The BBB Profimount BTL 36 work stand has been with us for around six weeks and we are beginning to ask, what we did before we had it?
An invaluable addition to any home mechanic’s armoury, this stand is lightweight, stable, and easy to stow.
Constructed from aluminium tubes with resin and steel components, the BTL 36 stand is a well made item. It has a resin clamp with rubber-lined jaws that offer protection to paintwork.
We would normally clamp a bike by the seat post to avoid interference with any cable runs, but it is worth checking out what your bike manufacturer recommends if your steed has an integrated carbon seat post.
BBB sent us their BTL36 stand just days before we became inundated with different variations of tyres and tubes, and it has played a key role in making this, ahem, tyre-some process [you’re fired – ed] as smooth as possible. The bike has remained stable with one, both, or no wheels at all, a function of the stand’s solid base. At a maximum height of 152cm, this allows the wheels to be spun up for setting up gears or adjusting brakes without having to worry that your precious steed is going to hit the deck.
The BBB BTL 36 stand is a useful addition to your garage, even if you do not attempt complicated maintenance procedures. The ease with which a bike can be cleaned and worked upon makes it very handy indeed
It also means that you are not hunched over trying to work on a bike: a boon if you have a few to get through! It is worth remembering that a few of the newer race bikes are hiding their rear brakes under the bottom bracket shell. This stand would not be affected by an increasing trend for ‘direct mount’ calipers, unlike some of the more traditional race stands, where the bike is positioned on its bottom bracket shell and secured with a quick release through the fork dropout.
As we mentioned in the ‘first look’, the stand ships with a usefully rugged bag that measures roughly 106cm long by 20cm square, and which goes into the boot of most modern hatchbacks. The bag should help increase longevity and offer some protection from the elements when taken to events (particularly to ‘cross, where mud is rarely in short supply).
The BBB BTL 36 stand is a useful addition to your garage, and even if you do not attempt complicated maintenance procedures. The ease with which a bike can be cleaned and worked upon makes it very handy indeed.
The ultimate measure of success for any maintenance product is when it becomes an indispensable part of the testing set-up. The BTL36 has claimed a permanent space in the this reviewer’s bike room, and praise surely does not come much higher than that.
