After getting a torque wrench for my Dad's xmas pressie, I'm now focussed on his birthday which he's scheduled rather selfishly in the same week. While looking for the wrench I came across repair stands that looked like a good present so have started looking at these. As the variation is so large (from £25 to £250) the million dollar question is....

Is a cheap repair stand better than no repair stand at all?

Options range from
Pedal Pro at £25
Bike hut from halfords which interestingly got a single crappy review at £25 but lots of good ones at £50.

In the middle is
Confidence at £36
Raleigh at £56 (which is the top end of what I'd like to pay).

Offerings from the likes of Lifeline and Park Tool seem to start at £70 (this and this ) and go up £250 and beyond (for example this).

If the sub £50 bracket is so poor as to make it not worth bothering then I'll think of something else otherwise what would any of you recommend?

There's a few more on amazon the first 4 all look the same bar colour and price. But they have 4 legs than stick out all sides and with the bike on they might take up too much floor space. I've got something like this one at Ribble but I don't think I paid that much. It has two long legs at the front and it works great but the bracket that slides up as the legs fold away gets a bit stiff, needs a spray with wax polish or something. Some come with little trays to keep nuts and bolts on which might be useful.

How many bikes does your Dad have (or want ) and is it / are they road or MTB or both, some of the smaller / lighter stands might struggle with big / heavy bikes.

But it overall I would say that a stand is better than no stand, especially for adjusting gears and brakes, and cleaning (especially the chain with one of those cleaner bath with rollers thingummy)

You have gone for the correct type. Do not be tempted by a stand that attaches to the bottom bracket area, they are rubbish.

Also steer clear of those with feet protruding from the back as they take up a lot of space in the garage and create extra trip hazards. You also want one where the clamp can rotate.

In which case the Raleigh on, from Rutland, is the no brainer.

Wishy, I have one like the pedal pro (in fact looks identical but unbranded), folded up it takes up no extra space but with the feet down it does cover a wide area - not a problem for me as I have a wide area to work on it. The clamp does rotate.

Cheers for the thoughts, I did notice that all the more expensive ones seemed to be the type where the feet are forward and that there must be a reason for this. He does have a reasonable but not infinite amount of room in the garage so this type would be better.

He has road bikes, I'm not entirely sure how many but it's somewhere between 3 and 6! I know he has a general road bike, a winter trainer, a race bike and at least two projects that aren't much more than frames. I understand that he's going to thin the collection down but that might just be what he tells my mum though.....

I have a Park Tools stand with work tray accessory. Folds away nicely & the clamp rotates. Love it. Seems to have come down in price too.

The thing that always makes me laugh is watching him mutter something incomprehensible whenever I ask what a new part has cost (very deliberately because I'm evil ) in front of my mum!

Much the same a coupe ownership and latest group buy must haves

What, like the pros use? (And me ) I've found it excellent and (as it happens) much better to use than my friend's Park Tool workstand.

They are awful, makes threading cables a mare, collect water when washing and don't let you rotate the bike. I hated mine with a passion.

This looks like it's on the short list now.

I have this one. Works well

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bike-Hand-Folding-Bicycle-Bikehand/dp/B00CBTUPPS


Out of stock though.

Can you remember how much it was roughly?

That one on your wish now looks exactly the same as mine, the clamp bit has a kind of groove at the top so that any top tube cables pass through without being clamped

Looking closer at the out of stock one that Gripped mentions, it's the same as the one I saw in the post above. In stock and ordered, job done.

Thanks as always for the help and advice.