If, however, you wrangle a veritable plethora of tubage you'll need to re-set the spacing each and every time. If you only work on the one diameter of seatpost you'll never have to adjust it again get the opening distance just right, insert post, three turns and clamp. Of course you also have to unwind the handle three times when removing the seatpost from the clamp too.
#Xtools bike tools trial#
What this means is that once you insert your seatpost there's a bit of trial and error to get the distance right, then wind the lever thrice and clamp down, allowing the lever to cam over into the locked position. As with many low-cost clamp designs, the simple closing of the lever/cam does not secure the seatpost – you need to first twist the lever three times, then close it to provide sufficient clamping force. The jaws open a maximum of 58mm, the action of closing the lever decreasing the clamp space by 18mm. The clamp itself is rubberised, with an 85mm-long set of jaws operated by a stubby cam lever that also spins to adjust the clamping distance. The lever itself flips over, so no matter which hand you're using or the direction you reach through the bike to get at it, you can always get leverage. The teeth are engaged by a lever at the rear – a 180-degree twist and the clamp springs out just enough to let the teeth disengage, so you can spin the bike to the desired orientation and twist the lever back 180. Unlike pretty much every other clamp design that relies on friction, the teeth on the head and clamp intermesh to lock the rotation in a shark's-tooth-like grip – there is simply no way a bike is rotating once the head is in place. The party trick of the X-Tools stand is the teeth that lock the clamp head rotation. That's not overly tall, and if you are towards the Skylab end of the home mechanic height spectrum you might find bending over for prolonged fettling to be a pain in the lower back. The clamp centre height is 1.5m at its tallest, meaning a large-ish frame clamped at the bottom of the seatpost will sit with the rear mech about 1m off the ground, level with the shifters for ease of actuation as you pedal. The head is fixed to the upper telescoping pole, which is keyed into the lower pole so it cannot rotate, aiding solidity and removing a possible cause of play. Unfolding takes less than 10 seconds, with three quick release clamps to tighten and it's ready to go. It will stand in a corner no problem, with a wall to lean on. Find your nearest dealer here Buy this online hereįolded up, the stand is pretty compact – a metre tall, and 25cm across at its widest – easily slingable into even a small car boot. Everything feels solid and the 4.4kg weight is spot on - enough heft to feel up to the job while not being too heavy to cart about. The X-Tools Home Mechanic Prep Stand does more or less what it says on the tin, and at a tidy price for the budget-conscious home user.įirst impressions are good - the legs and poles are made from a goldy-brownish alloy, and look quite pro, as do the black resin and alloy fittings.
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