How to Build a Bicycle Stand

Bicycle stands hold the bicycle upright at a comfortable working level, allowing the mechanic to comfortably work on the bicycle in any position. However, bicycle stands can be expensive and not easily found at your local bike shop. Luckily, a cheap, sturdy bicycle stand can be built out of PVC piping in as little as an afternoon and with minimal monetary investment.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Foam pipe insulation
PVC cement
Hacksaw
PVC tubing
PVC T-fittings
90-degree PVC elbows
PVC 4-way fittings

Step 1

Use the hacksaw to cut four 15-inch-long pieces of tubing and two 30-inch-long pieces. Connect two of the 15-inch pieces with a T-fitting, and repeat for the other 15-inch pieces. Connect the ends of the 15-inch brackets to the 30-inch tubes with 90-degree elbows to form a square box.

Step 2

Cut two 34-inch pieces of tubing, then connect them to the T-fittings on the square base you built in Step 1. Connect the top of the two 34-inch pieces with a four-way T-fitting, and go back through all of your fittings and cement the connections together with the PVC cement.

Step 3

Cut another 15-inch section of PVC, and cement it into the end of the four-way T-fitting extending horizontally from one of the vertical support tubes. Glue another four-way T-fitting at the top of this 15-inch tube. Use the hacksaw to cut a vertical notch in the four-way T-fitting to allow your bike's bottom tube slide into it, and cut a three-inch piece of pipe in half, cementing it perpendicular in the crook of the elbow of the lower four-way T-fitting on the supports. The bike's bottom bracket will rest here, so glue foam pipe insulation in this areas.

Step 4

Allow the stand to dry for 24 hours, then place your bike in it by sitting the bottom bracket on the bottom four-way T-fitting support and your downtube in the upper four-way T-fitting support.

Tips & Warnings

You will need a level area for your stand to rest on when using it for repairs or holding your bike.

Resources

Lowe's carries all of the materials you will need for this project.

Article Written By Nathaniel Miller

Nathaniel Miller is a technical writer for an environmental division of Microbac Laboratories, Inc. He has a Master of Science from Ohio University. With over eight years of technical writing experience, Miller has a diverse skill-set and enjoys a wide-ranging client base. He is widely published on numerous writing websites and runs a small writing business out of his home in Marietta, Ohio.

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