Bicycle Work Stand Attachment for Black & Decker Workmate

I have very limited space to work on things and limited storage space, so I have to make the most of what I have. I wanted a workstand for my mountain bike, but didn’t particularly want to spend $300 on one. I also didn’t really want to have to find room to store it, so I devised an attachment to fit onto a Black & Decker Workmate folding workbench. I made this out of aluminium, but if you don’t have the metalworking skills or tools, timber could be substituted. Total cost is about $15 and it takes up very little storage space. It doesn’t do everything a proper workstand will do – nor is it intended to. When I need a stand, most of the time it’s for adjusting the drivetrain, so all I need is a way of getting the bike off the ground and turning the pedals.

It consists of 4 main sections:

1. A main support section that bolts to the Workmate.
2. A support leg
3. An axle assembly that takes the front forks
4. A bottom bracket support.

You’ll need:
- 900mm length of 50 x 30mm RHS aluminium. 
- 600mm length of 20 or 25mm aluminium tube and a rubber foot to fit.
- Two scraps of 25 x 3 (1 x 1/8”) flat bar aluminium about 100mm long
- A 50mm length of 10 or 12mm aluminium tube for spacers.
- 1 x quick-release skewer. This is available from any bike shop for a couple of bucks.
- 150 length of 13mm diameter acetal (Delrin) rod. Nylon or aluminium will do or hardwood at a pinch.
- M10 x 60mm bolt, flat washers and wing nut to fit. I used plastic knobs instead of wing nuts.
- M8 x 40mm socket cap screw, flat washers and wing nut to fit.
- Miscellaneous screws and material scraps
- Basic hand tools
- Ultrabond or Durafix fluxless welding/brazing rods. Not essential as other methods can be substituted.

Step 1: Cut and drill the RHS

Cut two lengths of the RHS aluminium: one about 750mm long and the other about 75mm long. The longer one has to be at least as long as the distance from your bottom bracket to your front axle, plus about 100mm to spare. The other one has to be as wide as your bottom bracket.

Drill a clearance hole for the M10 bolt about 170mm from one end of the longer length of RHS. Distance isn’t critical.

Comments

[katlinbr]

Thank you! Been avoiding purchasing a store bought stand for years!