when I borrowed a friend's "A Sunday In Hell"
DVD.

I am intrigued by this DVD. Where did your friend get it, do you know?
I quickly checked Amazon, and it was not listed there. Sounds like a
neat thing to see.

Thanks again,

Ken

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This stand does intrigue me. I certainly like the price. I wish that
a local store had one to look at and touch. Perhaps I need to consider
this more.

Many thanks.

Quoted message said:

If this is what you mean:

http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=3636&subcategory_ID=4
216#

I can add my vote for this as an inexpensive alternative as well. I've
used it on road bikes, mountain bikes, retro cruisers and even my
Montague folding bike - they all fit. Folds up and goes behind the door
to the garage, too.

When extra stability is needed, I put sandbags on the feet.

N.B. - Performance puts these on sale regularly.

--
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Quoted message said:

As far as your preferred stands go,
http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tools/product_88742.shtml suggests the Spin
Doctor one is a bit too cheap to be cheerful.

Some stands (like my shop's Park stand) have an adjustable setting on
the rotation adjustment, so you can set the torque required to rotate
the clamp. I'd suggest not cranking that up too high, then it's more
difficult to put too much oomph into the seatpost without the clamp
slipping. If you've got the sort where rotation is controlled by some
other system, that's obviously not an option.

Thanks so much for the tips, and especially for the review site. I was
unaware of that.
I haven't been messing with bikes for about 30 years. Gee... things
have change a lot
since I bought my Motobecane that long ago... :-) There wasn't even
an Internet back then!

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Ken Spencer said:

Quoted message said:

In addition to the great advice given before, you might also consider a
bottom-bracket style repair stand.

Thanks so much for your suggestion. I think one of the main uses for
the repair stand, for me, will be just to clean the chain, so I think I
like the idea of not having to remove the front wheel to put the bike
on the repair stand.

Quoted message said:

I was all hopped up to get a nice repair stand for my apartment like
they have in the shops when I borrowed a friend's "A Sunday In Hell"
DVD.

I am intrigued by this DVD. Where did your friend get it, do you know?
I quickly checked Amazon, and it was not listed there. Sounds like a
neat thing to see.

Thanks again,

Ken

Dear Ken,

Two VHS copies are on auction on eBay.

Google for "sunday in hell" and "order" and Nashbar's DVD
will come up first out of almost 400 hits.

Carl Fogel

Sheldon Brown said:

That's TERRIBLE! That's too nice a bike to leave hanging in a work
stand for 7 years. Take it down and go for a ride!

No, man, he's only had the TOP TUBE clamped in the
stand for 7 years. The rest of the bike he rides all
the damn time.

I do agree that is too nice a top tube to be clamped
in a stand for 7 years.

Quoted message said:

Dear Ken,

Two VHS copies are on auction on eBay.

Google for "sunday in hell" and "order" and Nashbar's DVD
will come up first out of almost 400 hits.

Carl Fogel

thanks very much. I will go check it out!

Ken

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