Weekend Project: Bike Repair Stand

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Weekend Project: Bike Repair Stand

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Work on your bicycle the easy way with this inexpensive and simple to build bike stand. Get the PDF for this project here: http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/11/weekend_project_bike_repair_stand.html. More great projects at http://www.makezine.com

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Bikes


Work on your bicycle the simple way with this inexpensive and easy to build bike stand.
Thanks go to Shaun Wilson for the original article in MAKE, Volume 18.
To download The Bike Repair Stand video click here and subscribe in iTunes.
Check out the complete Bike Repair Stand article in MAKE, Volume 18 and you
can see that in our Digital Edition.

18 thoughts on “Weekend Project: Bike Repair Stand

  1. Anonymous says:

    Um, wouldn’t a nice tea-towel on the bike seat and inverting the bike be a lot easier and cheaper?

    It looks like the bike is going to swing around a lot and you are going to have a devil of a time getting the rear wheel back on again.

    A clamp of some kind (like http://www.ladyada.net/make/bikestand/index.html), might be easier.

    1. Tim says:

      The design from ladyada has one drawback – it requires welding, something that may not be easy for most to accomplish.

  2. Tim says:

    I will be building myself one of these but with one slight modification. Instead of the wood/hook arrangement, I will fit the end of the top tube with a pipe clamp to grap the top tube or seat post. Perhaps a rubber or wooden set of grips to keep from damaging the tubing.

  3. Guy who uses store bought bike stand says:

    The home made bike repair stand is a great idea. However, the design shown will likely be a source of frustration for the user. The design does not firmly hold the bike, nor does it allow for adjustment of the bikes position. I suggest if you plan on using the bike stand more than once, investing in a stand bought from a bike store will be worth the additional cost. Do a little shopping before you decide on building your own, compare the cost of the parts for the build it yourself unit to a store bought one.

  4. stus says:

    Sorry to say but what a piece of junk and waste effort for a seriously flawed design. It’s too flimsy and cant hold the bike steady for proper bike repair jobs only it.

    Look at this or similar ceiling/floor bolting (think dance pole with a T and you’ll get the idea): http://www.instructables.com/id/hyper_strong_wall_mounted_bicycle_repair_stand/

    1. Anonymous says:

      Did you expect a filet mignon for the price of chuck steak? Sure, it doesn’t have the bells and whistles that a store-bought stand does, but you don’t really need any specialized or expensive tools to build it and you don’t end up with pieces of pipe bolted to your wall. Almost everything can be improved upon and this stand is certainly no exception, but in the end, it WAS published in Make and built by Kip. I’d say that has to make the stand’s creator at least a little proud despite obvious design shortcomings.

      I built one just like it and I could hang from the top arm. The 1/2 inch galvanized pipe is more than sturdy enough to support a bike, unless we’re talking about your Huffy…

  5. Paul says:

    I built this stand and it’s good, but I modified it a little. I used a piece of 2×4 instead of 1×2, and drilled a 7/8″ hole and slid the pipe thru that to mount the board to the stand. This gives more stability, preventing side to side motion. It will still sway from front to back but that’s not a huge problem. I also offset this hole towards where the back of the bike would be so that when the bike is on it, the front tire hangs lower than the rear, preventing the wheel from turning.

  6. Sam says:

    I like the video. Makes it easy to understand and looks fun to do. Also it’s a simple to build design. However it doesn’t look so sturdy to me. Paul in the above post says it swings a little but wasn’t a big deal so maybe it’s fine, but I wouldn’t want mine swinging at all.

    Couple links below that I found and thought looked good and sturdy. Would appreciate if they did a video like this:

    http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Bicycle-Repair-Stand/
    http://journals.neebu.net/khuon/archives/000517.html

    I was impressed with the pic on this one as it looks almost like a Park Tool. Shows you can make them pretty decent if you really want to:

    http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Portable-Bike-Repair-Stand/

    In comparison to Park below, the above is pretty close. :-):

    http://www.gearreviewsonline.com/park-tool-bike-repair-stand/

  7. Matt Hall says:

    I know this is an old project, but I have been meaning to do something like this for a while, and finally got around to building this last weekend. Pretty easy build, and it’s quite handy, although I do now wish I found a cheaper source for the pipe (I was impatient and just bought it all from the local Ace hardware store – about $70, so not too much less than a used bike stand. But hey, I made it!)

    One modification I made that I think is useful; the pipe hangers aren’t rigid, so in the original design, the bike will swing both left/right  (while facing the stand) and in/out. I cut down a degree of freedom by replacing the cap on top with a tee-fitting, screwing in 2 4″ lengths of pipe, and capping them off (see picture). I then mounted the pipe hangers on the support beam so that they were snug against the end caps, so that the beam didn’t slip. This way the bike won’t swing left right, and it makes it a bit easier to take off wheels, etc.

    Still working to see if I can get rid of that last degree of freedom, but it is very handy as is.

    Cheers!

  8. Jason Roth says:

    This ran me way closer to $100.

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