KR Bikes – Bike stand review
KR Bikes is a reseller on eBay. I found them some time ago while looking for coloured bits and pieces to bling up my bike. They offer various bits and pieces but their bike stand took my fancy as I wanted to add a 2nd stand for servicing forks where it’s useful to be able to support the bike in one stand and the forks in another.
£46 is the princely sum that is being asked for this fine bit of kit.
Positives
- Its four legs, which can be adjusted to to a very wide base, provide a very stable base
- Handlebar brace is included to, useful when working on the front end to stop it moving about
- Parts tray provides easy access to tools and parts
- Price £46
Negatives
- It’s made of steel and therefore quite heavy but not too bad
- No quick release on any of the adjustments. Only really an issue on the made grip but OK when you consider the price
- Blue, soft, jaws tends to slip off if gripping the seat tube (vertical orientation). Easy to push back on a bit of silicon would probably stop this
- Friction grip on top rotating tube might be insufficient to hold a bike at an any it doesn’t want to naturally sit at
- Fully height adjustable
Summary
Overall I think the K R Bikes stand is an excellent value piece of kit. I tend to use whichever stand is closer to hand and the only thing my Minoura has that stands out is the QR jaw. Worth three times the price? Depends how often you want to use it.
KR Bikes eBay shop is here
About the author
Dave's been riding seriously since about 1997 and is one of the founding Molefathers — along with Matt and Mark — that came up with the idea of a MTB website for Mole Valley riders.
He's had several different bikes but it's now mainly 29ers in Dave's stable, apart from an Orange 5.
Current Bikes: Orange 5, Salsa Spearfish and Kona Big Unit
There are 7 comments on ‘KR Bikes – Bike stand review’
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StevenD says:
Following Dave’s recommendation on the forum last year I got one of these from Santa.
I have not had problem 3 but agree with 4. My only issue was a couple of bolts ended up with stripped threads, but I just replaced them with something more hard wearing from my nuts & bolts spares tin, and at the same time swapped the nuts for nyloc ones. That made a big difference and enabled me to secure the bike a lot better in all positions.
Apart from the above I have experienced very few problems. It is great value and I also recommend it.
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Posted on June 15, 2011 at 10:26 am
paul901 says:
Another vote for this stand. That mud-bike-thing I am occasionally seen on is good friends with the stand, I use it for pressure washing when defiled by trail mud. More importantly for me I also use it for road bikes from time to time.
The main jaw is wide and I have been happy to tighten it around my carbon framed bikes but not tightly of course (no point my clamping the seatposts as they are carbon too!).
After a few months of use and abuse the things I like about this stand are:
1 stability through weight and design
2 adjustable feet which you could also fasten to a workshop floor if you were so inclined
3 you can rotate pedals without catching the stand legs thanks to the adjustable height so good for drivetrains
4. you could service your forks the way Dave Dubbya showed me by rotating the clamp vertically
5 despite much pressure cleaning and hence water I see no sign of rust damage to the stand
6 As it’s a clamp design it is universal on frames
I mention 6. because if we’re going to talk about fast stands nothing beats my Tacx Spider which is modular, foldable and sits the frame on it’s main beam and then clamps only at the front wheel dropouts with a skewer and quick release.
My mountain bike is too long in the wheelbase to fit the Tacx but for my road bikes it’s the one which gets most use so I mention it if a fast stand is your thing. I keep my bikes and stands in two different locations which is why they both get (specific) use.
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Posted on June 15, 2011 at 12:24 pm
StevenD says:
Agree with Paul and I omitted point 5. Since buying it I do all my (at home) cleaning with the bike in the stand. Not only does this make cleaning so much easier but, as Paul states, no rust or anything – my stand still looks as good as new.
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Posted on June 15, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Dave says:
One addition I would add as a caution is that the clamp works well with normal round profile tubes and hyrdo-formed frames close to round profile. It may not work so well on modern carbon frames with large, flat top tubes. If you imaging 2 right angle clamps coming together they work well on a round tube but flat surfaces cause a bit of a problem. Of course, if you clamp your seat tube, no problem!
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Posted on June 15, 2011 at 1:28 pm
DaveW says:
You could do with sweeping up those leaves behind the flower pot mate. It will be Autumn again before you know it….
;o)
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Posted on June 15, 2011 at 5:53 pm
KevS says:
Yeah, and that flower pot is crooked as well Mate! 🙂
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Posted on June 16, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Dandy says:
Is that a white painted hinge I see in the background?
So very 90s !
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Posted on June 16, 2011 at 11:01 pm