Back in the day, I was a standard newbie cyclist. I liked riding my bike, looking at new bikes, fantasising about upgrades and shiny stuff, and talking about bikes. Maintenance wasn't really my thing, until I was severely reprimanded by my LBS when I took my bike in complaining about not being able to get into the smallest cog. I was told (and this is a technical term, I believe) that my chain was "stretched to f*ck", rebuked for my bike's unhygienic state and helpfully advised that my expensive components would benefit from at least a wave of degreaser now and again.
Armed with a sponge, washing up liquid and a toothbrush, I set about cleaning my bike regularly and became more and more obsessive about it. Hanging it on the rotary clothes line was problematic, so I invested in a rear wheel stand. This helped tremendously when spinning the cogs to clean them and the chain, but didn't help get to those hard-to-reach, muck smeared stay junctions, so I upgraded to a proper work stand.
This was my 'Road to Damascus' moment. Cleaning became a cinch, so much so that I began to clean the other household bikes, and I even began to dabble with minor maintenance. I learnt how to renew my bar tape, change cables, tune my gears (badly) and replace my headset bearings. Late last year I progressed to a full strip and rebuild.
Sadly, the space I'm allowed at home is limited by how messy the job is, and how cold/dark it is outside. The problem is, my telescopic stand barely fits into my 'allowed' workspace (the side passage of the house), which is why I've been looking for a new way of holding the bikes secure while splashing about with the sponges and sprays.
I came across Black Dog Bikes in my googling and saw they were offering a range of wall-mounted maintenance stands. Could this be the solution I was looking for? I got in touch and BD Bikes sent out two versions of their wall-mounted stands for us to test: their basic straight-arm model (above), and a slightly more sophisticated version (below) that features an L-shaped arm and quick-release, multi-swivel head to allow for a greater variety of positions.
Setting the stands up at home is straightforward, you just need a drill. Both stands use the same clever v-shaped mounting plate which can be fixed to any flat, vertical surface. The stand slots easily into the mounting plate and clicks securely into place. Removing it is simple too: a push of the hand allows you to unclip the stand from the wall when you're finished, leaving the space clear.
Once slotted into the mounting plate, both clamps easily hold the weight of my road bike and are rock-steady when applying vigorous, dare I say, manly amounts of percussive maintenance. The straight arm clamp is ideal for washing and minor tweaks, with a friction grip that allows rotation. The multi-position clamp has a much more secure, toothed clamp that lets you rotate and safely lock your bike at all angles, even upside down, with no risk of slippage. The clamp arm is also, as mentioned, L-shaped, allowing you to vary the height by rotating around the central pivot.
The clamps themselves have a frame-saving plastic coating and a clever eccentric pivot that automatically adjusts to the shape of modern, multi-shaped profiles or seat posts. There's also space in the clamp to allow easy fitting of frames with externally routed cables. The Pu clamps have, say BD Bikes, "been tested on the most delicate carbon fibre frames with absolutely no marking."
All told, these are well-designed, versatile and rugged stands. Once you've gone through the initial set-up of fixing the mount to your wall, they are actually less faff than a floor stand - and considerably more compact when packed down, if space is an issue. Two mounting plates are included with the straight-arm model so you can fit them in different locations e.g. inside and outside, or at different heights, as needed.
I still would rather have a dedicated workshop, and I'm not yet fully competent or tooled up to do everything my bike needs, but these stands are a godsend for home mechanics who are limited in space but not enthusiasm or skill. Black Dog Bikes also do a fantastic (and ever expanding) range of workshop equipment that's going to keep my ambition fuelled for months to come.
Wall Mounted Repair Stand, £20 / Lock & Tilt Stand, £31.99 from bdbikes.co.uk
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