What's the ideal ebike workstand for heavy hub motors?

ClintBX

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Mar 6, 2014
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Hi ESFMs

I'm tired of having to flip my ebike upside down just to true a rotor or the wheel, replace a broken spoke or diagnose motor/controller issues.

I'm looking for a workstand that can lift my rear wheel off the ground which can support the weight of my bike. I've looked at the market but what's available seems daint and are not designed to hold my thicker axle.

Any recommendations would be appreciated. Any tips and tricks also would be nice.

Clinton
 
ClintBX said:
Any recommendations would be appreciated. Any tips and tricks also would be nice.
You can find a lot of "DIY Bicycle Stands" on Youtube. I have always though this one was the one of the simplest and most effective.
https://youtu.be/roMzEQpA4cg

The problems occur if your bike is tail heavy. Different solutions work for different bikes so I suggest watching several and find a stand that suits your needs.
 
I use the Feedback Sports Pro Elite Repair Stand, which is rated up to 85lbs.

510St6TxaNL._AC_SX466_.jpg
 
I bought a cheap one from amazon few months ago(£40), it was great for stripping down my donor bike when building a kit ebike and great for working on normal bikes.

However...with the 1500W hub on the stand cannot hold the bike in place, what I do is have an old table covered with a large towel and I rest the back wheel on that, far from ideal, depends on what you are working on...you'll need something pretty sturdy (expensive) to hold a large rear hub in place at height and angles.
 
A lot of these stands are not ideal for me as they all seem to rely on grabbing the seatpost.I have my controller attached right onto the seatpost and moving my controller out of the way can be quite a hassle, let alone doing that without unplugging any of the wires if I want to test motor/controller issues. Also, with the weight of a large gearless hub motor and 3 (intricately strapped on) battery packs, I'm not so certain these things won't topple. Could end up ripping my seatpost out of the tube.

Thanks for the suggestions though.
 
LewTwo said:
Also ... you do know how the term 'shade tree mechanic' originated ???
It is an old concept, but a bit of rope and a strong limb still works :D

That's the first time I heard that term. I've done it to get the front wheel off the ground. If you have a wall to prevent swing, it can work but make sure the branch you're using is strong🙃. I don't have a well placed tree at my place, I used some lattice and took out a chunk of it in the process.
 
LewTwo said:
ClintBX said:
Any recommendations would be appreciated. Any tips and tricks also would be nice.
You can find a lot of "DIY Bicycle Stands" on Youtube. I have always though this one was the one of the simplest and most effective.
https://youtu.be/roMzEQpA4cg

The problems occur if your bike is tail heavy. Different solutions work for different bikes so I suggest watching several and find a stand that suits your needs.

Thanks for the link. Yeah, tail heavy for me. I have a battery pack strapped on the bottom of my down tube, so this particular build is not ideal. Something that lifts my back wheel from the axle or even the chain stays would be enough.
 
portals said:
I bought a cheap one from amazon few months ago(£40), it was great for stripping down my donor bike when building a kit ebike and great for working on normal bikes.

However...with the 1500W hub on the stand cannot hold the bike in place, what I do is have an old table covered with a large towel and I rest the back wheel on that, far from ideal, depends on what you are working on...you'll need something pretty sturdy (expensive) to hold a large rear hub in place at height and angles.

I'm looking for something that will allow the back wheel up spin freely though
 
A pair of jack stands on teh chain stays like a race bike pit stand at the motorcycle races.
 
If working in a garage with exposed rafters, it wouldn't take much to rig something up to hang the bike (or any part of it) from one of those.
 
ClintBX said:
A lot of these stands are not ideal for me as they all seem to rely on grabbing the seatpost.I have my controller attached right onto the seatpost and moving my controller out of the way can be quite a hassle, let alone doing that without unplugging any of the wires if I want to test motor/controller issues. Also, with the weight of a large gearless hub motor and 3 (intricately strapped on) battery packs, I'm not so certain these things won't topple. Could end up ripping my seatpost out of the tube.

Thanks for the suggestions though.

I clamp on the top tube with my Surly LHT because I don't have enough seatpost exposed. It won't scratch the paint if you are careful. They also sell this style of stand:

feedback-sports-sprint-work-stand-main-0-1521736257.jpg
 
ClintBX said:
Something that lifts my back wheel from the axle or even the chain stays would be enough.
I use something like this (Wind Trainer) for that purpose:

https://www.bicycle-and-bikes.com/bicycle-gift-ideas-accessories/bicycle-indoor-training-stands/wind-trainer/

As you can see, it captures the ends of the axle and raises the tire off the ground. Easy to use and stable. Stable enough to hold the bike steady as you pedal away (stationarily). :wink:
 
99t4 said:
ClintBX said:
Something that lifts my back wheel from the axle or even the chain stays would be enough.
I use something like this (Wind Trainer) for that purpose:

https://www.bicycle-and-bikes.com/bicycle-gift-ideas-accessories/bicycle-indoor-training-stands/wind-trainer/

As you can see, it captures the ends of the axle and raises the tire off the ground. Easy to use and stable. Stable enough to hold the bike steady as you pedal away (stationarily). :wink:

What size axle is that compatible with?
 
I don't know, mine is actually a different brand/model (Minoura), I showed that example because that was what came up first on a quick search.

The ends are concave (bowl) shaped that capture the m14 axle on my 1500w dd hubmotor fine. They are designed to capture the ends of common skewer QR axles. Are your axle ends larger than that?
 
99t4 said:
I don't know, mine is actually a different brand/model (Minoura), I showed that example because that was what came up first on a quick search.

The ends are concave (bowl) shaped that capture the m14 axle on my 1500w dd hubmotor fine. They are designed to capture the ends of common skewer QR axles. Are your axle ends larger than that?

I think mine are M14s as well. If you're using it on your DD hub, then maybe it'll work fine in mine. I have a 500w and a 1200 watt but both have the same axles in them.

Thanks for that. I'm considering it
 
After much deliberation, I ended up buying a cheaper wheel stand. I couldn't justify spending several hundred bucks in an indoor trainer just to be able to service my bike more easily.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/274654256267?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=Hm2c-1mwQqq&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1yhLLIEIT6e&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It actually holds up ok. I was hesitant to get it because I thought it would pancake. I am running on 26", so I can't speak for the 29er experience
 
ClintBX said:
After much deliberation, I ended up buying a cheaper wheel stand. I couldn't justify spending several hundred bucks in an indoor trainer just to be able to service my bike more easily.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/274654256267?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=Hm2c-1mwQqq&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1yhLLIEIT6e&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It actually holds up ok. I was hesitant to get it because I thought it would pancake. I am running on 26", so I can't speak for the 29er experience
Are AU$ larger or smaller than US$ these days?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/274654256267
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184608045684

Hint:
For either one I might tie a couple of lengths of paracord between the bottom bars just to reduce the stress on the plastic bits holding the bike.
 
LewTwo said:
ClintBX said:
After much deliberation, I ended up buying a cheaper wheel stand. I couldn't justify spending several hundred bucks in an indoor trainer just to be able to service my bike more easily.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/274654256267?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=Hm2c-1mwQqq&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=1yhLLIEIT6e&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It actually holds up ok. I was hesitant to get it because I thought it would pancake. I am running on 26", so I can't speak for the 29er experience
Are AU$ larger or smaller than US$ these days?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/274654256267
https://www.ebay.com/itm/184608045684

Hint:
For either one I might tie a couple of lengths of paracord between the bottom bars just to reduce the stress on the plastic bits holding the bike.

USD is stronger than our AUD. $1USD-$1.40AUD.

The bars are actually quite rigid though. I had the same concerns before receiving it and was thinking about ways to reinforce it but so far, it's proven to be unnecessary. Those plastic cups will fail eventually but given how cheap this thing is, I'm not worried.
 
as long as the work i am doing does not involve take the rear wheel off, i put a 24mm deep well socket over each axel nut, pick up the bike a few inches and set the sockets down on a couple of little 2 ton jack stands i have positions right there on either side of the rear axel. doesnt take up much room either

its sturdy enough to climb up on the bike and pedal if i need to. its great for all sorts of things that i play with on the bike. otherwise i am flipping the bike over and working on the rear wheel the old fashioned way
 
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