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>