More Bike Stuffs
Bike in StandToday I ran by Fraser Bike with Danielle and picked up second bottle cage for my bike. While there I asked if they also sell the stands used on their floor models, and it turns out that they do, for $41.99. This stand, the RK-B RAKK STORAGE STAND is just a nice, simple roll-in stand which is extremely stable.
You can also see the rear rack, snap-in bag, light, and second bottle cage there.
I questioned getting the rack and bag (and basket) for a while, but it’s pretty light weight and seems to work out quite well. Unfortunately that bag there, the Topeak RX TrunkBag EX, is the smallest one which will latch into the rack. It holds everything I’d want to bring with me (spare tube, pump, Cliff bar, multi-tool, patch kit, phone, wallet, keys, lights, etc) with plenty of room to spare, so (for now) I’ve had to stuff a inflatable packing bubble thing in there. At least it’ll be good when going for multi-hour rides down the trails near here. I can stick a sandwhich or whatnot in there and stop to eat a bit before continuing on.
Now I think it’s time to go get some dinner. I’m thinking some decent beer, and maybe pizza… although… that’s not sounding so hot either. Hrm.
I haven’t remembered to look for it when I’ve been in the Ypsi store, but Harbor Freight has a work stand for $9.99. For ten buck, what the heck.
I have a rack trunk, but I wound up with some Nashbar ATB panniers ultimately. They go on sale for $24 a pair once in a while, and I used just one most of the time. That one lasted about 11,000 miles, I semi-retired it and started using the other. I could get the first back in shape with some sewing (and/or duct tape I suppose).
Wow, $10 for a work stand? Damn… I’ve been wanting one just to make things a little easier, and at that price I’ll definitely get one. I can’t even make one for that little. I’ll swing by there tomorrow and see if there are any at the… erm… Clinton Township (I think) store.
Panniers sound interesting to me, but for now with the kind of riding I like to do, I don’t think I’d really need them. I can’t see myself doing more than 40 or 50 miles in a day. :\
By the way, do you have an opinion on the Electra Townie? My GF really wants one, and at just under $400 it seems like a pretty reasonable price for a very comfortable (for her) bike.
As you can guess, it’s not a GREAT work stand, but like I say, what the heck. A work stand is useful even if you don’t do a lot of work; just lubing the chain is a lot easier with a stand. I only do 20 miles a day, but this time of year I have to oil the chain twice a week due to the salt and slush. In warm weather, once a week (I could go a lot longer except I ride 8 miles of gravel a day).
No opinion on the Electra. Looks nice though.
Link to work stand
Oh, neat. Thanks. Yeah, that’s not a normal clamp-type one, but it’d at least be good for getting the back or front off the ground while adjusting brakes or whatnot. I think I’ll try and grab one tomorrow.
If you have a workbench for other things, you could get this and mount it on. That’s what i did and i’ve been very happy with it so far.
link
I took a look at the HF thing today and… well… it can’t be raised higher than the bottom bracket on my bike. Meaning, it’s useless.
Thanks for the pointer on that… That’s what I’ll be getting. I’ve got two workbenches; one in the basement and one in the garage, so this will work out great. I’ll probably just C-clamp it to whatever bench I want to use at the time.
Or, I might even build a stand-alone stand for it…
here it is on my workbench.
Re: here it is on my workbench.
Hmm. That’s nice. How’s it do when holding the seatpost? I can’t clamp around there too easy for small adjustments because of the brake line.
Re: here it is on my workbench.
good. it rotates 360 degrees and tightens down quite a bit. i just had it there because originally there was no seatpost. i’ll swap it around when i get home and take another picture
Re: here it is on my workbench.
Oh, thanks. You don’t have to bother, though. I just wanted to be sure it’d hold up the bike.
I’ll probably be holding it to the workbench with C clamps so I can easily move it between benches and not drill holes in countertops, but it should still work great.
I took a look at that today and it won’t really lift higher than my bottom bracket. I couldn’t figure out how I’d use it without some other clamp.
Check out this one that linked to.
Very sweet looking bike, BTW.
Oh, thank you. :) I just can’t wait to get out and ride more… Once the days get longer and there’s a bit less slush on the ground that should easily be possible, though. I think I might even be able to ride to some local through the woods / light mountain bike trails from my house, which would be excellent. Otherwise it’ll be a ~10 mile drive to a trailhead.
I don’t feel safe riding on the roads, because they are gravel shoulder (or no shoulder) 45MPH – 55MPH roads with fairly regular traffic on them.