Hi Andre,
Thinking aloud...
I surely can understand the need to avoid an awkward lift of a heavy bike -- I am reminded of that each time I lift my fully-loaded and water-laden touring bike over a guardrail or cattle guard, the awkward mass attempting to bite me as the front wheel swings around.
At the same time, I'm concerned about the possibility your beautiful bike might fall over during service, causing damage to it, the surroundings, or yourself.
Andre, could you manage a variation on my loaded-tourer front-flat repair? Front flats are far less frequent than rear ones, but I have occasionally had one when touring. Keeping the bags on, I lay the bike on its side, which elevates the front wheel off the ground the thickness of a pannier, leaving plenty of room to reach under and guide the wheel in and out of the dropouts, loosen the dynohub connectors, etc.
No, on reflection, probably not. I recall reading a Rohloff cannot be laid on its side for extended periods else the risk of oil leakage will increase.
Would it be possible to lay your Kranich momentarily on its side -- using, say, a camping pad or gym mat as a pad to prevent any possibility of scratching the finish? -- on the way to inverting it so both wheels would be free and upright and the bike stable on its handlebars and saddle? I myself never, ever invert my bike, and there is the problem of incidental damage to handlebar-mounted accessories as well (mirrors, computer, etc). However, there would be two advantages: 1) At no time would you have to lift the entire bicycle, and 2) the inverted bike would be stable.
You have remarkable ingenuity, Andre, so I know you will yet rig something both useful and reliable. I'm just concerned about reliable security and holding as you remove and refit the front wheel.
Hmm. Perhaps some more innovative thinking is required...
In lieu of greater elevation of the upright bike, might you instead be able to gain clearance by removing and refitting the front wheel with the tire deflated? With the Big Apples, you'd gain considerable clearance, and it wouldn't be a huge bother to refill the tire once in place. I deflate my2.0 Duremes each time I insert or remove a wheel to better clear my v-brakes and ring-lock...
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Andre! I believe I've got it!
Looking at the photos of your bike, it has a lowrider boss midway up each fork, unused now, but just waiting to serve as a jacking/lift point. Remove the bolt in each, and fit a longer one with a short spacer. Now, use your saw to construct a stand similar in concept to the Nitto rear-wheel stand I pictured above, but taller and so it engages the extended lowrider bolts (now lifting pegs) in a notch. A wooden base and two triangular sides, with a notch at each apex should do the job. If you need access at the sides, just cut out the center of the triangles, leaving a wooden perimeter frame in place.
Quick, clean, no possible damage to the bike, and as wide and stable a base as you wish. I believe it would be vertically stable as well, with so much weight hanging below the midpoint of the fork. As for the extended lowrider bolts and spacers that form the mounting pegs...they could be left in or removed as you wished. The process would require no lifting; the stand could be simply tipped at an angle to engage the lowrider pegs, the bike pushed forward, and stepping on the base of the stand would finally jack it into place -- same idea as a Formula One car's nosecone pit-lift. I've attached a crude sketch below to illustrate the general idea.
Hope this helps,
Dan.
