CLAMPING CONFUSION

Q: I try to do my own mechanic work whenever possible, and I currently have a Feedback Sports work stand in my garage that I use to work on my bikes. My frames are all aluminum at the moment, and I occasionally clamp the bike to the work stand by the top tube. I’ve heard this can be damaging, even to alloy frames. Should I only be clamping my bike at the seatpost?
Mark Fontes
Raleigh, North Carolina

A: That’s an excellent question that we see frequently pop up with people who like to work on their own bikes, especially people newer to the sport. Even though your bikes are all made of aluminum and you don’t have anything made of carbon, clamping the bike’s frame to the work stand can still be damaging. The top tube of your bike’s frame is not engineered to withstand the squeezing forces from the repair clamp, along with the leverage that your bike’s weight puts on the clamping point. Doing this, especially repeatedly over time, can compromise the structure of your top tube, which can lead to a potentially more dangerous failure while riding the bike in the future. We personally have not had something like this happen, but we have seen stories on the internet. We also do not clamp our bike’s at the frame.

It is almost universally recommended to clamp your bike to the repair stand by the seatpost, even with a dropper post. A typical seatpost collar can exert up to 1,000 pounds per square inch of force onto the seatpost that it’s clamping, whereas most repair stands only clamp at about 60–65 pounds per square inch, so the repair stand will not damage the dropper post. If you’re worried about scratching the stanchion of your seatpost, you can always put a microfiber or shop towel in the repair-stand clamp as a barrier and for peace of mind. This is the best and safest way to securely hold your bike in your stand to make repairs and perform maintenance without damaging your bike’s frame in any way.