Review – Zeny Bike Mechanic Repair Stand and clones

20200110_155915This review is for the Zeny Bike Mechanic Repair Stand, which is also sold under other brands like LEMY, Sportneer, Yaheetech, Bikehand, etc.  These are all exactly the same bike stand, just with different branding.  There are also a few that have different colored knobs and such, but again – they are the same stand if you look closely enough.  There are also some other bike stands that are very similar but not quite exactly the same model, so this will give you an idea of what to expect with these other ones too, for the most part.

Also check out my Youtube video review of the Zeny Bike Stand, with unboxing and assembling and the demonstration of mounting of one bike.

The Zeny Bike Mechanic Repair Stand is suitable for people who want to do casual maintenance and repairs, cleaning, lubrication, tweaking, and adjustments.  I don’t believe that it would be for a bike shop or for heavy-duty maintenance and big bike repair jobs.  

The stand is made out of real steel, not super-thick but thick enough to be nicely substantial.  So not only is it going to be strong enough for basic maintenance and work on your bike but it is going to be heavy-duty enough to hold most any bike you have and last many years, even in adverse conditions.

Speaking of capacity it is rated for a maximum weight limit of 66 pounds (about 29 kg), though I guess I think that might be pushing it if you have something that heavy and need to do a lot of work on it.  But for all of the bikes we have here – aluminum road and (heavy) mountain bikes, and carbon fiber road bikes of course – it is exceptionally stable and capable.

The four legs, which can be adjusted from a narrow stance to a very wide one; are one of the best features of the Zeny Bike Mechanic Stand, and what I believe makes this bike stand very stable at its core.  Some bike mechanic stands have two legs parallel to each other, others have three legs equidistant apart.

20200110_145908The legs on this Zeny Bike Stand can also be folded up flat against the shaft, with the top shaft retracted down into the bottom shaft that the legs are attached to, and the right angle clamp retracted or centered; giving the whole thing a pretty small footprint.

The stand can go from around 42 inches (106 cm) or so to 74+ inches (119 cm) high, and the top right angle shaft holding the clamp can rotate a full 360 degrees horizontally and be moved on it’s clamp outward; allowing room to rotate the pedals if needed, or inward for more stability for heavy bikes or if you don’t need to rotate your crank.

Some stats from the little instructional paper that came with it (single sheet):

Foldable Size: 39.37″ x 3.93″ x 3.93″
Overall Size: 41.33″(L) x 41.33″(W) x 74.01″(H)

The jaws of the clamp are made of two heavy duty hard plastic pieces with soft but firm rubbery plastic protectors that are clamped down with a big plastic knob and bolt, with a wingnut on the bottom (you have to hold the wingnut when tightening the clamp BTW).  The clamp should fit all common top bars from around an inch (2.54 cm) to 1.8 inches (1.6 cm) or so, maybe larger.  For something smaller I think you could just add a rubber shim or other padding.

This should be suitable for any bike frames including carbon fiber, and the rubber jaws should protect your bike from any scratches.

Though I suppose if you are really paranoid about it you could wrap your top frame in something protective as an extra precaution.  And if you are working on dirty mountain bikes you probably want to keep the rubbery surfaces of the jaws clean – as you would with any bike stand.

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The stand is packed well with each component wrapped in bubble wrap and some extra cardboard around the feet, the miscellaneous hardware in a ziplock baggy.

There are no real assembly instructions, just a little piece of paper showing what the assembled bike stand looks like and some stats and features.

Assembly is easy and straight-forward, as you might imagine.

Unpack everything, pull the legs out a bit, extend the little feet on each leg, and slide the plain shaft into the tube that the legs are attached to with the slightly narrowed end downward.

There are three bolts with blue knobs (some of the bike stand clones may have different colored knobs).  Two of the bolts and nuts (with knobs) are one size and one is a larger set that goes into the top right angled shaft.

Slide one of the plastic knobs with one of the attached medium-sized bolts through the clamps for both the leg clamp and then one for the upper sliding shaft clamp.  The washer goes between the knob and the clamp, and fit the medium-sized nuts into each hole in the clamps corresponding to the bolt shape.  

The nut-shaped holes in the clamps hold these bolts in place well and you can tighten them quite a bit, as long as you keep in mind that the clamps and the holes for the nuts ARE plastic so you would not want to go crazy on (over)tightening them.

The feet have holes in them – maybe you could permanently mount the stand to a floor with screws or bolts?  

Next slide the t-shaped clamp over the short shaft and secure with the corresponding nut and bolt and washer, using the included Allen wrench.  Possibly some of this may already be assembled.

Now you can put the t-shaped clamp holding the top shaft onto the vertical part.  The larger bolt with the knob and washer and nut goes into the clamp (again, the washer goes between the knob and clamp)  and tighten a bit.

20200110_172130The tool tray can be a little tricky in that you have to hold a nut up into one of the spaces for it in the bottom while you attach the bracket, and a bolt into it onto the shaft  (or where ever you want to put it), all kind of at the same time.  Then put the other bolt in.  

The extendable shaft and the two rubber straps are for attaching the handlebar stabilizer.  One end of the stabilizer attaches to the bike stand with one rubber strap.  There are two – one for attaching one end of the extendable shaft to the bike stand and one strap to attach it to the handlebars.

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One end of the strap goes around one of the little nubs that sticks out on one end of the extendable shaft, and then goes around the shaft of the bike stand and attaches to the other nub on the opposite side of the extendable shaft.  You use the strap in the same way to attach to the handlebars.

I’m not exactly sure which end of the extendable shaft should attach to the bike and which should be attached to the bike stand but I doubt that it really matters.  Each end has a concave-shaped piece of plastic which is identical to each other – the concave shape holds to the handlebar nicely and the other end fits to the tube of the bike stand – either the vertical part or the top horizontal part of the stand, whichever works best for the size of the bike and your preferences.

20200103_183706This extendable shaft also extends via a two piece system which has a little thumb knob on it for tightening.   So you can extend and retract the shaft, and then tighten it a bit when you have everything in place.

Also, if you are working on the handlebars themselves, perhaps wrapping new bar wraps you can attach the stabilizers to the inner part of the handlebars or the shifters or something like that, it’s pretty versatile as to where you are attaching it.

Once all of the stand is assembled make sure all of the knobs are tight enough so nothing slides now, and that the top bar clamp is opened enough to put your bike top bar into it.  You do have to hold the little wing nut on the bottom of the clamp while you tighten or loosen it.  It would have been nice to have something to secure this so you wouldn’t need to use both hands, but it does allow you to tighten it a lot.

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I believe that one thing to consider if you use this a lot is that you probably want to make sure that the rubbery material around the clamp is clean, especially if you are putting a dirty mountain bike on it or during the Spring when your road bike is dusty or dirty, etc.

The plasticy/rubbery clamp padding has a right-angle clamp configuration which lets cables – top and bottom, have space so as not to be crimped.  This also seems to make it hold well to non-round or oval top tubes.

The plastic rubbery material is very soft but firm so it should not damage your bike top bar nor allow you to tighten the clamp enough to squash something like carbon fiber, as long as you don’t go crazy with Bigfoot strength or something.  I think that you’d really have to get hard on to it to damage anything so you shouldn’t worry about this as long as you use good judgement, though I doubt you’d be able to squash carbon fiber with this clamp anyway.

20200103_183652When putting the bike on it’s best to find a balance point, the center point of your bike’s weight.  On most bikes this center point is likely going to be about three-quarters to two-thirds of the way toward the rear of the top bar (toward the saddle).  You can even balance the bike on the bottom of the clamp temporarily, sliding it back and forth a bit, to get a good idea of where the weight center is.

By getting a good balance point you’re not over-balancing the bike stand and making it insecure or prone to toppling.  Even though the legs are nice and stable and you can adjust them outward as much as you like – you want to get a good center balance point when putting the bike on the clamp.  Once you do tighten the clamp down a bit to hold the bike in place, re-check all other clamps on the stand also.

Now you can extend the handlebar stabilizer shaft and secure it to the handlebars using the second rubber strap, and maybe tighten the thumb knob on the extendable shaft to keep everything in place. 

Also, the top right angle shaft that holds the clamp can be adjusted inward and outward if needed, depending on your bike, your preferences, and whether you need to rotate your pedals.  If you don’t need to rotate your pedals you can keep this top shaft close for more stability especially if you are putting a larger, heavier bike on the stand, otherwise you can extend this out a way so that your pedals can clear the upright shaft of the bike stand.

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The tool tray can also be adjusted up and down as needed, or moved 360 degrees around the shaft.  It’s not large but it’s a good general purpose addition to the bike stand.

Do I have any quibbles?  Not really at this point.  I would have to really nitpick to find anything. 

Perhaps it could slide together and fold up smaller for storage, but this would likely compromise it’s stability and strength. Maybe the tool tray could be larger, but then it would get in the way more. 

The only legitimate thing I can think of is that the bottom of the clamp bolt could have a slot or bolt hole or something to secure it so tightening the clamp wouldn’t be a two-handed affair, but this is very minor.

20200103_160246In conclusion, the Zeny Bike Mechanic Repair Stand is, all in all, nicely built and moderately heavy-duty without being too much to lug around, folds up/slides together for good storage, and seems like it is durably built.  But while it isn’t heavy-duty enough to do large, high-torque repairs (for very heavy-duty and/or for larger scale repairs you can check out something like the Park Tool Home Mechanic Repair Stand), it is perfect for those of us who just need something for the occasional casual tweak and tune-up and parts replacement as well as a good platform for washing and lubrication.

And don’t forget to check out my accompanying Youtube assembly and short review:

 
Addendum Fall 2023 – A slight mod I have made recently was putting a bolt through the base of the clamp that you clamp onto the bike frame’s top bar. I noticed that over time the plastic clamp doesn’t stay quite as securely as it used to, even with the clamp tightened significantly. Boring a hole through the clamp and the top bar of the bike stand and putting a bolt through it, with a locking nut, makes sure this clamp can’t slip off the end and take the bike with it.

Marc M

I am a web developer and fitness geek, but I have a heck of a lot of differing interests.  Biking, the Internet, technology, movies, fitness, running and walking and hiking, science fiction, photography, graphics, WordPress, flying and aircrafts, pets and animals, history, and much more.  I like to stay very fit but I don’t mind sitting at my computer for work and play either.  I live in upstate New York (that’s far from New York City) in a rural area, yet close to a small city, with my beautiful awesome wife, a bunch of beloved cats and dogs and chickens in a very old multi-century house.

2 Comments:

  1. Awesome timing. I’ve been thinking heavily about buying a bike stand this year. This stand is one of a few that I have my eye on. This review and YouTube video has answered some questions I had about the stand. So far, my only question is about pedal clearance. How much space is there for turning the cranks for cleaning the chain for example?

    Thanks

  2. Hi Terance, glad it could answer some questions.
    There’s good clearance on all four bikes I put on it – the horizontal bar that the clamp is on and holds the bike’s top bar slides in and out over an eight and a half inch plus range. So good range of clearance, not tons but enough to clear the vertical part by plenty – unless someone has clown feet pedals or something I suppose 😉

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