Recommend me a wheel truing/building stand....

[thecaptn]

Hi All,

I think it's about time for me to try truing and building my own wheels, not due to necessity but purely for the fun of it. I'm under no illusion that it's an easy or straight forward process and fully expect to stuff up a fair bit and give fellow BNA members the squirts with my incessant stupid questioning.

I'm eyeballing a pair of 105 hubs to pair up with some good strong rims for a first try and as a newby would appreciate any words of wisdom from the craftsman amongst us, such as which incantations to chant for divining spoke length and which wheel building stand would you guys recommend?

Any advice would be very much appreciated thanks,

Pete

[trailgumby]

I've just recently bought one of these. Just a bit over half the price of the Park Tools unit it seems ot be a copy of.

It needed a bit of work tightening some components that weren't assembled well, but with that done it works very well.

http://www.this link is broken/au/e ... prod122322" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[coffeeandwine]

I too have recently taken this course Cap'n.

As recommended by a few on this forum, I have found Musson's e-book to be really great value. Talks you through all the technical bits in a very practical way, explains spoke measuring etc. Includes a number of useful tools (I have constructed the dishing tool and spoke length calculator) including a Truing stand (although i went and purchased the Park Tools Pro stand online).

Some sage advice fromSheldon.

there is a very useful thread on this forum.

and another interesting site...

Lots of places to source rims, spokes and hubs that i can pass on.

Some nasty weather forecast tomorrow-I might actually get my first wheel finished (it is laced and slowly bringing tension up).

Have fun.

[thecaptn]

I've just recently bought one of these. Just a bit over half the price of the Park Tools unit it seems ot be a copy of.

It needed a bit of work tightening some components that weren't assembled well, but with that done it works very well.

http://www.this link is broken/au/e ... prod122322" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks the same yes. Thanks for the link.

I too have recently taken this course Cap'n.

As recommended by a few on this forum, I have found Musson's e-book to be really great value. Talks you through all the technical bits in a very practical way, explains spoke measuring etc. Includes a number of useful tools (I have constructed the dishing tool and spoke length calculator) including a Truing stand (although i went and purchased the Park Tools Pro stand online).

Some sage advice fromSheldon.

there is a very useful thread on this forum.

and another interesting site...

Lots of places to source rims, spokes and hubs that i can pass on.

Some nasty weather forecast tomorrow-I might actually get my first wheel finished (it is laced and slowly bringing tension up).

Have fun.

Thanks for the links, been reading for the last 4 hours. Good luck wheel build tomorrow if you get to do it. Would be great if you could post some pics once you're done.

[queequeg]

^^^ same advice, get the Musson book and have a good understanding of how spoke lengths are calculated. You'll quickly find out where an inaccurate measurement will have the greatest impact.

I also bought the Park Tool Pro stand off c r c. There was no X-Tools version back then, but I also picked the park tool stand during a sale and got it for a tad over $200.

[macca33]

I bought the heavier one - similar in appearance to the Park Tools one - from Cycling Deal. It wasn't a bad price and does the job well enough.

cheers

[thecaptn]

I'm thinking this doesn't look too bad, opinions?...
http://www.this link is broken.au/lifeline-profe ... truing-jig" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Thoglette]

I've yet to progress past #1 in Bike Hack's DIY list

I keep planning to make an indicator plate which will mount on the canti bosses but, so far, laziness prevails.

[MattyK]

I've yet to progress past eyeing off a pile of Bosch extrusion and connectors and the 3D printer at work...

[DavidS]

I have a tendency to break spokes so I bought the expensive shop version of the Park Tools truing stand. Much cheaper from overseas but still pricey. The only issue I have is that I need to get the attachment to center the stand as it is clearly not centered. Maybe I'll get the attachment. It is a very capable truing stand but probably overkill for what I do and possibly for you too.

This is the one I have:

Details Here: http://www.parktool.com/product/profess ... and-ts-2-2

DS

[kukamunga]

Same as the x-tools - picked up one of these locally for myself last week:

http://www.cyclingdeal.com.au/buy/bikeh ... ai/YC-512N" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thinking of getting one of these in the near future:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1175115250" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Duck!]

I have a tendency to break spokes so I bought the expensive shop version of the Park Tools truing stand. Much cheaper from overseas but still pricey. The only issue I have is that I need to get the attachment to center the stand as it is clearly not centered. Maybe I'll get the attachment. It is a very capable truing stand but probably overkill for what I do and possibly for you too.

This is the one I have:

Details Here: http://www.parktool.com/product/profess ... and-ts-2-2

DS

Alternately, if you have a dishing tool to check a wheel with, you can use that wheel as your centring tool.

Also, set your stand up very slightly (1mm is enough) off-centre. If it's bang-on, you lose the audio cue of the rim touching the lateral guide to tell if your wheel is straight, whereas if you work to a very small gap on one side you can hear where the wheel is out of line when you spin it, as it pulls away from your centred side guide.

[queequeg]

I have a tendency to break spokes so I bought the expensive shop version of the Park Tools truing stand. Much cheaper from overseas but still pricey. The only issue I have is that I need to get the attachment to center the stand as it is clearly not centered. Maybe I'll get the attachment. It is a very capable truing stand but probably overkill for what I do and possibly for you too.

This is the one I have:

Details Here: http://www.parktool.com/product/profess ... and-ts-2-2

DS

I have the centering tool. It is just a representation of a perfectly dished wheel.

To make the stand fit in the box, park tool ships them rather inconveniently misaligned. Mine was out by about 2cm! Perhaps this is a scam to make you buy the tool.

If you are in Sydney, you are welcome to drop by with your stand and centre it.

[DavidS]

I have a tendency to break spokes so I bought the expensive shop version of the Park Tools truing stand. Much cheaper from overseas but still pricey. The only issue I have is that I need to get the attachment to center the stand as it is clearly not centered. Maybe I'll get the attachment. It is a very capable truing stand but probably overkill for what I do and possibly for you too.

This is the one I have:

Details Here: http://www.parktool.com/product/profess ... and-ts-2-2

DS

Alternately, if you have a dishing tool to check a wheel with, you can use that wheel as your centring tool.

Also, set your stand up very slightly (1mm is enough) off-centre. If it's bang-on, you lose the audio cue of the rim touching the lateral guide to tell if your wheel is straight, whereas if you work to a very small gap on one side you can hear where the wheel is out of line when you spin it, as it pulls away from your centred side guide.

I do have the dishing tool and I may well try that.

Thanks for the offer queequeg but I live in Melbourne.

Great wheel truing stand, do wonder if it was ever centred.

DS

[silentbutdeadly]

Reminds me (again) to cut up some MDF and bolt it together into a modified Musson stand. I have a spare pair of Paragon Machine Works sliding drop outs that will make excellent axle carriers!

[Crawf]

I have a tendency to break spokes so I bought the expensive shop version of the Park Tools truing stand. Much cheaper from overseas but still pricey. The only issue I have is that I need to get the attachment to center the stand as it is clearly not centered. Maybe I'll get the attachment. It is a very capable truing stand but probably overkill for what I do and possibly for you too.

This is the one I have:

Details Here: http://www.parktool.com/product/profess ... and-ts-2-2

DS

I have the centering tool. It is just a representation of a perfectly dished wheel.

To make the stand fit in the box, park tool ships them rather inconveniently misaligned. Mine was out by about 2cm! Perhaps this is a scam to make you buy the tool.

If you are in Sydney, you are welcome to drop by with your stand and centre it.

Ahh i'm not alone, spent the biccies on this and am very, very disappointed with it, so much so that I continue to use my original Tacx mobile stand which is 1/4 the price and builds me better wheels.
My Park stand is completely out of alignment in all respects.

[queequeg]

I have a tendency to break spokes so I bought the expensive shop version of the Park Tools truing stand. Much cheaper from overseas but still pricey. The only issue I have is that I need to get the attachment to center the stand as it is clearly not centered. Maybe I'll get the attachment. It is a very capable truing stand but probably overkill for what I do and possibly for you too.

This is the one I have:

Details Here: http://www.parktool.com/product/profess ... and-ts-2-2

DS

I have the centering tool. It is just a representation of a perfectly dished wheel.

To make the stand fit in the box, park tool ships them rather inconveniently misaligned. Mine was out by about 2cm! Perhaps this is a scam to make you buy the tool.

If you are in Sydney, you are welcome to drop by with your stand and centre it.

Ahh i'm not alone, spent the biccies on this and am very, very disappointed with it, so much so that I continue to use my original Tacx mobile stand which is 1/4 the price and builds me better wheels.
My Park stand is completely out of alignment in all respects.

They ship them this was on purpose I discovered. When you open the box you can clearly see that they aligned it so it fits in the box, not so it can be used immediately. I found out the hard way when trying to build my first wheel with it!

[trailgumby]

The X-Tools unit was the same. The two collets on the winder that adjusts the axle support width using the right-hand knob were loose and the arms didn't move with much precision at all.

I solved the problem by taking one of my already perfectly dished wheels (Pro-Lite Braccianos ) and used that to centre the feelers after pushing the plastic collets all the way home and tightening their pinch bolts with the torque wrench.

How do I know the Bracciano dishing was perfect? I simply flipped it over and got the same result.

[queequeg]

I should add that the Park Tool centering gizmo can be used on any stand, since it is just a block of Alu representing a perfectly dished wheel.