subject: Useful Bike Work Stand Accessories [print this page] Useful Bike Work Stand Accessories Useful Bike Work Stand Accessories
If you are into home bike repairs, you likely have a few tools already and quite possible a good bicycle tool set. It is likely complete with pliers, Allen keys, chain tool, cutters...they all help! A good bike work stand is a tool that fast becomes a necessity, and whether you try and create your own or buy a good manufactured one, it saves you light-years of headaches.
I am always on the look out for other extra tools that make repairs even easier. Here's a list of a few I have discovered recently which go along well with your bike work stand. The best thing about these accessories is you can probably find ways to create them yourself, or for a few extra dollars they are not expensive to buy.
Bike Work Stand Accessories:
Handle Bar Holders
You don't need to actually purchase these. You can use a bungee cord or even just a twisted metal hanger, but for under $20 you can buy a plastic coated metal thingee which has been given the official name of "handle bar holders". They hold the handlebars of your bike in place while your bicycle is elevated on your bike stand. Keeps the handlebars out of the way, keeps everything straight, and most of all, keeps your handle bars from punching you in the face. Especially important when your bike is held sideways on your bike work stand or even when it's turned upside down. I would recommend you do use something to hold your bars in place, as it really makes things easier.
Tool Tray
If nothing else, you can just use your tool box, but there are many tool trays which can be attached to the bar of your bike work stand. This allows you to put your tools in an easy to reach spot. Park Tool makes one, which works fine though it's plastic and not so heavy duty. If you want something even stronger that holds your wrenches in place, you can look for a hefty metal one and it doesn't necessarily need to attach to the stand, but it helps if it does. Make sure you get one that fits the brand of the stand you use, as not every tray fits every stand.
Chain Scrubber and Cleaning Brushes
I would assume that anyone into bicycle repairs already has their own ways of cleaning their bike, and if not, this is a call from your bike to please do so. Cleaning your bike is the first necessity in bicycle maintenance and goes a long ways in keeping your bicycle happy and healthy. Chain scrubbers can be used for the chain. A set of cleaning brushes work good, especially for those hard to reach spots (I've never been fond of using a toothbrush for anything but my teeth). Elevating your bike on your stand and using a few of these scrubbers makes cleaning a cinch.
These three extra accessories go a long ways in helping to keep life simple and easy. The idea is to spend more time riding than fixing your bike, but if your into home bicycle mechanics, every little tool helps or makes the job more fun. Best of all, if you don't want to spend the money, you can make do with what you have around the house to serve the needed purpose for all of the above.
