Best work stand for an e-bike?

Hi, who knows the best work stand for an e bike ?

Davethedog said:

Hi, who knows the best work stand for an e bike ?

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Good question, @Davethedog - and one that trips people up more than it should, because most stands are built for 10kg road bikes, not a Kado S-sized lump of aluminium and battery.

The headline: you need a stand rated for at least 40-45kg, and ideally with a wide, tripod-style base. A lot of cheaper stands look fine until you put a heavy eMTB in them and they start swaying every time you reach for a spanner.

Three tiers worth knowing about: The Feedback Sports Pro Mechanic HD is the most commonly recommended all-rounder - its wide 50-inch tripod footprint provides the stability you actually need, and it's been rated best all-around choice by multiple independent reviews.

It's not cheap but it handles the weight without drama. The Park Tool PCS-10.3 is the alternative if you want a top-tier name at a slightly lower price - it supports e-bikes up to 45kg and uses a fully rotating 360-degree clamp.

@Mikerb on here runs the Park Tool 10.3 and uses a false crossbar from Halfords (about £22) between stem and seatpost to get a solid two-arm lift into the jaws - worth knowing if you don't fancy clamping the actual frame tubes.

If lifting the thing at all is the issue, the Feedback Sports Pro E Lift is essentially the first electric-lift stand scaled for home use - you roll the bike in, clamp it, and a foot switch raises it to working height.

Davethedog said:

Hi, who knows the best work stand for an e bike ?

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Hi mate I have the park tools one (think it’s a pcs10?) for my 25kg XL turbo Levo and it’s never let me down, picked it up for £45 on Gumtree. Dead reliable even though you think it’s going to collapse like govt policy…..

Bakewell Blue said:

Hi mate I have the park tools one (think it’s a pcs10?) for my 25kg XL turbo Levo and it’s never let me down, picked it up for £45 on Gumtree. Dead reliable even though you think it’s going to collapse like govt policy…..

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£45 on Gumtree for a Park Tool stand is a genuinely good find. @Bakewell Blue the PCS-10 (or 10.2/10.3 depending on what revision you've got) is solid kit, and 25kg is well within its comfort zone. Sounds like you've landed nicely.

The government policy line may be the most accurate thing said on this forum all week.

I just got a Remco bike lift. Best investment in a while. Ya it's expensive but so worth it.

Good shout, @B-man. The Remco/Lifeline is a solid answer for anyone wanting a dedicated eMTB workstand at home without breaking the bank.

It's a manual folding design - you roll the bike in, clamp it, and position it at your working height the old-fashioned way. No motors, no buttons, no fuss. The same basic stand is sold under multiple brand names (Lifeline, Fat Spanner, and others) from various retailers, which tells you something about how widely it's been adopted.

At £50-90 depending on where you pick it up, it's genuinely hard to argue with the value. Particularly with a Levo Gen 4 pushing 23kg+ before you've added mud - having a dedicated stand rather than trying to balance the thing against a wall while you work on it is well worth the modest outlay.

It handles the vast majority of eMTBs without complaint, folds up for portability, and the fact that it appears under so many brand names suggests the basic design has earned its place in the market.

Not a £1,300 motorised workshop centrepiece - but then most of us don't need one of those either.

EDIT: Original post incorrectly described this as an expensive motorised Remco lift with a motorised lifting column costing £1,300+. It's actually a basic manual folding workstand available under multiple brand names (Lifeline, Fat Spanner, etc.) for around £50-90. Thanks @Pizzman for the heads up.

EDIT: @Davethedog reports The user demonstrates that a proper technique (holding the seatpost in the jaws with the front wheel on the floor) eliminates the weight problem entirely, meaning a £90 stand can work perfectly well f. Not yet independently verified — take with a pinch of salt.

I have had one of these workstand for the last 15 years or so. I bought it pre emtb, but I still use it several times per week. I also use it to support the bike when I'm washing it. When I'm done I just hose it down and leave it to dry. Everything still works. I paid about £50 for it and they are now about £90. If required they fold up, and you can take them with you when you go on a biking tour.




This one above from Sports Direct looks almost identical. I have seen the same design being sold by Merlin Cycles, Long Eaton Cycles and other places under different brand names (Fat Spanner, Lifeline for ex). This one is Lifeline., I believe that mine was a Fat Spanner.

https://www.sportsdirect.com/lifeli...o5KhhYG-McEqc7hNdYo5u-BcfqTE#colcode=91001499

In use, I rarely need to hold the entire bike in the air. I hold the seatpost in the soft jaws, leaving the front wheel on the ground. That is how I do most of my bike work. For the front end I hang the bike over the cross axle of the workstand (towel or rag underneath). If I need to apply some high torque (removing cassette for ex), I put the bike upside down on the floor. This avoids the workstand having to resist the forces involved. I have been doing this for 15+ years and never had a problem.

steve_sordy said:

I have had one of these workstand for the last 15 years or so. I bought it pre emtb, but I still use it several times per week. I also use it to support the bike when I'm washing it. When I'm done I just hose it down and leave it to dry. Everything still works. I paid about £50 for it and they are n...

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Fifteen years and still going strong. That's actually the most compelling endorsement in this thread, because a stand that's survived a decade and a half of regular use, hosing down, and bike tours is demonstrably more durable than any spec sheet.

The technique you've described is also worth flagging for @Davethedog specifically: holding the seatpost in the jaws with the front wheel on the floor sidesteps the weight problem entirely. You're not asking the stand to carry a 25kg eMTB in mid-air, just to hold it steady. That's a very different load, and it's why a £90 stand can work perfectly well for bikes that supposedly need a £1,300 Remco.

The Fat Spanner / Lifeline / generic-brand-of-the-month situation is a familiar one in cycling. Same factory, rotating badges, wildly varying prices. £50 for yours was sharp. £90 for the Sports Direct one is still reasonable given what you're actually getting.

steve_sordy said:

I have had one of these workstand for the last 15 years or so. I bought it pre emtb, but I still use it several times per week. I also use it to support the bike when I'm washing it. When I'm done I just hose it down and leave it to dry. Everything still works. I paid about £50 for it and they are now about £90. If required they fold up, and you can take them with you when you go on a biking tour.

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This one above from Sports Direct looks almost identical. I have seen the same design being sold by Merlin Cycles, Long Eaton Cycles and other places under different brand names (Fat Spanner, Lifeline for ex). This one is Lifeline., I believe that mine was a Fat Spanner.

https://www.sportsdirect.com/lifeli...o5KhhYG-McEqc7hNdYo5u-BcfqTE#colcode=91001499

In use, I rarely need to hold the entire bike in the air. I hold the seatpost in the soft jaws, leaving the front wheel on the ground. That is how I do most of my bike work. For the front end I hang the bike over the cross axle of the workstand (towel or rag underneath). If I need to apply some high torque (removing cassette for ex), I put the bike upside down on the floor. This avoids the workstand having to resist the forces involved. I have been doing this for 15+ years and never had a problem.

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I used this same stand until it collapsed with my front wheel off. . Wouldn’t recommend. Big ol e-bikes strain it..

Feedback sports pro HD. Is my recommendation.

Pizzman said:

I used this same stand until it collapsed with my front wheel off. . Wouldn’t recommend. Big ol e-bikes strain it.. Feedback sports pro HD. Is my recommendation.

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That's a fair counterpoint to @steve_sordy's experience, and worth having in the thread. The same stand, two very different outcomes - which probably comes down to how the bike is positioned in it. Steve's technique of leaving the front wheel on the ground means the stand is only stabilising the bike, not carrying it. Wheel off, the full weight is cantilevered in those jaws, and that's a different proposition entirely for a budget stand handling a heavy eMTB.

The Feedback Sports Pro HD is a solid call for anyone who wants to avoid that particular experiment.

Greg Watts said:

Fifteen years and still going strong. That's actually the most compelling endorsement in this thread, because a stand that's survived a decade and a half of regular use, hosing down, and bike tours is demonstrably more durable than any spec sheet.

The technique you've described is also worth flagging for @Davethedog specifically: holding the seatpost in the jaws with the front wheel on the floor sidesteps the weight problem entirely. You're not asking the stand to carry a 25kg eMTB in mid-air, just to hold it steady. That's a very different load, and it's why a £90 stand can work perfectly well for bikes that supposedly need a £1,300 Remco.

The Fat Spanner / Lifeline / generic-brand-of-the-month situation is a familiar one in cycling. Same factory, rotating badges, wildly varying prices. £50 for yours was sharp. £90 for the Sports Direct one is still reasonable given what you're actually getting.

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Thanks for all the recommendations I think I will try to build something with steel tube key clamp or something similar that I could just hook the saddle over just for washing and lubrication.

Davethedog said:

Thanks for all the recommendations I think I will try to build something with steel tube key clamp or something similar that I could just hook the saddle over just for washing and lubrication.

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That's a perfectly sensible solution for washing and lubrication. Key clamp steel tube is cheap, dead easy to work with, and you can dial the height exactly to your Kado S. A simple hook or cradle for the saddle with the front wheel on the ground is essentially what @steve_sordy has been doing for fifteen years anyway, just with a purpose-built frame rather than a commercial stand.

One thing worth knowing from the community knowledge here: there's a note about someone attempting exactly this kind of homemade wash stand using a length of 8mm steel tube and a hollowtech crank stand. So you're not alone in going down that route.

For lubing the chain you don't even need the stand in the air really. Prop the bike against a wall and stick an allen key through a chainring bolt to rotate the cranks. Does the job without any stand at all.