How to: Build a Bike Repair Stand for $30 in Hardware Store Parts

Bikes have moving parts…it's precisely what they're designed to do. And things with moving parts need maintenance to keep them moving smoothly. And since a bike's very design is to move forward as its parts move, you either need to a) get your bikes wheels off the ground while maintaining access to gear shifts and break levers and b) grow two more arms and hands.   

The first option sounds actually sounds like a little less work (but can you imagine the possibilities?!), so you gotta get that frame up into a repair stand to let the wheels spin, the drive train move, the crank arms rotate, and the headset move freely. Commercial options are great, but can be pretty expensive. So, instead, hit up the home improvement center and build one for about $30 in parts. Which is sweet, because while you can fill up your tires and lubricate your chain and adjust your brakes with it on the ground, once you've done it in the air, it's kinda hard to go back.

The DIY stand is put together like this: some vertical 1″ galvanized pipe is attached to a square of plywood to provide support. A 1″ to 3/4″ reducer elbow makes an arm, to which you attach a 3/4″ Pony pipe clamp hardware, outfitted with custom jaws.

You could, in theory, attach the upright to a work bench for more support, but then you couldn't take your bike stand outside to work on during those nice days in the summer. And where's the fun in that?

This project comes from Jim Langley's e-book, Your Home Bicycle Workshop, and is available, in full, at Bicycling.com: Your $30 Hardware Store Stand