If you can afford to purchase a bike workstand or even better still get someone else to buy one for you as a cycle gift, they will pay for themselves time and time again. A bicycle workstand will not only help reduce the potential of damage to the bike, it will assist in performing a better repair job especially when working on the gears as they allow you rotate the wheels and pedal as if you were riding the bike. Two cheap alternative methods to help hold your bike steady are either to hang the bike from rope from the garage roof or by turning the bicycle upside down with the handle bars resting on two blocks of wood to keep the gear levers, bells etc off the ground. However, if you need to exert extra pressure to loosen a stiff bolt or bicycle pedal, you may still need to get someone to hold the bike steady or purchase a suitable bicycle workstand