Bicycle Mechanics - Truing Stands

I've done the search read the old posts still need
additional information.
What Truing stand are you using? pros and cons?
what would you look for if you were going to buy one
now, knowing what you know now?

Guess who's going to be buying one?

Marty

My first stand was a MINOURA, which is quite sufficient if you are only going to build a pair every once in awhile for yourself.

I now use a Park TS 2, and have used it for about 10 years. I have adapted a Dial Indicator to it and generally bring a wheel into true with a tolerence of +or- .003".

Am currently considering a VAR stand which is much more versatile than the Park.

You don't really need a truing stand to build wheels. An old fork will make an adequate stand for building front wheels, and you can true a rear wheel in a bike frame. These methods are awkward, but serviceable.

The point is: Ask yourself how many wheels you think you might build and if that justifies the cost of a truing stand.

Although I own an old VAR truing stand, I usually find it more convenient to remove the tyre, remount the wheel in the frame or fork, and use the brake pads as truing guides. If you don't have a shop stand for the bike, hang it from an open garage door with bungie cords or rope.

Park TS2, because it is fast, durable, easy to use, and it is what I learned on years ago. I true many a wheels in a week so it is real handy.

I built a pari of wheels last year and bought a ts-7, its adequate, Ive used it to true the other wheels around the house and loaned it to a friend.

Save yourself the money and get a friend...
I like guinness, Kilkenny, Ex will do in a pinch on a hot day...

but somone said an fork or the rear of a frame and a piece of wire duct taped for you guage held in a vice works pretty good too!

I bought one of the $20 truing attachments Park sells for some of its workstands, including the PS-1 I have. It works great for occasional truing. I haven't built a set of wheels yet, but I don't see why it wouldn't work fine.

I have had the Minoura stand since Christmas, and have built 5 or 6 wheels successfully with it. It's adequate, and I use it with confidence. Even so, it's not as rigid as a professional stand, but you can learn to work with this limitation.

I have a Park Tool TS-3 and a TS-2.

The TS-2 is the one I prefer to use in a bike-shop environment. It's fast and tough. I customized my TS-2 with aluminum flywheels in place of the stock knobs, and added a dial-indicator mount. I also added a second dial indicator which serves as a visual reference for how far open the wheel supports are. A flick of the flywheel, stop it when the needle hits the marker for "Front," and drop in a front wheel... great for repetitive shop work. There's a computer-generated picture of my TS-2 here, if anyone's curious: http://mechbgon.tripod.com The dial-indicators aren't shown. If anyone's interested in the implementation of the wheel-support-opening indicator, drop me an email.

The TS-3 has one trump card: it is good for working on tandem rear wheels, since it opens wider than my TS-2. It definitely is best when bolted down, whereas the TS-2 with the TSB-2 stays put just fine. And it's rather expensive.

If you want to make a long-term investment in a stand, I'd suggest the TS-2 and the TSB-2 tilting base. It will set you back quite a bit of money but you will have something you can be proud of for a very long time.

As mentioned, it's entirely possible to true and even build wheels with your brake pads for reference, so consider that too. :)

good ol rigid fork.