As ebikes get packed with more technology, including tougher tyres, specific components and bigger batteries, their weight keeps rising. Electric bikes are engineered cleverly to wear their heft as well as possible while riding, but it’s impossible to disguise that weight when lifting an ebike into a workstand.
Lifting a traditional non-assisted bike into a repair stand can be awkward, but lifting a 25kg electric bike can be downright dangerous.
Thankfully, there are companies bent on saving your back with specifically designed ebike workstands. They offer mechanical assistance to save your body from hoiking the bike into the air freehand and fiddling frantically with a clamp.
Bikonic promises its Gas Stand workstand will stand out (pardon the pun) in this relatively new market segment.
It uses a large gas strut similar to those that hold up the boot (trunk) of your car, providing positive pressure to lift your bike from the floor and into a position where you can work on it.
Locked and loaded
The stand works by pushing down on the gas spring-loaded head and locking it down into place.
Next, you wheel your bike into position and clamp it with the pivoting head. Unlock the stand and the bike will rise into the air.
Once at working height, you can lock the pivoting head in place at your chosen angle and work on the bike to your heart’s content.
When work is complete, you simply release the pivoting head and unlock the stand. The bike will sink gently, or may need a slight push down if it’s particularly light. You can lock the head in the lowered position, unclamp the bike from the stand and ride it away.
Construction
The Bikonic team are based in South Wales and say they have worked tirelessly on the design and construction of the stand.
As well as designing the lifting mechanism in the main mast, they have also devised their own clamping system.
Old-school workbench vices and lathes were the inspiration for the chunky solid-steel levers and controls. These are finished in a light-gold colour, passivated for corrosion resistance.
This is a pre-production version and Tony Ray (the man behind Bikonic) says a hammered finish to be used on the production version will be even smarter.
Rising costs
There are many, very effective electrically assisted workstands on the market, such as those from Park and Feedback Sports, but they come at a high price.
Park’s PRS-33.2 stand costs £3,250 and the Feedback Sports Pro E-lift stand comes in at £1,300.
Mechanical competitors
The closest rival to the Bikonic is the Topeak Prepstand eUP, which uses a foot pedal to activate nitrogen from a compressed air cartridge to raise the stand. It costs £849.99.
Like the Bikonic, this stand is not electronic and therefore doesn’t need to be plugged in. However, unlike the Bikonic, the Topeak will run out of puff after two years, or 30,000 cycles, while the nitrogen-charged strut in the Bikonic is inexhaustible.
Park offers a portable ebike stand called the PRS-30. It’s not assisted by a spring (or electricity), but uses the mechanical advantage of a foot lever and ratchet mechanism to help you lift your bike into the air. It costs £749.99.
Bikonic is confident its design is superior and has a global patent to protect against copycats.
Options
Bikonic admits the Gas Stand is heavy, but describes it as “very manoeuvrable”. It can be moved by lifting or rolling it on the roller-wheel mounted in the base. Bikonic boasts it is compact, with a similar-sized footprint to a traditional workstand and legs that fold up for storage.
Alternatively, you can order the Gas Stand in a floor-mounted configuration, which can be bolted down or mounted on its own heavy steel floor plate.
The stand is fully warranted and rebuildable with a spare-parts list.
Bikonic has a catalogue of accessories in the pipeline, including tool racks and parts trays, which mount to the stand.
How much does it cost?
Bikonic says the stand will be available soon, exclusively from its website, and any orders will be shipped to arrive by Christmas.
Both the GSFL (folding legs) and GSFP (floor plate) versions of the Gas Stand are priced at £781.25 (including UK VAT) / $810 (plus delivery and taxes) / €700 (plus delivery and taxes). Shipping will be available worldwide.
