Have you ever worked on your bike for hours on end trying to set up your gears only find that your local bike shop can do the same job in no time at all? Time to let you in on a little secret, we aren’t all wizards or bike whisperers, I know shock, horror!
Yes we repair dozens of bikes per day and we have changed more cassette than we’ve had hot dinners but ask any bicycle mechanic to do his or her job without the most vital piece of equipment in the whole workshop and they’ll go from smooth operator to fumbling mess. There is one Swiss army knife tool we can’t go without, the simple bicycle stand. Any seasoned mechanic will tell you just how invaluable a good stand is. Not using one is the bicycle equivalent of taking your car into a garage without a jack. It looks un-professional and not having one will make every job twice as difficult.
Now we’ve exposed the service centre secret weapon in our fight against broken bicycles its time to let you in on an even bigger secret. In comparison to other bicycle specific tools they can be pretty cheap. My-self and some other of the Je James mechanics set out to find the best possible bicycle stand at the cheapest possible price to prove our concept.
Extra points were earned for better value but the winner would have to stand the test of time in one of the busiest workshops in South Yorkshire. After months of testing we arrived at a unanimous decision a stand from one of the most well know brands in the cycling industry, Raleigh.
This impressive little stand stood up to the test of time and the demo version is still now an indispensable piece of kit that packs away very easily into the same box it came out of. Without having to play Tetris. The tool tray can be removed and adjusted easily in addition to height and reach. Our favorite feature of this stand was its four-leg design and wide base to prevent tipping and improve stability. The oversized tubing improves stability and didn’t budge even when we worked on eBikes and downhill rigs.
