Twitter was all abuzz last week with the news that, not only are they sponsoring Etixx Quick Step with their distinctive yellow logo, but Lidl have also begun to stock a foldable bike workstand for what sounds like a very economical £24.99. Too good to be true? Luckily, Ride Velo Towers, our new premises, happen to be directly opposite Brixton’s very own branch of Lidl so we went over to investigate.
The Ride Velo Bianchi securely atop the £24.99 workstand
There it was, at the end of an aisle with a whole load of other bike kit, including helmets, gloves, dodgy looking mini pumps and cheap lycra that, if I’m being honest, I wouldn’t be seen dead in. But the Powerfix Bike Workstand looked quality, and picking it up revealed that it came in at a reassuring hefty weight. The only mishap was knocking our half dozen eggs off the conveyor belt which splatted messily onto the floor. Very nice they are, in Lidl, and they replaced them without a quibble. And the guy at the counter confirmed: yes, the workstand is indeed only £24.99.
With a spring in our step we hot-footed it back over the road to try out our new purchase. It’s great! I like the fact that it’s foldable as we’re a little tight on space here at the moment. The legs can splay out for a heavier load (they say it’s even suitable to hold an e-bike, and having tried one out recently, I can confirm that they weigh a lot more than my De Rosa) but we tried it out with the legs only partially extended with a carbon road bike attached and it seemed pretty sturdy to me. In fact standing at the side of a room it could even work as a solution for bike storage. Room for one more bike, then…Joseph at Herne Hill was talking about selling his old 90’s Pinarello. There might be space for it after all…
Brixton Lidl - while stocks last!
Anyway, back to the workstand: it’s got everything you’d want, really, including a magnetic tray for tools or fiddly washers and bolts that always seem to disappear if you’re not careful. It all seems to work perfectly and you can adjust the height and angle of the bike easily. Love the fact that the legs don’t have to be fully splayed, and no garish colours either, just black and blue, trying to look rather like the Park Tool colours, methinks, but at a fraction of the price. Their cheapest one sells for around £70. I see that Halfords do one for £40, but it doesn’t look as good and doesn’t extend as high as the Lidl one which has a maximum working height of 188cm. The Powerfix can carry a maximum weight of 30kg which sounds more than enough for even an electric bike on the heavy side.
So, get down to Lidl and pick one up pronto – reckon they’ll be selling like hot cakes. You can also pick up a hot cross bun while you’re there as they’re on special offer now that Easter is over. They do a good Rioja, too. Love Lidl.
