In another thread someone mentioned not clamping the top tube of a carbon frame in the bike stand as it will inevitably crack it. I’m now terrified to clamp my bike.
Is this the general consensus out there? What repair stands are people using for their carbon frames? This is about the only alternative I could quickly find: BBB Stand
I use the rails of my garage door and a rope (hang the bike by the saddle) or with the tip of the saddle over my workstand with a rag to protect the frame. It works 98% of the time.
you beat me to the punch! i saw the same thread and want the board’s expertise in picking a new repair stand. the one i found was this from Park Tool:
http://www.parktool.com/products/detail.asp?cat=23&item=PRS-21
Thoughts or other suggestions?
Thanks
Chris
Clamping the tubes of a carbon bike is generally ok as long as you get it just tight enough to keep it stable. This should allow you to add/remove wheels, mount/unmount hardware, take a fork off, frak with the aerobars, run cables BUT might not be enough to thread and torque a bottom bracket.
I have, inside of my stand clamp, some 1/2" foam insulation glued which distributes the clamping force evenly over a large section of the tube. What you want to avoid is the pressure from the clamp to apply the force over a small area and “pinch” the tube . In this case you stand a chance of cracking the carbon.
Yet another reason I’m glad I went with aluminum…
you beat me to the punch! i saw the same thread and want the board’s expertise in picking a new repair stand. the one i found was this from Park Tool:
http://www.parktool.com/...23&item=PRS-21
Thoughts or other suggestions?
Thanks
Chris
This is the stand I have. Minor pain in that you have to remove at least one wheel to clamp the bike on but I love it.
I just bought this stand. How do you use the “sleeper hub” that they mention?
Clamping the tubes of a carbon bike is generally ok as long as you get it just tight enough to keep it stable. This should allow you to add/remove wheels, mount/unmount hardware, take a fork off, frak with the aerobars, run cables BUT might not be enough to thread and torque a bottom bracket.
+1
Also instead of flipping the lever to tighten the clamp I’ll just turn the lever clockwise until it’s just tight enough.
I just bought this stand. How do you use the “sleeper hub” that they mention?
That who mentions? I don’t see anything by that name on the parts description in the manual.
While I think Park makes some of the best bike tools out there I’ve had one of their top stands and prefer another make - The Ultimate stand is a very good one. I clamp a lot of carbon bikes in this stand with little hesitation because you twist a dial to obtain pressure and it’s very easy to control. In most bike shops they use very large, heavy-duty bike stands with clamp handles that create a lot of pressure through leverage - that can risky but not all stands utilize that mechanism.
Ian
I have the PCS-10 home mechanic repair stand by park. I like it because it has a clamp that can be dialed up or down to get a different pressure as needed. I have both a carbon road and tri bike and clamp the top tube on both of them all the time and I just make sure its a little big before I clamp it and slowly lower it down until its just tight enough to hold the bike so its not falling of. Most of the time now I also wrap a paper towel or shop towel around the tube to keep from the rubber pads leaving marks but it also helps for having a little more of a buffer.
Nice, I also use foam; I’m using one of Ultimate’s stands - as another poster mentioned, it’s nice b/c of the twist. Originally, I wanted to avoid scratching the frame, but didn’t think much of pinching the frame. For the foam, I cut a 6in section of that soft foam pipe insulation. I also use this stuff on my hitch rack to protect the frame.
I just put my bike on my trainer and do the work
jaretj
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I just clamp the seat tube.
The Park PCS9 clamp has an aero edge which perfectly fits the profile of the seat tube (not the frame but the seat tube extension). This section of the bike is designed to handle 175lb vertical loads so is more than hearty to carry the weight of the bike and anything you do to it.
After years of using my homemade stand, I bought the new Park PRS-25. The clamp will accomidate ANY tube shape and works well with aero seatposts. The euro stands like the PRS-21 are good but I don’t like having to remove a wheel to use it.
I picked up the Park stand and LOVE it.