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A friend and I have been toying with building a few bespoke, folding bicycle maintenance / cleaning stands as an evening/weekend project.
We've found similar products all seem to have some glaring issues, from not folding up, not sitting well on uneven surfaces or are just far too costly. Figured it cannot be too difficult to knock something up that can be kept in the car/van without being too bulky.
I'll update on here as and when we get a prototype made and if anyone has any thoughts or might be interested in one, we will try and hook some people up.
Cheers!
I don't know what's already out there but for me the major point is to be able to spin the cranks
yeh, stable and robust but I reckon those are easy enough - in fact a big spike or two for soft ground and footplates to stand on to push it in ....
Andy stand used to be the guys making these they have / had several versions . Not seen the around for a while tho.
Scaredypants, the ground spike idea might be something interesting to explore.
It will certainly be stable and allow cranks to spin. Should also fit all crank types and wheel sizes, fold up and be pretty tough.
Parkesie, we identifying the Andystand pretty quick, but the latest design is around £90! Were thinking of having something sorted for around half that.
The folding Andystand is £50, the only thing I can see for £90 on their website is for two of them
I’ve had an AS2 for 5-6 years, not sure much could be done to improve on it especially if you’re going to be selling for the same price
Scorpion are another make to look at .
In addition to the points above, something I'd look for is it being totally unaffected by water filth - washing down muddy, gritty bikes repeatedly will mean it gets a good soaking and the dirt will play havoc with pivots or sliding unions.
Price - for me to think it was worth buying it would definitely have to be less than £50. If I wanted one at the moment I'd be trying to make one myself (I know it wouldn't be as high quality or as convenient as a bought one) as I enjoy making things and have some spare tine to do it. If there was something I liked the look of for, say 35 quid, then I'd porbably just buy one.
Just my thoughts - good luck with it.
I made one from a guitar stand and some 16mm threaded bar.
Works well but can't spin the cranks.
I would use some igus polymer bushes if your going to do pivots.
Well after a few weeks of prototyping and testing, I think we're getting close.
Here's a few pictures of our latest couple of prototypes. 19mm stainless tube, which fits into most hollow axles nicely. The whole thing is super light and folds almost completely flat, to live in the van/car.
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We've tried aluminium, which is lighter, but docent have the stiffness and distorts too much with a heavy bike loaded up. Also stainless is far nicer and gives a premium feel.
Would love to hear any thoughts or feedback, or if anyone if is interested in buying one, we're currently gauging interest with making a small batch of them in mind. They should come in under £50 shipped but that is to be confirmed.
Cheers!