[iamalizard]

For the tools, I had a friend years ago who worked part time as a repairman and he said he always buys cheap as even expensive tools break. He viewed his tools as consumables, almost as disposables. He had a few of each type and said he didn't care when one broke. Not your philosophy or mine (buy expensive when you need to use it a lot) but it seemed to work for him.

I tried to DIY a bike stand. I wanted to make a truing wheel, too. I made something a very basic bike stand with spare materials lying around in less than an hour - just 2 metal desk legs bolted onto a piece of wood, as well as a couple of smaller pieces of wood to hold the front wheel in place (and a few smaller pieces where needed). It works for my bike only because of the geometry and it's definitely not great but it does the job! I watched some videos on how to make a good stand and it seems possible to DIY something really great for a fraction of the price. Sure, your time and labor costs money, but it would be satisfying to make something good yourself. I'm thinking of making another stand in a couple of months.