I’d love to get a beautiful repair stand to stick in the garage or basement, but I’d rather not pay three figures for it. I’m not actually poor, but I guess I’d rather spend my money on the project and not the tools. Lest you think this repair stand is my great idea, a quick Google/YouTube search will unearth some gems of ideas which I based my repair stand on.

I needed something sturdy that could easily withstand stress of a bicycle with gear on it, and didn’t leave my wallet crying. After some research online, I decided to build a versatile black pipe repair stand. The pipe is cheap and strong, lots of adapters are available, and comes in many lengths for a perfect fit.

Here’s my DIY bicycle repair stand:

1. Find a Spot

You’ve got to know where you want this thing. You’ll probably want it somewhere with a little space, where you can move the bike around without too many obstacles. My repair stand is somewhat stationary, and mounted to the corner of a workbench in the corner of my basement. It is conceivable for a little extra money, you could make this thing floor standing and/or portable. If you do make it floor standing, you might consider using a heavier pipe (like 1″ pipe), at least in the vertical direction. You should be able to find adapters down to the ¾” or ½” size.

2. Measure for Height

You need to know approximately how high you want the clamp to be. For myself, I thought I’d like to be able to use the top tube of the bicycles as the primary clamp point, which meant I needed the clamp to be fairly high in order to comfortably work on the bike while standing. I hoisted one of my bikes up in the air, and measured from the top tube to the ground. I chose a height in the ballpark of 55-60″ (I’m about 6′-2″). This measurement can vary a few inches, since you can clamp the bicycle frame just about anywhere if it ends up being too low or high. Also, the black pipe only comes precut in standard sizes, so you probably won’t get it to the exact height you think you need. Subtracting my workbench height, I decided I needed a 24″ long vertical pipe.

3. Pipe Clamp

They key to the whole thing is finding a good pipe clamp to thread on. I suggest starting your shopping with the pipe clamp, as they are available in sizes specific to the pipe you’ll end up using. I purchased a pipe clamp at my local Lowe’s home improvement store for about $15. I chose the clamp that threads onto a ¾” diameter pipe, and comes with rubber feet on the clamping surfaces (to protect the bicycle’s finish).

4. Pipe

As I’d already chosen to use a ¾” diameter pipe, I needed to get a pipe for the vertical part of the stand, and another pipe for the horizontal. I’d already measured the height for the vertical pipe (24″), and bought an 18″ horizontal pipe. I would not recommend anything shorter than 18″ for the horizontal track, as you may find you need room to get around to the far side of the bike from time to time.

It will also allow you some room to laterally swing the whole repair stand with bicycle. Black iron pipe can typically be bought threaded on the ends, which allows for quick assembly and dis-assembly of all the pieces

5. Fitting & Flange

The fitting needed is a threaded 90° elbow adapter to fit the horizontal and vertical pipes together. You’ll also need a threaded floor flange to mount the repair stand to a stationary surface.

6. Assembly

• Thread and tighten each pipe to either side of the elbow fitting.
• Mount the floor flange to the stationary surface.
• Thread, but do not completely tighten, the vertical pipe into the floor flange.
• Thread, but do not completely tighten, the pipe clamp onto the horizontal pipe.

7. Tips

• By leaving some of the joints slightly loose, you’ll retain some flexibility in your stand’s configuration. For example, if you prefer to mount your bicycle by the seat tube, you can simply rotate the clamp 90°.
• If you have some extra handlebar tape laying around, wrap the pipe where the bicycle frame will sit to prevent scratching of the frame.
• If you have an aluminum or carbon frame, please be extra careful not to apply too much pressure from the clamp. You will deform (or even worse) your frame if you over-clamp it.
• I’m contemplating fitting the clamp with some wood jaws with a groove in the jaw to hold the bike even more securely. The pipe clamp works good, but does allow some movement if I’m really cranking on the bike. Wood jaws with pieces of an old bicycle tube glued to the groove would probably be very effective. If I decide to do that, I will certainly update this post.

Parts & Cost:

¾” Pipe Clamp – $15
¾” x 18″ Black Pipe – $6
¾” x 24″ Black Pipe – $8
¾” Elbow – $2
¾” Floor Flange – $5
Total Cost – Approx. $35

The post Poor Man’s (DIY) Bicycle Repair Stand appeared first on Solution Three.

A while back I decided to pair down some of my various hobbies in order to concentrate on a few more intensely, namely cycling. I had also identified that over the last few years, my bicycle needs had dramatically changed. Part of my master plan was to sell my guitar and keyboard, and use the proceeds to procure some new equipment (aka bicycles).

First I sold the guitar, then the keyboard. Then life happened, and the money needed to be spent on something more important and less fun than bicycling. Thankfully, I hadn’t tried selling either of the machines I already had, and though they didn’t suit my needs very well, I was content to make them work until I had another opportunity to retool.

Recently, step 1 of retooling finally came! I sold my trusted road racer, and bought a brand new, 2013, cyclocross/touring beast of a machine that will easily serve all of my commuting/touring/exploration needs around town and on clean trails. This one bike essentially replaces both bikes functionality to the extent I need.

Enter Project X. Project X is the next evolution in cycling for me. Aptly named because I’m not entirely sure what the next step looks like.

I’d like to be on a machine that could roll through rougher terrain, aka rocks and weeds and tree roots. Last spring I took my hybrid up and down the quarry mountain between Bevier St. and Old State Rd. in Binghamton. I had so much fun, but also realized by the extreme hand fatigue and constant fear of getting my butt literally kicked by the bicycle that this bike couldn’t handle that type of terrain. So in one vane of thought, I think I’d like to swap the hybrid for a hardtail mountain bike.

But, I also have a nearly irrational desire to convert the hybrid into a single speed machine (not the hipster type though). The thought of the simplicity and elegance of a single speed evokes great memories of a childhood time when I first fell in love with cycling. It also sounds like fun to actually have a “project” bicycle to work in this winter.

Mostly, this blog series is for myself as I figure out what to do, but also there may be something valuable to someone else along the way (like the upcoming post on a poor man’s bicycle repair stand).

There is always that third option…

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