When your bike is on a bike repair stand and you rotate the bike so the front wheel is higher than the rear wheel, the front wheel will flop to the side if you let go – and it can slam into your frame. Not good.
They sell handlebar holders to prevent this. But don’t waste your money. Just get some thick rubber bands and keep them with the stand.
When you’re done working on the front end of your bike or if you only need to work on the back, secure the front wheel so it can’t swing over by wrapping a rubber band around the valve stem on the front wheel, around the down tube and then back around the valve stem. Now you can rotate the bike any which way and the front end will stay put.
Good advice. I just use an old piece of inner tube…around the front wheel and the down tube (ideally using the bottle holder to keep secure – to keep the inner tube from sliding on the down tube). This also works well when transporting a bike on a hanging bike rack to keep the wheel from banging side to side.
I have a Park handlebar holder to use with my Park work stand and neither is a waste of money.
I use a long, thin strip of Velcro. They sell them as cable ties but I found them to work great for securing the front wheel. When not in use it wraps neatly around the top body of the stand.
The solution is obvious for the old riders out there….use a strap from your toe clips. Then again you would likely have to have been riding before clipless pedals came along to have them, Toe clip straps are also good to secure wheels on roof rack wheel forks so that they do not spin as you drive along.
That’s exactly what I use Ed.