Bike repair stand for someone with lifting restrictions?

[pnwetc]

I've recently developed a medical condition (mild inguinal hernia) that imposes lifting and straining restrictions. That makes my Radrunner Plus great for tackling hills without overexerting, but the 70ish-pound weight creates problems for positioning the bike for maintenance and repairs, particularly when working on derailleurs, chain, brakes, etc.

I used to just lift the front wheel of the bike and flip it over the back of the bike to work on it upside-down, but my doctor said that I probably should not do that anymore if I don't want to make the hernia worse. At most, I can probably lift one wheel to a short height for a few seconds, as long as much of the weight is distributed to the other wheel. So I looked into retail bike repair stands, but pretty much all of them seem to require that the full weight of the bike be lifted up to mount it on the stand, which is apparently out of the question. And since I'm renting a small apartment (with bike stored in a shared parking garage locker room), I can't install a pulley system mounted to walls or the ceiling.

Does anyone here know of any reasonably-priced retail repair stands (or other options I might not be thinking of) that are suited for users with lifting restrictions? Any advice is appreciated!

[tacomanatx]

I use my Park Stand as a bike holder 99% of the time.  I just put the horn of the seat on horizontal bar.   You can likely do most of what you need in this fashion to the rear.

[JimInPT]

I'm sure the Park stands are great; they make fine products, but I found this one on Amazon for about half the cost and it's VERY sturdy - plenty enough to hold my 90-lb accessorized MiniST2, same size as your RRPlus:  https://amzn.to/3dS3rc8  and at the moment it seems to be discounted below the price I paid.

There is another cheaper model from this company that looks similar but doesn't have the same capacity - make sure you're selecting the 110-lb capacity version if you decide to try it out.  It's well-built, strong and folds up nicely, so I think it's a good deal.

I'm not as strong and sturdy as I used to be as well, so I put a short stool next to the bike and deadlift it up a bit off the ground onto the stand rather than try to lift it with my back from floor level.  One other thing you might consider is something like this to pick up the load with pulleys from the ceiling and not strain yourself - there are lots to choose from, check their capacities as well: https://amzn.to/3UN7k2z 

(crap, sorry; just noticed you can't do a pulley system, but I'll leave the link in place in case others might find it useful)

[Eric7]

1.   Get a free standing bike stand strong enough to hold your bike.  You must get a strong one.
2.   Tilt the bikestand on its side and clamp the clamp onto your bike.  You may have to lay your bike down and tile the bikestand 90 degrees.
3.   Raise your bike stand (bike attached) like you are raising a flag in battle.  Or sling a rope over a pully and pull it up.

1.  Same as above.
2.  Use a pully attached to the top of your garage and lift the bike up with a rope.  You can rope the seat.
3.  Clamp bike to stand.

[pnwetc]

I use my Park Stand as a bike holder 99% of the time.  I just put the horn of the seat on horizontal bar.   You can likely do most of what you need in this fashion to the rear.

I'm starting to think this is what I'll have to do, with a Park or similar style stand. I had considered an Ibera-style utility stand (example), but the weight-bearing capacity for most models is not great, and I'd worry about the brake cable routed under the chainstay being pulled or damaged by the mount. I don't love the idea of hooking the horn of the seat on the stand, but it's about the only option I'm hearing about that wouldn't require me to lift the entire weight of the bike. Thanks for the advice.

[tacomanatx]

I use my Park Stand as a bike holder 99% of the time.  I just put the horn of the seat on horizontal bar.   You can likely do most of what you need in this fashion to the rear.

I'm starting to think this is what I'll have to do, with a Park or similar style stand. I had considered an Ibera-style utility stand (example), but the weight-bearing capacity for most models is not great, and I'd worry about the brake cable routed under the chainstay being pulled or damaged by the mount. I don't love the idea of hooking the horn of the seat on the stand, but it's about the only option I'm hearing about that wouldn't require me to lift the entire weight of the bike. Thanks for the advice.

I have an older version of this https://www.parktool.com/en-us/product/home-mechanic-repair-stand-pcs-9-3?category=Portable

[Harhir]

If you are working in the garage and have some space at the ceiling you could get one of these ceiling lifts to pull up a bike.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RAD-Cycle-Black-1-Bike-Ceiling-Mount-Heavy-Duty-Garage-Bike-Rack-HWD630542/308049877
There are various models out there.

[Ddaybc]

That's a nice lift/rack. We use a similar one for lifting our kayak and storing it at roof level. It's rated at 120 pounds but it would definitely work for a cycle. Maintenance or storage. Good idea.

If you are working in the garage and have some space at the ceiling you could get one of these ceiling lifts to pull up a bike.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/RAD-Cycle-Black-1-Bike-Ceiling-Mount-Heavy-Duty-Garage-Bike-Rack-HWD630542/308049877
There are various models out there.