Ok to flip bike upside down for short periods to do work?

[Larry H]

I know that a stand or something like that is probably a more ideal solution, but given limited space and money, personally, I find it easier to flip the bike over and put it on its seat and handlebar to perform basic maintenance.

As long as I do this for only short periods of time and store the thing on its wheels when not working on it, I'm not especially harming anything, right?

Thanks.

[AndrewB]

Not that I can see. You may want to be careful what the seat and handlebars rest on though, and maybe put some rags or cloth down to prevent them from getting scratched or chewing up your handlebar tape.

For chain maintenance, I currently put the bike on it's tires. But if I'm adjusting the derailleurs, it's upside down. A bike repair stand is on my to-buy list.

[Larry H]

(08-23-2010, 05:52 PM)AndrewB Wrote:  Not that I can see. You may want to be careful what the seat and handlebars rest on though, and maybe put some rags or cloth down to prevent them from getting scratched or chewing up your handlebar tape.

For chain maintenance, I currently put the bike on it's tires. But if I'm adjusting the derailleurs, it's upside down. A bike repair stand is on my to-buy list.

Thanks for the reply, Andrew. I can tell you that the surface on which the bike gets flipped over is carpet, so I'm not too worried about that doing any damage to the bike. (I live in an apartment with pretty much zero outdoor storage, so the bike comes inside after every ride.)

Any lubrication work would be done outside, so as not to get oil all over the carpet, but most anything else from brakes to derailleurs to tweaking the seat position gets done inside.

[Bill]

There are many very cheap inexpensive stands that are pretty effective. I have even heard of a couple made out of 2x4's and other scrap wood. My stand is home-made with black steel pipe which cost around 60.00 or so. There are others that have been mentioned on here .... http://bikeride.com/search.php?q=bike+stand&sa=GO&cx=007212922836035168183%3Afhf2-dk8g-i&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8#972 .
You'll have to click through but those are search results for this site only which many have home made stands. I have seen some crap ones for sale on ebay, steer clear of those because they are very cheaply made. You would be better off just getting the material and making one yourself or have someone with the tools to help out. Here is a couple that may be of interest to you...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Natural-Wood-Indoor-Bicycle-Stand-for-Under-15-US/

http://lifehacker.com/5413886/build-a-cheap-free+standing-bike-repair-stand-with-pipes

There are so many out there. Instructables.com is a great source of information too.

Hope this helps ,
Bill

[xerxes]

You won't do any harm at all by flipping a bike upside-down. It doesn't have fuel, water, oil etc. like a vehicle with an engine that can leak and cause problems.

[trevgbb]

the main thing to watch out for is potential damage to items that will come into contact with the floor and carry the weight of the bike, ie, gear shifters, especially gripshift types, these are easily damaged, any fittings such as lights, computers, etc.

[X-RAY]

what if it has a suspension fork? my current ride was stored upside down (hung by the wheels) for a few years before i got it. the fork seems to be great, but i have nothing to compare it to.

[Larry H]

(08-25-2010, 12:27 AM)X-RAY Wrote:  what if it has a suspension fork? my current ride was stored upside down (hung by the wheels) for a few years before i got it. the fork seems to be great, but i have nothing to compare it to.

Can't say I have the experience to know the answer beyond any shadow of a doubt, but I can chime in with what I think is common sense.

If the suspension fork seems ok, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Actually, something I would worry about more would be wheel quick-releases, if you have them; I can't help but think that hanging the bike by its wheels has to be pretty hard on those.

I've read some stuff about poorly-designed disc brakes causing quick-release wheels to come off the fork while riding, so the quick-release cams can't be the strongest things in the world. Hanging a bike by its wheels places all the weight of the bike in opposition to whatever holds the wheels on, so I'd keep a close eye on your quick-releases.

* When I mention disc brake issues, it has to do with the placement of the calipers. Specifically, if the calipers are almost directly behind the hub, the wheel-slowing force is applied in a downward direction, and that acts against the QR cams. Strong enough disc brakes placed in that position can overcome weak enough QRs and rip the wheel right out of the fork.

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(08-24-2010, 07:33 AM)trevgbb Wrote:  the main thing to watch out for is potential damage to items that will come into contact with the floor and carry the weight of the bike, ie, gear shifters, especially gripshift types, these are easily damaged, any fittings such as lights, computers, etc.

Thanks for the tip. I did make sure to remove the mirror part of a bar-end mirror and the headlight itself (though not its mount) before starting any of my work. Most anything else, I don't think I need to worry about, as it looks like the area covered by the grips takes all of the weight and nothing else quite touches the floor.