thoughts/suggestions on bike work stands

[vincent]

i know electric bikes have not been out a long time or not as mainstream as they are now

but i was totally shocked when shopping for a bike stand to use for general maintenance on my bikes
none of these things come with hydraulic jacks on them, and they so easily could

this is ridiculous

and the motorcycle and dirt bike stands that do have jacks on them are CHEAPER

i realize shop guys lift these things all the time and are way better at it than me
but bikes are unwieldy to lift and get on the clamp even if lighter than ours
why waste your back messing with this

and i will never be someone who lifts my bikes a lot and gets the technique of doing it
it will be on occasion

personally i would have paid 300 for a hydraulic bicycle stand- which would be a ridiculous cost- but think all the decent bike stands are over priced anyway compared to hydraulic dirt bike stands that lift 400lbs.....

even so i would have paid it if there was one available

ended up with the park pcs 10 and the entire time i am hesitating to spend my money on it - thinking the bikes are going to be heavy to lift that high- and thinking to myself WHY is there no jack inside the tube on that thing?????


just bought a lawn mower lift from harbor freight to strap it to for lifting
what a redneck way to do things lol

if i had it do over again would have bought a bolt on park clamp and had someone fabricate a way to use it with a dirt bike hydraulic lift

 

[tomjasz]

Yeah, I was disappointed too. I had a lift for my Vespa GTS and was spoiled. I think the evoke market hasn't evolved enough for such a product. I've adapted but wish I could raise the heavy bikes without the struggle. Now I have a pretty good idea what level each bike needs to be set at.

 

[J.R.]

This e-bike specific repair stand takes most of the pain out of lifting heavy ebikes to service them.

https://www.amazon.com/Minoura-W-150-Bike-Station-Repair/dp/B009LG7ZWA

Three more offers from $470 to $500, free shipping.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Min...afRAhWCMyYKHT9bATkQ_AUIBCgA&dpr=4#pie=plaji-i

From the manufacturer, including PDF manual.

http://www.minoura.jp/english/tool/unavailable/w-150.html

 

[J.R.]

And there's the $2000 Park Tool PRS 33. Very expensive, but very nice.

http://www.parktool.com/product/power-lift-shop-stand-prs-33

 

[vincent]

Yeah but you need somewhere to bolt the park stand into and i dont have that, plus the costs

I like that red stand but 470-500 seems ridiculous when a motorcycle stand is so much cheaper

I would have thought it was pricey but would have spent 300 on a hydraulic bike stand
But 500 for something i will use 6-7 times a year is too much for me

Plus i know i can have one fabricated cheaper

 

[J.R.]

Ebikes are a tiny market. I got my first motorcycle lift in the 80's, it was more than 500 in 80's money, with likely tens of thousands of units sold. A lot of engineering and marketing money is spent bringing these to market for what is likely to be hundreds sold (if they're really lucky). $500 is a bargain.

You wanted information on purpose built lifts, I took the time to provide it with pricing and links.

Yeah but you need somewhere to bolt the park stand into and i dont have that, plus the costs

I like that red stand but 470-500 seems ridiculous when a motorcycle stand is so much cheaper

I would have thought it was pricey but would have spent 300 on a hydraulic bike stand
But 500 for something i will use 6-7 times a year is too much for me

Plus i know i can have one fabricated cheaper

I would suggest you have that one fabricated. I'll be sure not to add "thoughts/suggestions".

 

[Dave M]

JR I thank you for the link that is something I would consider in a heartbeat

 

[vincent]

actually JR the posts was MY thoughts and suggestions on what i found shopping for an ebike stand
i was not looking for another one

not that i dont appreciate the effort you took to list the stands you found

this attitude of this is the way we have been doing it and not thinking outside the box is something i see a lot in the regular bicycle industry , still see bike shops using carbon paper slips for writing up service requests

but this is probably not so much the case in the up and coming ebike stuff, so hopefully that will change

i was at a friends fabrication shop recently and we were talking about my bike rack, made a comment on something i did not like about it and he threw out a suggestion that i thought would work, and we both wondered why the rack people did not do it that way

maybe there was a good reason or maybe they did not think about it , i dont know
but imo trying to improve things is not a bad thing


either way i wont bother to posts anymore on my thoughts/experiences coming from a non bicycle owning world
it is obviously a waste of my time

 

[tomjasz]

I saw that lift oneBay and then in person. It's rather like Harbor Fright quality. To bad, I'd have gone for it. I almost wish I'd kept my last scooter lift and mounted a bike clamp on it. Oh well! BTW good job on the assist. Someone will benefit, it pays to help even if someone comes off as ungrateful. Well done!

 

[Ann M.]

Actually, @vincent hearing from folks who are not immersed in the world of ebikes is useful and interesting; just be a bit patient. I know we would all be curious to see what you could fabricate. Not everyone here has ready access to the shops, tools or knowledgeable techs as you do but that doesn't mean we don't care. As a long time ebike shop owner, I've rigged several different systems to help me handle these awkward, heavy ebikes. In many cases, much of the work or maintenance does not necessarily require a stand, rather a creative work around.

 

[tomjasz]

I wish I had kept this lift but when I sold the Vespa I didn't expect to build as heavy a bike as some I have.

 

[McApple]

If you go to Amazon and search on ATV lifts you will get some choices. You will probably have to build some sort of cradle to hold the bike and perhaps a ramp but it should be doable.

Macky

 

[tomjasz]

The more I think and progress in retirement I think I'm going to engage in conversations with Ann and Court and start looking to sell the bike and invest in folding bikes. I'm getting tired of building and experimenting maybe a Q128 based 2wd folder light 26 or 48V. I'm about to make a decision as monumental, for me, as building the first two md drives. This time something with better support snd parts availability. My PCS10 would be just fine on a sub 50Lb bike. 2wd would solve the winter riding. Sorry. I just did a complete change of direction. Selling my unused BBSHD 100mm will make a start. Now to find the bike. Most commutes, by design in the new digs would be under 12 miles round trip yo the doctor if I plan it right. My dream of building more bikes is collapsing in a really slow, almost dead market.

sorry no spell check or grammar....off to google folding bikes for a few days... Dahon would be nice but this geezer doesn't need a high end bike to be happy.

Thanks for the conversation, it got me on a track I can follow.

 

[J.R.]

@Thomas Jaszewski I also find the PCS 10 does all I need at this point in life. If needed I find holding the rear brake and pulling the front up by the bars gets a heavy bike into the clamp. I also use my MC rolling shop stools to sit and work, I have back issues and like to sit for longer tasks. One stool raises and lowers with the flick of a leaver.

I can add one more high end lift to the conversation. This one uses a counter weight inside the steel tube. It's entirely made here in the USA, sells for 2 grand and has phenomenal reviews. If I were working on bikes everyday, this is the one I'd own. If nothing else, it's a cool thing.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[vincent]

thomas what brand of scooter lift is that?

i was thinking of something like these dirt bike/atv lifts

https://www.amazon.com/Zeny-Motorcy...id=1483595945&sr=8-16&keywords=dirt+bike+lift

https://www.amazon.com/Pit-Posse-PP...qid=1483596385&sr=8-5&keywords=dirt+bike+lift

or maybe this type

https://www.amazon.com/Motorcycle-C...id=1483596385&sr=8-10&keywords=dirt+bike+lift


then mount one of these bench stands on a flat plate welded onto a pipe that slides in another pipe with holes for a pin so you can adjust up and down

https://www.amazon.com/BIKEHAND-Bic...483596264&sr=8-4&keywords=bicycle+bench+mount

flat plate on the bottom of the pipe and bolt it to the motorcycle lift

most of these lifts weigh about what my ebikes do so hoping it would not tip over, but would have to play with it
it could also be strapped down on the opposite side to stop it from tipping

if you mounted something like i described onto that scooter stand do you think it would tip with a 65lb ebike on it?

what i have will work but a setup like this would be much cleaner and smaller



i totally get what you are saying about the smaller folding bike
love riding my rad rover and all my fat bikes but do NOT like having to lift them onto the car rack much less the bike stand

this is a lot of the reason i bought an enclosed trailer with a ramp and had it modified to haul the bikes
that and having to stop if it started raining and covering/strapping down covers etc

but my prodeco mariner seems totally easy to lift and manage with the battery off, really light compared to the others

i hope the ebikes get lighter in the next several years

 

[MLB]

There are small, light mechanical lifts for motorcycles for $50 that will work wonderfully.
This is a more expensive model: http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200446269_200446269

 

[tomjasz]

thomas what brand of scooter lift is that?

The motorcycle lift was from Kendall (Spelling?) It had to be modified for small scooter wheels and a new section welded in so the front wheel block could be pinned further forward. They were incredibly helpful. If I hadn't recovered 90% of my investment I wouldn't have sold it as I used it for lawnmower lift as well. But since it had all the custom work for Vespa completed it got a good reseal price.

 

[tomjasz]

I can add one more high end lift to the conversation. This one uses a counter weight inside the steel tube. It's entirely made here in the USA, sells for 2 grand and has phenomenal reviews. If I were working on bikes everyday, this is the one I'd own. If nothing else, it's a cool thing.

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

WOW! Now THAT is a great design. It exudes quality build. Very nice. If I were 20 years younger...

 

[MeDotOrg]

Perhaps this is a little off the wall, but someone could make a stand where the lift was powered by a bicycle floor pump...

 

[bombadero]

Looks like the brand of the lift above is "Kendon". I am recently very interested in this as well since I'm looking for a better solution to my current Feedback Sports stand, which can barely handle my R&M, and cannot handle my DIY tractor e-bike that weighs 100 lbs. For the latter I currently use a ceiling hoist for some things, and the floor for others, but a ceiling hoist is not a great solution because the bike swings around. All of the hydraulic or electric lift options cost like $2,000-3,000 USD! Some of the motorcylce jacks are quite affordable, around $150, but to make them work for an e-bike would require a great deal of customization bolting additional hardware on top of them somehow. I also found this, which is still expensive at $600, but that's a lot less painful than $3000. There is also this stand, from Bikehand, which can handle 110 pounds, but suffers the same problem as the Feedback as far as difficulty of lifting the bike. The Minoura above unfortunately appears to no longer be produced, and costs about $800.

Kendon has a few great options with hydraulic jacks that connect to a manual pump or compressor and compact folding.

Also found this one at Home Depot that has a jack to lift the rear wheel.

I kind of want one of the Kendon hydraulic lifts. Now to convince the SO.