Product Reviews From Tallahassee, Florida

While my workshop was being built, I had time to look at a LOT of lifts before getting this. I could have spent a lot more for a better one (like the grey Made In the U.S.A. one), or a lot less for a janky-but-does-the-job one (you know, the red one with the foot pedal from That Chain Store). This hit the Goldilocks spot of price/performance, especially when everybody else tacks on a couple hundred for shipping only after you've looked at your cart.

I'll start with the dislikes, because you have to have some. First, the powder coat comes off immediately where the rollers run along the rails. Kind of expected I guess because that's a heavy wear area and aside from rust prevention before delivery, powder coating it seems pointless. I'll just strip it all off where the rollers make contact and give 'em a light coat of WD to keep them from rusting, but cleaning up red flakes after the first few uses was sub-optimal.

Second, the roller-style dropout panel seems gimmicky to me. Unless you have a bike that is exactly the right length so that the rear tire sits on the rollers when the front's in the vise, or you want to park it on the sidestand while rolling your tire (sketchy), it's pointless, and it's a pretty big hole to push your bike through when loading and unloading. I know... some people love 'em; different strokes.

I had a local metal shop cut and bend a new panel from 1/8" sheet and bought some square tube to cut and weld in for support. $40 for materials and a can of red spray paint and I have a solid panel that fits even better than the original (which was fine, to be fair).

That's about it. Otherwise, after decades of crawling around on the ground when working on bikes, using it has been and exercise in "where have you been all my life!"

It's sturdy, especially with the stabilizer bar, and the finish seems durable so far after a couple of tool drops and oil dribbles. It raises quickly and easily with my 26 gal. compressor. I'm a hobbyist who works on my own bikes and sometimes does work for friends, and I expect this will give me years of use with little trouble.

My only regret is that I didn't get the side extensions which, since I've used the lift a few times, I now realize would come in really handy even if they're not a necessity.

I'll also say that Redline's customer service was excellent. I had questions about both the product and the shipping process that were answered promptly by actual humans. Plus, they have some really informative YouTube videos that helped me make my decision.Read less