Picked up a Bike Lift today

[strobe]

I have my wife's bike and the Nomad to maintain. I was getting sick of crawling around on the floor, bent over working on the bikes that I ended up taking them in for some service that I can do myself, in some cases likely better than some of the dealerships I think so I broke down and bought a bike lift.

Princess Auto in Canada (basically the same as Harbor Freight for the majority of the members here) had a air/hydraulic lift on sale for $499 (approx $400 US). After a considerable amount of debate I decided to take the plunge and get the thing. Here a couple pics of the new lift in action.





It seems to work pretty well, I am quite happy with the lift height and stability of the lift even at the max height. The nice thing is I can drive my truck in over the jack when it is empty and all the way down, so it really does not take up too much space.

[ballast]

I was just looking at these today in a HF flyer. What is the jack you have under the bike? Does the tail of that lift drop?

[redjay]

Hi, Does it have a mechanical locking mechanism in case the hydraulic cylinder fails ? Does it lower smoothly ?

[caper]

Nice lift. Good decision on you"re part!

[borto1990]

that looks almost identicle to the harbor freight lift I bought too.. it works great. i didn't get the air model, it's just a foot pump but it goes up so easy I am glad I didnt' spend the extra money. Looks the same as mine for the "safety bar" with goes in the 2 holes in the bracket thats under the front tire.. 2 spots to raise it to, then slide a bar across incase it leaks down. I got the drive on wheel chock for 29 bucks and it makes it 100 times better. not sure what rear jack you got, but I got the "black jack" from jc whitney for 109 with free shipping. works beautiful. so nice to have the bike at 30 inches in the air.. I should have bought one years ago. I know your gonna love it strobe!!!

[bosko]

Nice, I want one.

[ringadingh]

It certainly would have been nice to have one yesterday, I can hardly move today because of my sore back and knees, from bending over the bike all day. The stupid part is that two of my neighbours have that same lift, and I could have borrowed one.

[strobe]

Originally Posted by ballast

I was just looking at these today in a HF flyer. What is the jack you have under the bike? Does the tail of that lift drop?

That is an extra scissor jack I picked up for $89 to lift the rear end so I can get the rear tire off. It will also work on the floor to lift the front tire off the ground for removal. There is a removable panel that comes out once you get the tire off the lift and it should make for easier removal. I would not buy one without this feature.

[strobe]

Originally Posted by borto1990

that looks almost identicle to the harbor freight lift I bought too.. it works great. i didn't get the air model, it's just a foot pump but it goes up so easy I am glad I didnt' spend the extra money. Looks the same as mine for the "safety bar" with goes in the 2 holes in the bracket thats under the front tire.. 2 spots to raise it to, then slide a bar across incase it leaks down. I got the drive on wheel chock for 29 bucks and it makes it 100 times better. not sure what rear jack you got, but I got the "black jack" from jc whitney for 109 with free shipping. works beautiful. so nice to have the bike at 30 inches in the air.. I should have bought one years ago. I know your gonna love it strobe!!!

I was going to get the manual one too actually, but they wanted $549 for it....so I saved a few bucks this way :)

[strobe]

Originally Posted by redjay

Hi, Does it have a mechanical locking mechanism in case the hydraulic cylinder fails ? Does it lower smoothly ?

There is a bar that goes through, you can see it sitting on the platform just in front of the rear tire ( did not have it in when I took the pictures). It lowers very smoothly, and you can control the speed as well by how hard you press the pedal.

[dogdoc]

thats NOT just a bike lift guy. Thats a surgery table. :-)

[lomax]

That's great strobe. My BIL and I looked at that jack at Princess Auto in Kelowna a few weeks ago. I'm thinking seriously about this lift. Since adding the extra weight of a trunk and mount, my bike is rear heavy to the point of needing an adaptor for the Sears jack or a lift like yours.

[strobe]

Originally Posted by lomax

That's great strobe. My BIL and I looked at that jack at Princess Auto in Kelowna a few weeks ago. I'm thinking seriously about this lift. Since adding the extra weight of a trunk and mount, my bike is rear heavy to the point of needing an adaptor for the Sears jack or a lift like yours.

Go for it!!! It really works great, I was working on my intake and when finished, I did not have a sore back / sore knees, it was great! I am going to try and get a Harbor Freight wheel chock for it like borto1990 and mount it, that is the only 'problem' I have with the lift. Sale on this one ends today (March 29) so not sure what they will do now with the price, with my luck the new price will be cheaper :-/.

[strobe]

Originally Posted by Doc (Lonewolf)

thats NOT just a bike lift guy. Thats a surgery table. :-)

hopefully I never have to do 'internal' surgery....

[macmac]

That lift looks like a good one to me.. I like how you can stand and drop out a wheel.

That feature would cause me some grief, since I need my knees to lift rear wheels, but then my back is junk.

How is the ft wheel chock on that? Will it hold the bike up straight with no strap at all?

Could it hold the rear wheel if the bike was backed on?