Judging by a thread from last year, you're all in love with the basic £65 Merlin "Bike Tools Workstand" (at least for indoor use). Unfortunately, I need something stronger that will also take an electric bike (hopefully without battery in most cases!). Is anyone familiar with the Merlin " Ultimate Sport Mechanic Stand"? It's £115 but claims to take up to 29.5Kg, as against the 18Kg the basic Merlin may be intended for. This is a tripod, which may be better outdoors - but is it as stable on a workshop floor?
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 The Bike Tools one is a tripod too, technically  The Ultimate ones are very good, if you're regularly working on a heavy bike I'd go for that one. The feet can end up very widely spaced, so it's highly unlikely to fall over.
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 I rate the Park PC 10 - never had a problem with mine & they're discounted on Merlin at the minute.
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Thanks guys. I'm not sure about the tripod business - if I'm working in a passageway (or even on a footpath or in the kitchen!), I'd want to push the stand back against the wall - not so tidy with three splayed legs - what does the leg at the back even do for me? But another thing I liked about the more expensive stand is that it's higher - eye-level as against chest-level. Silly question - how often have you ever carried the stand round on your bike, would the weight of it ever be an issue? There must be a strength/weight/cost penalty to a folding stand, but I decided (same as you?) it was worth paying regardless. This is the device I've used up until now - recognise it?
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| Edited: 03/11/08 12:51 |
You can orient the Ultimate legs any way you want - if you want to get it close to a wall, have two legs pointing out backwards and one straight towards you. But if you want a heavy bike high up, you're going to have to put up with a sizable footprint. The Ultimate stand is quite possibly lighter than the other one, too. It's designed with portability in mind, and that includes being light.
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This business about weight is a mystery - the non-folding Sealey BS1 (£73 with P&P) looks like the real workshop kit - it has 4 legs with real stability in them. Yet it only takes a bicycle weighing 18Kg - against the 29.5Kg for the folding "Ultimate Sport Mechanic Stand" (£115 + P&P). There must be some mistake, quite ordinary bicycles weigh over 20Kg.
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You must be confusing pounds with Kilos 20kg [44lbs] is a very heavy bike.
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 44lbs is about the weight of a DH bike with no bling. I suppose an ordinary bike, Apollo, Townsend etc might not be far off that. What kinda weight is the electric bike Andy?
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http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=5787 I've this one, it will take 40+lbs quite happy and has only 2 'legs'. Its a far better clamp than either the Merlin one (had one, and broke and junked it) or the replacement PCS10 - those clamps both need re-adjusting when differeing sized tubes are secured.
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This business just gets more and more complicated! I'm choosing an Xmas present from my mother-in-law - I could have a Gazelle to match what I bought my wife, but I think that's well over the top (and I don't want one!). But a "better than the ordinary" workstand would be nice. Going by the reviews at Chain Reaction Cycle, there is little benefit (and may be disadvantages!) in the more expensive workstands, which sell in much smaller numbers. I'm left with a toss-up between BikeTool Folding Workshop Stand From £69.99 (29 reviews) and the http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Reviews.aspx?ModelID=5787 Park Tool Home Mechanic PCS9 Repair Stand From £64.99 (17 reviews) The electric bike is aspirational, either that or a camper to replace one car when it dies. Judging by the ads, serious electrics are up to 35Kg.
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Does anyone have any experience of the Velomann Bike Trim V2500 workstand? I'm torn between that and the Merlin Bike Tools Workstand. Velomann has a tooltray which is useful, otherwise I can't see much between them, it's hard to tell the difference in the clamping mechanism from a picture. Is alloy (Merlin) better than Steel (velomann) ? grateful for any input, thanks.
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Stop looking at other stuff, just buy the Park PCS9!
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I'm torn between that and the Merlin Bike Tools Workstand. Velomann has a tooltray which is useful, otherwise I can't see much between them, it's hard to tell the difference in the clamping mechanism from a picture. Is alloy (Merlin) better than Steel (velomann) ? I took the advice given here and bought the PCS9 and am very pleased with it. It sort of folds up and hooks over a rafter out of the way. The only thing that might have swung me towards the Merlin is the discount on the tool-kit you can get with it: http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=77&categoryId=15
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