It was 5-6 years ago that I saw for the first (and only) time what is being referred to on the CR list as an Acme bicycle stand. Bradley at American Cyclery in San Francisco had one as part of a display of vintage bikes at his shop. I loved the concept, but was not crazy about the execution. Bradley kindly lent me his stand to see what could be done to improve the classic stand.
I took the original Acme stand apart, then set about capturing the feel of the original with a few refinements. I redesigned it for a more narrow range of frame sizes, focusing on frames that were 54 - 58cm. (That range captures virtually every bicycle in my collection.) I then modified the design so the weight of the bike would primarily rest on the underside of the bottom bracket with counter weight balance on the front wheel. I widened the "feet" of the stand for stability and adjusted the height and width of the tire slot to address a standard front road/track wheel. Finally, I changed the wood to something I found a bit more interesting than basic pine and used a slick internal hinging system rather than utilitarian junk chain and hardware store hinges. The stand folds flat for easy storage.
I ended up making five of these stands. All told, the project took me a bit more than 30 hours, working out to about six hours or labor per stand.
Someone! Anyone! Please grab the reigns, further refine the design and then mass produce these things so they could become affordable!
I've placed a set of down and dirty photos on my site at:
http://thehortoncollection.com/
Brett Horton San Francisco, California
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