[Closed] Work stands for carbon frames

Any stand with a decent clamp and don't over clamp it! Failing that clamp it via the post

Yeah, any work stand will do. I'm using a £25 Aldi work stand.  I always clamp the bike by the seatpost. You could easily get a cheap seatpost purely for clamping in the work stand if you're worried about damaging a carbon post.  The odd shape of carbon frames can make clamping the frame difficult (and you really don't want to damage the frame).

I once had an aluminium  cannondale frame with a slightly squished downtube where someone had over zealously clamped it into a roof mounted bike carrier, those oversized aluminium tubes are actually pretty thin walled.

If your mechanical skills are such that you can't work out how much clamping force is adequate to hold a frame without damaging it then I'd advise contacting a bike shop and handing your build over to some experts .

Thanks for all the advice. Scotroutes perhaps you could explain how to "...work out how much clamping force is adequate...". I suspect it is a matter of experience. I still intend to do the build myself exactly for the learning involved but that does not preclude asking for advice.

Regards Andrew

Scotroutes perhaps you could explain how to “…work out how much clamping force is adequate…”. I suspect it is a matter of experience.

Your right it is a matter of experience. But mostly it's common sense and a bit of mechanical sympathy. Only clamp a carbon tube lightly. Find the balance point and only apply enough pressure to hold everything in place.

Personally for things like undoing a stubborn bottom braket the bike comes of the stand ond onto the floor.

I do what taxi25 does, workstand for things like brakes, setting up gears, etc, on the floor for brute force jobs like getting stubborn BBs out.

I've got a workstand going spare if you are near Galashiels? Has clamped many a carbon bike without breaking anything. Treated myself to a new Feedback Sports lightweight stand as it folds up much smaller, been really impressed with that but not cheap! (unlike the one I need rid of, £20?)

As above, clamp by seatpost. If it happens to be a carbon seatpost then just use a rag. You can clamp it lightly and have the top of the clamp against the bottom of the seat.

Ive built up carbon frames and you soon get an idea for where the strength is. I have had XC frames where you can flex the carbon on the top tube and inside of down tube with your fingers, but they are still plenty tough enough

Either get yourself a work stand that supports the frame by the bottom bracket e.g. Tacx Spider, or use a regular stand, clamping the seat post. I've been using a regular stand clamping my carbon frame on the top tube for 10+ years - the only job that's an issue is removing/installing screw-in BBs - anything else you're not applying huge forces, so no need to clamp it hard, just enough to stop it moving.

Just any old stand but clamp on the seat post is what i do.

Or i guess you could use one like the below that puts the weight on the BB.

Thanks to all. I think I have enough idea now on how to proceed. I am sure other question will arise as I proceed with the build.

Thanks again Andrew

PS Sadly nowhere near Galashiels

If your mechanical skills are such that you can’t work out how much clamping force is adequate to hold a frame without damaging it then I’d advise contacting a bike shop and handing your build over to some experts .

...and how will that help him grow his knowledge and gain experience? We all started somewhere and I'm sure that not one of us has embarked on a particular task without some nerves as to whether it's going to be as straightforward as the internet says. The first time I replaced a pressfit BB in a carbon frame, I was *very* nervous indeed and pressing headset cups into a brand new plastic frame still makes me break out in a sweat!

Are there any bike wofk stands for lightweight carbon cx bike frames? If so what would you reccomend?

Standard rule (which I've broken more than once over the years!): never clamp the frame. Always clamp the seatpost or use a build stand as shown above. I have a box full of old, alloy seatposts in the garage so when presented with a bike that has an exotic post, or an MTB with a dropper, I can quickly switch it out for a cheap alloy one which I can clamp up to 11 in the workstand.

That said, if I'm tweaking up gears or swapping wheels, I'll often just chuck the bike on the stand using the top tube, but not clamp it up at all - just let it hang - as that's often all you need to quickly check setup. A lot of the CX guys seem to use stands with a set of drop bars permenantly clamped into them, so they can just drop the bike into the "U" in the bar for a quick service. Always seemed a sensible idea to me.

A bike work stand is a bike work stand.  Although marketing dept's would love to sell you a specific 'lightweight carbon cx' work stand 😉   Along with a 650b one, a 29er one, an MTB one, a road one 😉

As others said just use common sense and don't clamp it on any tubes except the seat post.