The Tools4Bikes Velovise is inspired by tools used for skis and snowboards, and turns any straight-edged table into a workstand. It weighs just 1.7kg and fits into a box measuring 29x11x11cm.
- Highs: Portable, sturdy, fits most bikes
- Lows: Less versatile than a regular stand
If you’ve ever watched a pro team mechanic, you’ll be familiar with the style of workstand that holds a bike by its bottom bracket shell and its front or rear dropouts, with one wheel removed. The Velovise works on the same principle – albeit only offering fork clamping unless you spring for extra adaptors – but the two supports are separate and they attach to a table using sturdy metal G-clamps, holding the bike high enough that there’s room for the cranks and rear wheel to spin. The large footprint of the supports and a rubber end on the clamping screw mean damage to surfaces is unlikely. The soft jaw of the taller support won’t hurt your frame either and the fork mount comes with adaptors to fit standard skewers as well as 15 and 20mm thru-axles.
There’s a knack to installing a bike; we found it easiest to clamp the frame support to the table first, rest the bike on it, and then offer up the fork to the front support to position it for clamping. An elasticated strap with a plastic sheath wraps around the bike’s down tube for security but when set up as illustrated in the photo on the box it tended to foul on the chainrings; routing it back around the support solved this problem.
Since the working height is determined by the table it’s attached to, and access to the other side of it is limited, the Velovise can’t offer a free-standing workstand’s versatility. It feels very solid though, inspiring confidence when you need to apply torque to a stuck bolt, and the largely metal construction bodes well for durability.
