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BIKE REPAIR STAND

A cycle support from the plumbing aisle.

By Shaun Wilson

Photography by Shaun Wilson

I looked around town for a bicycle repair stand, and the cheapest one was $150. Yikes! Rather than resign myself to flipping the bike upside down on its seat and handlebars, straining my back, and always having to work upside down, I made my own repair stand out of galvanized pipe for about $30. It’s easy to take apart and reconfigure with new pieces, so I’ve refined the design through multiple iterations. Here’s the latest and most stable version of the hardware.

You can find almost all the materials in the plumbing section of a hardware or home improvement store, or if you’re super resourceful, you may be able to scavenge it all for free.

1. Build the base.

Begin by screwing together the legs, which will be mirror images of each other, around 2 tee fittings.

MATERIALS

½" galvanized pipe, double-threaded, in the following lengths: 48", 18" ( 2), 10" ( 5), 8" ( 2),

3" nipple ( 2)

½" galvanized pipe fittings: tees ( 3), 90° elbows ( 3), 45° elbows ( 2), end caps ( 3)

Hose clamps ( 2) to fit ¾" to 1½" hose

1× 2 pine board, 18" long

Screw-in utility hooks ( 2) the heavy-duty kind for hanging things up in the garage

Pipe hangers ( 2) I used TouchDown pipe clamps. These are plastic, with a bridge that ratchets down over the pipe like a zip tie and a metal screw that secures it to the wood.

TOOLS

Flathead screwdriver Drill and drill bits

Make: 137