This Aggression Will Stand

Being a Topeak ambassador means that sometimes a box just shows up.  When I open it, I might get something I've expected.  I mean, they ask me what I might possibly want, weeks go by, a box arrives at my door... and sometimes it's something I wasn't expecting, didn't ask for, and leaves me slightly befuddled.

I don't just request random things.  As evidenced by my recent culling of unnecessary things, I only want objects that take up space in my life that are useful.  Things that serve a purpose or mebbe are an improvement on what I already have.

So, I came home to a big box on Friday. 

I don't remember asking for something that would fit in a big box, but alas, here it is.

The Prepstand X.

Allow me to be a shitty ungrateful bastard before I even take it outta the box.

I was brought up believing that the standard clamp-a-frame-pipe-and-spin-the-bike-around-in-space was the only way a work stand should operate.  When these "take your front wheel off" type stands started popping up years ago, I thought they were dumb.  Because... different.

This is despite the fact that almost every time I see a pro bike being worked on by a pro mechanic, it's almost always a front wheel off the bike kinda stand.

So, take my current living situation.  My small house offers me a tiny space behind the kitchen to work on my bikes.  Too small for my Feedback work stand to really be any use, so I just perma-mounted it out on the porch sans legs.

I do head out there from time to time... when it's not too cold... or too hot... or I'm not too lazy to carry what tools I might need out there with me.

Most of the time, I just lean my bike against my work bench or flip it upside down... and end up with a sore lower back if I don't pay attention to how much time I'm spending hunched over.

So, despite the fact that I have already come up with a work around or two for my current living situation, I figured before I asked for a return label, I'd give it a chance despite my prejudices and whatnot.

Me in my tiny space, beer fetcher removed from its hitching post, as I often do when I feel the need to move about freely.

Room for the feet parts...

and enough room between the bench and the stand to actually move around and do repair things.

But still, it looks cramped and is there enough room to move the bike into different positions to work on different ailing parts?

I didn't look at the instructions before I started playing with it, partly due to male stubbornness but also because I figured mebbe it would work intuitively like an iPhone or a VCR or a space shuttle.

This was obvious:

Tilt... up... down.  Mmkay.  I already fiddled with that knob when I was taking it outta the box, so obvs.

Also, because I'm not a monkey, this was easy to figure out and...

It made perfect sense once I started playing with it.  Traditional stands have one collar, and when you loosen it to either rotate the bike or raise/lower it, you had to control both motions.  Two collars means you can rotate the bike WITHOUT having gravity trying to pull it down towards planet earth.

Up.  Down.

Round and round.

Obviously, in my cramped quarters, I don't have much room for round and round as I do up and down... or at least I thought.

I was down here messing with the bottom bracket cradle and strappy bit that holds the back of the bike in place...

when I accidentally discovered this feature:

So, yeah.  The whole thing slides back and forth quite a bit, allowing me to spin the bike in all the directions quite a bit more than I woulda thought in my cramped quarters.  Also worth noting, since the clamp is directly above the stand (as opposed to almost a foot out from center), I've got more room AND the whole thing is way stable compared to a regular stand.

Well, well, well.

Other little bits of information:

There are adapters that pop in and out for quick-release, 12 x 100 mm, 15 x 100 / 110 mm, 20 x 110 mm thru-axle forks. Good for me, since I have three out of five of those standards in my house.

Obviously, it folds down nice and small-like:

Which means it fits under my work bench when it's not in use.

And of course there's an optional tool tray that I don't need because my tools are right behind me... and an optional travel bag if you're the prepared sort to travel with a work stand.

So there you have it.  Sometimes (often times) I don't know what's good for me.

Thanks, Topeak (said in the same voice you might say "thanks, mom and dad" when they coerce you to make the right decision through guilt tripping or other parental device).