OdPod

I had in the past looked at bike workstands, and not wishing to burn money decided I could manage without.  Recently I saw a review of this, and thought it sounded like a good compromise, and I'm finding it very handy already.

I decided to resurrect my old hybrid to perform commuting duties (last seen in action on my first tour, to Lands End), and the stand proved most useful for cleaning and tinkering.  I spent a ridiculous amount of time removing an annoying plastic thing which was presumably intended to prevent the chain coming off the largest rear cog, an extremely unlikely eventuality since said cog is so large that it is almost impossible to spin fast enough to stay upright, and is consequently un-used.  The plastic thing came loose on day two of the two week tour and provided an annoying noise for the remainder, but proved extremely resistant to removal.  I (and two pairs of pliers) were eventually victorious, though not before the rain had started.