work stands

[toastie]

for the last couple of years I've been using a lidl work stand and for £30 its served me well but its coming to the end of its useful life now so I'm on the hunt for a new one.
Any one have any recommendations for a decent stand, or even the pro's and con's of the ones that clamp the seat post like the one i already use and the ones where you remove a wheel and sit the bottom bracket in a type of cradle

[11.4]

If you don't have a round seat post or seat tube extension, or it's ultralight weight tubing and you're worried about crushing it, you have no choice but to go to one of the Euro-style stands.

There are some problems with Euro-style stands, however. If you have a rounded bottom bracket shape (like lots of monocoque carbon bottom bracket designs), it doesn't like to sit on those stands as well. If you have fenders, they get in the way of mounting on a Euro stand. If you're adjusting a headset, it can be easier simply to have the bike in a classic seat post clamp so you can rotate the front end at will with a wheel installed and you can't do that easily on the Euro stand.

Bottom line, I've owned both -- a couple times -- and I'm down to a seat-post clamp design. I just found I didn't like the Euro style as much. You do need a good seat-post stand design -- the Feedback Sports Elite is superb, but a number of others are rather tippy and I wouldn't recommend them. Wait for Feedback Sports to go on sale, which they do every few months, and get one cheap. This discussion could be reduced to a discussion about Feedback Sports versus everyone else, though I still prefer the FS Elite seat-post model to the FS Race Euro model.

[toastie]

Thanks for the reply 11.4 that was exactly the sort of reply I was hoping for. Feedback from someone who has actually used both types

[audiophilitis]

I use a Park PRS-20 stand and am 90% happy with it. The only drawback on this type of stand is when adjusting brake calipers -- you will have to flip the bike and remove the other wheel to adjust both front and rear calipers. On a traditional stand where the blike is clamped on either the post or top tube, you can adjust both calipers as both wheels can stay on.

Other that this minor inconvenience, it's a great and stable stand.

[prendrefeu]

I use the PRS-21 because it's lighter. I even replaced bolts on the stand with titanium ones, but replacing the steel 'lugs' with alloy or titanium would prove to be too expensive.

I also have a second stand that's more traditional style (singular vertical pole. horizontal extension, clamps onto a tube of some sort), but only use that for stripping or re-painting a frame. It is possible to use a traditional style work stand on carbon frames with odd shapes only if you go light/delicate on the clamp force, but it is not ideal.

[rst72]

There are some problems with Euro-style stands, however. If you have a rounded bottom bracket shape (like lots of monocoque carbon bottom bracket designs), it doesn't like to sit on those stands as well..

i think the feedback sprint solves that problem with their cradle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIC55kFZxSQ

[toastie]

well i ended up ordering the prs20, i would have liked the feedback sport sprint stand but this close to christmas the wallet wouldn't quite stretch. I will post up my thoughts once its here as i have a bike to build up with all my christmas goodies

[11.4]

There are some problems with Euro-style stands, however. If you have a rounded bottom bracket shape (like lots of monocoque carbon bottom bracket designs), it doesn't like to sit on those stands as well..

i think the feedback sprint solves that problem with their cradle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIC55kFZxSQ

I had one until very recently, and while it balances odd bottom brackets in place, if you knock the frame or are wrenching on it, the whole frame can bounce up and fall down on the side of the stand, scraping and banging everything in sight. I could only use it with a toe strap or two holding the bottom bracket firmly in place, and the strap would get in the way of cables, cranks, everything.

[glepore]

You absolutely need a strap for any serious work with a euro-style stand. Mine (a performance house brand nla) has one built in.

[micky]

Something like 10 years ago I bought one very similar to this one for 50/60euro, and still going strong.

[rst72]

I had one until very recently, and while it balances odd bottom brackets in place, if you knock the frame or are wrenching on it, the whole frame can bounce up and fall down on the side of the stand, scraping and banging everything in sight. I could only use it with a toe strap or two holding the bottom bracket firmly in place, and the strap would get in the way of cables, cranks, everything.

ah, i didn't even think of that...glad i didn't purchase yet.

may have to look at the elite instead.

thanks for the info.

[toastie]

Too late for me mines been dispatched. [emoji26]

[rst72]

Per Feedback on the Sprint stand in regards to lack of strap:

"You shouldn’t have any such concerns. We worked closely with a number of top level mechanics developing this product and they haven’t experienced any such issues. In fact that’s the reason we didn’t include a strap with the unit, because they all felt it was unnecessary. We do have a slot built into the B cradle should you prefer to, but I’d be surprised if you did.

I would suggest though that you loosen the three button head bolts and move that BB assembly to the far back of beam, for the best balance of the unit."

[11.4]

Per Feedback on the Sprint stand in regards to lack of strap:

"You shouldn’t have any such concerns. We worked closely with a number of top level mechanics developing this product and they haven’t experienced any such issues. In fact that’s the reason we didn’t include a strap with the unit, because they all felt it was unnecessary. We do have a slot built into the B cradle should you prefer to, but I’d be surprised if you did.

I would suggest though that you loosen the three button head bolts and move that BB assembly to the far back of beam, for the best balance of the unit."

Interesting comment. But I owned one and had a variety of frames mounted on it. It's definitely stable if the rear end is the end clamped in the stand, because the bottom bracket can't move sideways. But if it's the fork mounted in the clamp, the bottom bracket can swing from side to side. Try it. When it swings to the side, the frame rotates around the fork clamp and drops down to the side. When pro mechanics are working on a bike on a euro stand, they are going to have the bike clamped by the fork more often than by the rear, because with the rear clamped they can't adjust shifting or anything else on the rear end. I think the euro stand is the one most pro mechanics have grown up with, so they work around the limitations of the stand because they are used to them. I've heard them criticize seat-post clamp designs because they sometimes aren't as stable when you get the bike up to the same height (I'd agree on that with most Park stands, but not with Feedback Sports) and because there was a period when more aero seat posts were in use. And if you're removing the seat post a lot for any reason (to drain, to address wiring, whatever), you can't do so in the stand. But I find those are minor issues. I simply prefer the seat-post design. I definitely disagree with Feedback's argument that the euro style doesn't put the bike at risk.

[rst72]

Although I don't own the sprint, I do agree with your comments, 11.4...it only makes sense. About to pull the trigger on a stand and figured I'd see what Feedback had to say on the Sprint.