I echo Dale's opinion that Ultimate is better than Park stands as a matter of personal choice...
I also have an Ultimate Pro bike stand and have never had any problems... I sometimes GENTLY clamp to the TT or ST away from the decals, but I also use a styrafoam padding around the tube to discourage from clamping too tight. The rubber covered clamp from Ultimate seemed to wear with age and use... The Park stands also have this problem with having to throw a cloth rag around a tube to prevent scratching.
The URL that describes the Ultimate Pro bike stand is as follows...
http://ultimatesupport.com/
Just my 2 cents worth...
Regards, Steve Neago
Cincinnati, OH
> In a message dated 6/12/2003 6:28:32 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> steve@sburl.com writes:
>
> << Those Park shop repair stands have probably wrinkled more seat tubes
and
> mangled more decals than any others. They are especially brutal on
> repainted bikes that have not had special curing. When you find yours, be
> sure to invest in Park's attachment that expands inside the seat tube to
> hold the bike. It does not hold the bike as firmly, but it could save
you
> from unpleasant surprises. >>
>
> I dislike using that Park inside-the-seat-tube expander tool; it is kind
of
> floppy and imprecise, although once installed it works OK, it is often
awkward
> to remove. Then as Steve mentions, it is not very stable in use. It tends
to
> twist about, risking whacking the frame on the rest of the stand.
>
> It is a lot smarter to just absolutely once and for all, get in the habit
of
> NEVER clamping the seat tube or top tube but always clamp the seat post.
Even
> if you have to loosen it and extend it to the point where you have enough
seat
> post exposed to clamp. Then use a stand which extends up high enough to
work
> on the bike at chest level.
>
> To that end, I HIGHLY recommend the Ultimate stand ...over the Park. I
sell
> and work with both at CDO. Ultimate makes two models the Pro and the
Consumer
> and both are excellent. They can adjust high enough for even Mark Petry
and
> have an excellent clamping head. (Ultimate are famous for their sound,
lighting
> and stage craft fixtures.)
> http://ultimatesupport.com
>
> Dale Brown
> cycles de ORO, Inc.
> 1410 Mill Street
> Greensboro, North Carolina
> USA 27408
> 336-274-5959
> Fax 336-274-6360
> <A HREF="http://www.cyclesdeoro.com">cyclesdeORO.com</A>
> <A HREF="http://www.classicrendezvous.com/main.htm">Classic Rendezvous</A>