I am currently storing my bike in a repair stand where it hangs by the seatpost. I was wondering if this might not be ideal and that the prolonged hanging might put too much stress on the bike and that I should instead store it standing on the floor. Does this way of storing the bike pose any chance of damaging the bike compared to storing it standing?
asked Sep 24, 2013 at 12:28
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2Only thing I could think of would be to make sure the clamp is clean so it doesn't scratch or rust on the seat post.– AaronCommented Sep 24, 2013 at 13:14
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1I would think that this would put an odd torque on the point where the seatpost meets the frame. With a road bike, it's probably not enough to worry about, but a mountain bike with a heavy front end might have more stress than you would constantly want on a seatpost. When riding, most of the force going along the length of the seatpost. When in the repair stand, the bike (which doesn't have a center of mass at the seatpost) will try torque the front end towards the ground. Try holding your bike up using just your hands on the seatpost to get a sense of how much torque is generated.– KibbeeCommented Sep 24, 2013 at 14:52
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3There should be essentially zero danger, if held by the seatpost. You put far more stress on the post area when you hit a bump riding. Some danger of crushing or bending a really lightweight frame tube if you clamp to one of the tubes.– Daniel R HicksCommented Sep 24, 2013 at 15:14
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2If you don't get rid of your concern, you may be able to make a cheap "adapter" that plugs in the seatpost clamp of your workstand and has padded hooks to hang the bike from the top tube or from the rims, sort of the type of rack used to haul the bike in a car's trunk. Yet another option is not to force the bike to remain "level", but let it drop the front end so its not subjected to permanent torque. But, this should not be a real problem at all.– JahazielCommented Sep 24, 2013 at 15:49
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2@kibbee, the seat post actually carries a lot of bending stress when riding, since the seat post is inclined towards the rear of the bike and the weight of your body acts straight down. This bending is much lower when holding a bike in a repair stand than when riding the bike.– macCommented Sep 24, 2013 at 17:12
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3 Answers
I don't think that this should be a problem. The force that is transferred through the seatpost to the bike when you sit on it and ride some bumpy road is vastly more than the stress that your bike might get from hanging on the bike stand.
answered Sep 24, 2013 at 12:34
It might even be better than standing it on the same patch of tyres, if it's not being ridden at all, especially if you're not checking the tyre pressures.
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2Yep, good to keep the weight off the tires and bearings. Commented Sep 24, 2013 at 15:14
Nope, not a problem.
The stress on non-moving components comes from repeated cycles of loading and unloading, not from static force. As others have pointed out, keeping the tires unweighted might help lengthen their life in storage, though it should make no difference with the bearings since they're metal on metal with no movement.
The only thing you'd need to watch out for is over tightening the clamp around the seatpost, although this has nothing to do with the amount of time that it sits. If you clamp it too tight the damage is done in an instant.
