Elie Mystal saying the needful, a smart cow, and in the “cost of tings” department…
One of the things I’ve been looking for is a cockpit locker stowable bicycle work stand. I know it’s not on everyone’s idea of something that belongs on a cruising sailboat but, having two bikes onboard, it makes bike upkeep and repair a lot easier. Plus, having a fairly complete set of bike tools and a work stand becomes a potential income stream.
The gold standard for anything bike tool is Park. Here’s their stand that I’d love to have…
The upside is it’s an awesome rock-solid stand with the downside being the cost of around $462 bucks. While I’d love to have it, that’s a chunk-of-change that won’t work on a VolksCruiserish budget. Still, in bike circles, that blue finish sure does inspire confidence.
Which has me looking for ideas for DIY bicycle work stands but none of what I see makes any kinds of sense for use aboard a sailboat. Sure, one could cobble a stand out of a few 2″ X 4″s but stowage of such a beast just does not work. I keep playing with the idea of doing a bench style stand which would clamp on to the shrouds.
Of course, being Park, it’s a bit pricey at around $180.
There are some cheaper reasonable facsimiles around selling for less than $50 that I’ve been looking at like this one…
The problem, for me at least, is that being down here in the Caribbean I’m not able to do the touchie-feelie thing. Sure it looks like it would do the job, but it might not.
Anyone out there have any experience with one of these Rockbros bench stands??
Re: Park stands. I’ve had the free-standing one for a decade or so. Be aware that the mechanism at the rear that adjusts the angle of the main clamp is friction fit by the rear lever and can require quite a bit of force to break loose to adjust. No experience with rockbros, but their use of a variation on a quick release lever strikes me as better.
I’m not sure what size bike you have but I use one of these on my boat for bike repair. It attaches to the pushpit rail and makes a great compact workstation. This is a knockoff, the more expensive product is called AltAngle work station and cost around $250-260. For larger wheels, you can mount the bracket at a 45 degree angle and get an extra few inches of raise.
https://www.amazon.com/AASVOG-Ultimate-Bike-Repair-Stand/dp/B0CG28S5XB?nsdOptOutParam=true
A very interesting minimalist solution. Still a bit pricey though.
Just curious but what sort of boat do you have?
It is a bit pricey still, but like sailing, I guess I have grown to expect bicycle tools to be too expensive for what they are. I use the stand with a 20″ folding bike, I think it could probably work with 26″ wheels but anything bigger like 700 or 29 would probably be too big, unless you have a deep cockpit
They use similar clamps in filming and photography, you could probably DIY a cheaper solution but the clamps dont look to be as larger. I wouldn’t be sure of the strength. https://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-Super-Clamp-without-Stud/dp/B000JLM4XG
I have a Westerly Centaur here in the US East Coast. Might be making a break to the islands south of here in the near future.
Bilge keel?