Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Feedback Sports Sport Mechanic workstand

7
£149.99

VERDICT:

7
10
Well made and easy to use workstand that won't let you down
Weight: 
5,780g
Contact: 
www.2pure.co.uk

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

More and more riders are buying a workstand for the shed, and for taking with them to events: it makes tinkering with the bike that much easier. The Sports Mechanic stand from Feedback Sports sits second from bottom in their range and is a good compromise: sturdy enough to cope with years of shed-based fettling, light and portable enough to sling in the car for the next sportive.

The frame of the stand is a mixture of powder-coated Aluminium and steel with a full tripod base. The telescopic upright extends from 1m up to 1.65m, and Feedback rate the stand to hold loads up to 29.5kg. The clamp is a robust-but-basic spinner, and there's a friction assembly at the upright end that allows you to rotate the clamp, and fold it down for transport. The tripod and upright clamps are resin with steel inserts.

Sling a bike on the Sport Mechanic and it's a nice stable workhorse. The friction grip allows you to easily swing the bike around to get at hard-to-reach areas, though the bike tends to creep back to horizontal unless you do it up really tight. The tripod base is good in that it's more stable through 360° than a two-legged base, but when you're working on the bike it doesn't make a great deal of difference unless you're wrestling with a bottom bracket or something equally brutal, where you're pushing against the bike. The spinner clamp is fairly basic but works extremely well, grabbing most frames firmly although it struggles a bit with more esoteric tube sections. If your bike has cables running under the top tube it can affect the run, but you can switch to clamping the seat tube if you want to meddle with the gears.

Build quality is very good, and you'd expect that from a fairly expensive workstand. It's competing with stands such as the Tacx Cycle Spider and the Minoura RS5000 at this price point, both good units. The feedback sores well for packability – it folds down small and at 5.7kg isn't particularly heavy, and you can get a bag as an optional extra. There's a good range of add-ons available too, including a truing jig and a tool tray.

Verdict

If you're looking for a good quality workstand that'll do the time in the shed and also survive being chucked in the car for every race or sportive, then the Feedback is certainly worth a look. It's simple to use, well made and sturdy.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Feedback Sports Sport Mechanic workstand

Size tested: n/a

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
7/10
Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? As a long term investment, yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Overall rating: 7/10

About the tester

Age: 36  Height: 190cm  Weight: 98kg

I usually ride: whatever I\'m testing...  My best bike is: Trek 1.5 with Ultegra 6700

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: time trialling, commuting, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

Latest Comments