Hopefully you've not purchased yet. Utter garbage for the 24 hours I owned one. Twisted under the great heft of a 400lb CBR 600.
Twisted? Did a weld break? I personally don't see any reason to pay for expensive stands, it is just a bent pipe with some wheels. I've been using trackside stands with no issues.
i use one of the front stands for my 750... not the greatest thing but it sure does the job for the price is great
Well something that was priced at $80 (and is now $30) must be quality! You think they are making and selling these at a loss? Doubtful, if it is, it isn't much of a loss. So figure you probably have about $15 worth of labor and materials into one, and you're willing to out a several thousand dollar bike on one? Weird. Pitbull all the way. 100% made in America and 100% bulletproof. Check out the video on www.sportbiketrackgear.com with interview with the owner.
Uaually, at least with stands. Ya get what ya get. Because you paid what you paid. That does not mean that deals are not out there. I'm saying 'do some homework' then decide. The front stand shown is good ONLY for wheel/tire and brake work. You cannot remove the front forks using that style stand. Things to look for when buying a tool that will hold your bike safely: Tubing diameter and tubing wall thickness. Look at Pitbull. They have a great (more expensive) front stand that allows the front forks to be removed. REMEMBER: Always use a rear stand when attempting to use a front stand. Serious injury can occur if a REAR stand is not used when attempting to use a Front stand.
And realistically Pitbull probably has no more than $25 into labor and materials. I agree the Pitbull is a much better stand though.
I wonder what product liability insurance costs them? Advertizing, employee health care insurance and, if they have a retirement probram?
You guys are right, you get what you pay for, that being said, I don't track the bike, and hardly use the stand 3 maybe 4 times a year for regular maintenance. Heck, before I had a stand, I used jack stands to hold up the rear... :thefinge:
I'd argue that point. Labor costs much more than what you pay the guy to show up to work (as was James' point). You are also paying for every bit of overhead, that means health insurance, company liability insurance, utilities, facilities upkeep, etc. etc. Which all cost more in the states than china. I'm sure that if pitbull could sell their stands for 50% of what they are now, they probably would. Depending on material costs, I can see at least $25 in just material on a pitbull stand. Large bore, thickwalled tubing isn't as cheap as some might think. Then you have some plate, better wheels and so on. My point wasn't that pitbulls cost more to make, it was to think about what kind of money is being put into the product you are buying, especially when you can get something like a stand for your bike for $30. That just screams low quality. It only takes one failure with a shitty stand to regret not spending the money on a good one. The first time you put a bike up on a set of good stands and try to give it a shake or two, you'll realize how flexy and shitty the other ones are.
you can make your $ on a few high margin items or a a lot of low margin items, and no matter the margins, you can have good or shoddy quality. price is *not* an indicator of quality. I have used very expensive items that fail to function, and very inexpensive items that work perfectly. pitbull, however, makes a very quality stand, from what I've seen. cheap stands, however, have never failed me.
Twisted horribly. I could make something more sturdy out of PVC pipe and glue. The stands mentioned above are well worth the extra $100.
In my experience, it is an indicator of quality when the price is below what I think someone can make a quality item with, and make any profit. Of course the sale price could be below cost on them just to get people in the door, but you'll never see Pitbulls on sale for $50 to get people in the door (could be price controlled?) You are correct in the general sense though. Go on ebay and there are a bunch of forged aluminum wheels from no-name companies in china. They cost the same as wheels from reputable brands. There are always exceptions, and price doesn't always mean quality but it is a good starting point when making purchase decisions. From my experience, and people I know, you get what you pay for with stands. If you keep an eye out, you can find pitbulls for half of retail, or about what cheap stands cost when they aren't on sale. I'd rather have a used stand that I know will never fail me, and I know my bike will be steady on it at all times. With the LP stands I had before, I never left my bike on the stands out of fear that it would get bumped and fall over. The bike was very easy to push and make wobble, and never felt stable enough to sit on. They were also so rickety that I actually started taking the fairings off if I was going to do anything to the bike.
Oh, and don't forget about the CEO pay. :stir: Yep, I'm stirring the pot on this one guys. I use my Cycle Gear front stand a couple times a year and for the price I paid, it works fantastic. Although I would absolutely LOVE to buy American, and try to every chance I get, the fact is that I can't justify a $120 front stand/2x year use. Having said that, I did buy a used rear Pit Bull stand from a coworker and wouldn't own anything else now that I'm aware of the quality difference.
Yep, I have two pitbull stand right now that I bought used. A forward handled rear stand for $45, and a front stand that lifts under the triple for $75. Just have to keep an eye out. Oh, and if anyone hasn't tried using the forward handled stands, you should because they are fucking awesome. And I am picking up two more pitbull stands today. A standard/spooled and a front that also does under the forks.
I have been using a Harbor Freight rear stand for the last year on my Hyosung. Its aluminum box frame style and works perfect. Never bends or anything, I even jump on my bike while its on the stand and everything and its nice and sturdy. Just used to last week to replace my chain and sprockets. It is pretty dang good. If it can handle the 550 lbs. of heavy steel Hyosung, then it can handle the light weight of your sport bikes. I paid $30 for it. It may not be an expensive steel tube PitBull style stand, but it works great. So the theory you get what you pay for isn't always true. I mean, if I run it over with my car or something, it will probably break. But it seems to be welded together just fine and there is no twisting or anything on it. Just my 2 cents.
