Malone Tek1 Bike Work Stand - Steel - 65 lbs

Video Transcript for Malone Tek1 Bike Work Stand Review

Hi everyone, Aidan here at etrailer. Today we're gonna be taking a look at the Malone Tek1 Bike Work Stand. This is gonna be a more entry-level option to get your bike up off the ground, allowing you to do some easier maintenance and work on it. Let's check it out. The four adjustable legs on the bottom allow you to spread them out into a nice wide base and creating four points of contact on the ground here. And honestly, we're getting a really stable hold.

If I tip it purposely, everything comes back because the weight's centered up well and it's got a 65-pound capacity, so it can definitely handle some heavier bikes. Our mountain bike is performing perfectly fine on there and I feel like if I did maybe just bump into it, it's not gonna tip the whole thing over, it doesn't feel like it's barely hanging on, so that's good. I want it to be stable when I'm working on it. Now when you're unfolding the legs, those support beams right here, those little braces are gonna start level with the pole when it's all folded up and they're gonna extend out. So right now they're at this downward angle, and if we we're to keep extending them, they would eventually come up to parallel with the ground and we wouldn't wanna go any further than that because the moment we go up a little bit, it starts to lose its strength and when you add some weight to it, it could end up buckling the legs and it's just not gonna have a stable base, so make sure that the proper angle and don't overextend it.

It's a little bit of a shame that it doesn't have some sort of stop in there, so you don't accidentally do that, but it's just a small price to pay. It is a more entry-level option so it's just something to keep in mind as you're using it. Now the clamp here is gonna be the sort of rubber rise construction, so it's gonna help protect your bike. And the way it's set up, it's gonna lend itself better to clamping around round tubes better. So down on our frame here where we've kind of got this oblong shape, it's really not gonna grab onto that well, if at all.

So generally, people are probably gonna be grabbing onto the seat post anyway. We did run into an issue where on another bike we tried our seat post had a really small diameter. This one is about an inch and a half, and we're almost at the minimum, any smaller than this seat post, and I'd say, this clamp probably wouldn't be able to close all the way. So that's something to keep in mind, and always watch out for if you've got a hydraulic dropper post that you probably don't wanna clamp onto that section there. In that case, if you didn't have a carbon frame, if it's an aluminum frame, then maybe you clamp onto that if you can.

Now, the way the clamp would open up, this lever here can get flipped up (lever clicking) to open it and you can get the bike out, but you might notice that it's really hard to fit it there. So you might end up having to actually spin this around and open the clamp up further in order to get the bike in and out. So the setup process isn't exactly the easiest, it's doable, but if you're pushing that 65-pound weight capacity, I wouldn't wanna do it alone. And you'd probably need someone up here to handle the clamp while you're holding the bike or vice versa. With a bike of this size, about 30, 35 pounds, it's doable on your own, but it's not fun. To get your bike in the optimal position, you can loosen up this backhand knob and it's got a ways to go, but once it does release, it'll allow you to rotate this and lock it in at set intervals when these teeth kind of interlock together. And then you can also spin the whole thing around by throwing this release right here, and moving it around to align the bike with one of these four legs, acting as an extra support. From there, we can adjust the height. Another one of these latches kind of midway through, allows you to lift up or down that tube here. (tube clicking) So there's a pretty wide range of heights that you can get, making sure that you can work on your bike at a comfortable height. Now you probably noticed by the lever there for height adjustment that we had a tool tray. And this I think is actually really handy and it's nice that it comes with the stand. So there's spots for some screwdrivers, there's trays where you can put bits, maybe a small bit driver, some Allen wrenches, and a ratchet, really, whatever you need. There's plenty of spots and shapes to get things lined up so you can find the right combination for your bike tools. Now this isn't going to be really attached to anything, it's more of just a friction fit where it rests on this ledge and gravity does the rest. So you can spin it around wherever it works best so it's out of the way of your pedals, but it's pretty much always gonna be at this height here. Now, as far as how this breaks down, you probably don't wanna be storing it like this all the time if it's in your garage, it's gonna take up a lot of floor space so you can fold it up and compact it when you're done. The top part will lift off after you throw that release lever, and you can set that to the side, and the tool tray from there, will lift up and get set to the side. Now this right here, right away, I'm just gonna be honest, it's one of the things I really don't like about this. Everything's breaking down into separate pieces. We worked with a Feedback Sports Bike Stand and that one, everything state attached to one another and it just folded down. So instead of this top piece full of detaching, it would fold down flat. And it was just nice because then it's just one unit, less pieces to worry about and it all stays together. So that's one of those things where it's just not gonna be as nice to use. You can drop the post down all the way and at the very bottom, loosen up this hand knob to retract the legs back up into their most folded state like this. And again, just tighten it up so it doesn't go anywhere while it's in storage. And then it does also come with a case for storing everything when you're done. Now, I'll be honest, if you've ever fought with a camping chair and gotten really frustrated with it, then you're gonna be all too familiar with how this works. It's just not a very nice bag. And while everything does fit, the bag is quite thin and it's just one of those things where it kind of fights you along the way and it's very prone to tears. We already have a couple of tears on ours at both the seams and just around the base of the bag, not along a seam at all. And it was like that just straight out of the box for us and only got worse when we tried to pull it out. So not the greatest. And, you know, at that point, do I want a bag at all if it's gonna rip Not really, but again, it's included, so it's worth noting. So overall the bag is kind of eh, but the stand itself I think is pretty okay. The clamp isn't very easy to work with. So when you're getting your bike in and out of the stand, that's probably one of my least favorite parts. And that's kind of a shame because that's one of those things you're gonna do every single time you wanna use the stand. And then same for breaking it down, it's just kind of clunky, and getting it back in the bag is kind of a pain. Whereas that Feedback Sports one we did earlier today, staying in one piece, you don't really need a bag 'cause it's all gonna stay together anyway. You could always get a bag and it's gonna be a little bit more manageable to get it in and out, but you could just as easily hang the whole assembly up on the wall and trust that all the pieces are together. This one is going to be steel compared to the aluminum on the Feedback Stands. So if you like the idea of having maybe a stronger metal, that's great, but this weight capacity isn't as much either. So there's a lot of back and forth you could do on both of those. I think when it comes down to it, though, they're both gonna be pretty functional options. And if you like the idea of having the included tool tray and you don't need all the bells and whistles of a really high-end stand, you just need something to get the job done at home, then this could be a good fit for you. But that'll do it for a look at the Malone Tek1 Bike Repair Stand. Thanks for watching.