Bicycle Mechanics - Entry-Level Truing Stand Recommendations

Guys,

I'm a newbie with bike mechanics. I'd like to buy a truing stand and was wondering if any of you folks had recommendations. Specifically, what are the important aspects of the equipment that differentiate a low-quality stand from one of higher value?

Nashbar is selling the following one for $40:

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=99&subcategory=1227&brand=&sku=2076&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Just wondering if people thought that its worthwhile, or had other suggestions. I have a job and stuff, so I don't mind buying one, even if people will say a stand is not entirely necessary. I mean, I assume it makes things easier.

Also, I tried searching the forums for this, but most threads I returned were of the "Is truing hard?" variety, so please point me to a thread that discusses this well if its already existant.

Thanks.

I have the Performance Bike version, which appears to be exactly the same thing (not surprising, since Performance and Nashbar are owned by the same company).

I got mine on sale for $30. It works great. I've trued and built many wheels with it. I would guess that it might not stand up to a huge amount of abuse, like being used in a shop where wheels were hurriedly put in and out 100x a day. But it's very sturdy for my home use. No complaints whatsoever.

Thanks for the reply! I'll order it this afternoon.

Its 'true', a stand does help. :)

I don't use one at home (poor), but if I've got a wheel that is too wonky for me to true in the frame or in an extra fork, or if I'm trying to dial in the dish, I'll take it to my friends house who's got a Park truing stand, and it is a real treat to use. I'll probably get my own at some point..

peace,
sam

I have that stand, and love it. If you were going to use it every day, you might want that chromed steel Park one that you see in all the bike shops, but this one is fine for home use. It just takes a little longer to center the arms, and you have to be careful not to knock it out of center once it's set. Consider a dishing tool if you'll be building wheels from scratch.

Wow, and I paid 50 bucks for it in 1998, plus ten extra for the centering tool. Looks like it has actually gotten cheaper.

Yeah, I have a Park stand and it's superbe. I like its robustness and quick dropout-width adjustment. I also bolted it to the top of a wooden box with drawer where I keep all my spoke-wrenches and spare nipples.

i've built plenty of wheels with the minoura. it's not the greatest, but you can certainly build a good wheel with it.

Thanks everyone, the stand was ordered last night. FedEx is the coolest, man, it'll be here tomorrow.

So some add-on questions about dishing tools. First, is this the same as the "dish stick" mentioned in some of Sheldon's Articles (obvious, but just want to make sure)? Second, after I learn to true up a couple wheels, the first big thing I'm going to do is redish some old rear wheels (freewheel type) for single speed conversion. At that juncture should I definitely pick one up? This too seems obvious, but just want to get opinions on whether the dishing tool is needed for that, or just for wheel building.

Thanks a bunch everyone.

I've got the same stand, just came in last week. I was able to true the wheels on my old bike, which was great because I didn't know if I'd be able to pull it off. Now it's running smooth.

I'm not sure, but I think working on bikes is almost as fun as riding them.

Thanks everyone, the stand was ordered last night. FedEx is the coolest, man, it'll be here tomorrow.

So some add-on questions about dishing tools. First, is this the same as the "dish stick" mentioned in some of Sheldon's Articles (obvious, but just want to make sure)? Second, after I learn to true up a couple wheels, the first big thing I'm going to do is redish some old rear wheels (freewheel type) for single speed conversion. At that juncture should I definitely pick one up? This too seems obvious, but just want to get opinions on whether the dishing tool is needed for that, or just for wheel building.

Thanks a bunch everyone.
These Minoura/Spin Doctor stands include a built in centering thingie. You just need a good already-centered wheel to calibrate it.

So you don't really need a dish stick, although I suppose you can get the rim more precisely centered with one. I've never used one, and I manage to dish my wheels okay.

Guys,

I'm a newbie with bike mechanics. I'd like to buy a truing stand and was wondering if any of you folks had recommendations. [snip] Thanks.

- i use the brake pads on the bike or a cable tie snipped close to the rim...

- you're welcome...

:-)

p.s. really, unless you're racing, practicing to be a wrench, have many bikes, are prone to damaging rims, or like removing and attaching wheels, you don't really need a trueing stand... (IMO, mind you)...

- i use the brake pads on the bike or a cable tie snipped close to the rim...

- you're welcome...

:-)

p.s. really, unless you're racing, practicing to be a wrench, have many bikes, are prone to damaging rims, or like removing and attaching wheels, you don't really need a trueing stand... (IMO, mind you)...

I've gone for quite a while without a truing stand, but there are days when I say to myself, "DAMN, I wish I had a truing stand", and then I go to my friend's house and use his. Small repairs I do on the bike frame, and I've built up wheels that way too, but when it comes to frequent work, its good to have. Since the guy mentioned that he'll be doing single speed conversions, which means lots of redishing, breaking old spokes and having to replace them, messing with old rims, swapping in new hubs, etc, then he'll probably get his 40$ worth out of it. ;)

peace,
sam

TACX T3175, though it appears to be too late to consider.

These Minoura/Spin Doctor stands include a built in centering thingie. You just need a good already-centered wheel to calibrate it.

So you don't really need a dish stick, although I suppose you can get the rim more precisely centered with one. I've never used one, and I manage to dish my wheels okay.

If you don't have a good wheel to use, Performance has a calibration tool (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=3119&subcategory_ID=4221) on sale now for $7. I am doing the same thing as moxfyre. I ordered one of these and passed on the $25 or so for a dishing tool. Plan on building my first wheel soon so I guess we'll see...

Dave

Stupid question about truing stands: do they work for all wheel sizes? I have 700c and 20" wheels on various bikes.

Stupid question about truing stands: do they work for all wheel sizes? I have 700c and 20" wheels on various bikes.
Yep :) All the truing stands I've seen are large enough to fit at least a 750 mm diameter wheel or so... the position of the feelers which line up with the rim is adjustable, so you can true anything from about 20" to 28" with no problems.

Yeah. Basically you plop the wheel in the arms of the stand, and then adjust the angle of the arm that holds the gauges. Then adjust the inflection of the gauges on this arm so that they are positioned about the rim. It makes perfect sense when you have the apparatus in front of you.

Hi!

I'm a newbie who will rebuilding wheels for my vintage Bianchi. Since I do'nt plan to make a career out of this I am planning on using the bike as a trueing stand as one or two others have suggested. Why is a dishing tool necessary? Can't one dish properly on the bike centering the rim between the stays with freewheel or cassette installed?

I would appreciate a response from those who have not used a dishing tool or have done it both ways.

Sinchi

Dishing tool is not necessary, but is a fast way to check your work. I've built wheels without them, using a self-centering stand and flipping the wheel around often to make sure.

Not all frames are straight, and it can be really frustrating to try to build a centered wheel in a mis-aligned frame.

You can flip the front wheel around in the fork to make sure it's centered, leave the cassette or freewheel off in the back to flip the back wheel. Don't assume the brake pads are centered - maybe tape pencils to the frame to make a fine trueing guage.

You should be okay building one pair of wheels this way, but if you get hooked on wheelbuilding you'll want a stand.

Hey--since buying the stand mentioned above I've redished two wheels effectively w/o a dish tool. Here's how I did it:

First, assume that when you put the wheel in the truing stand initially the rim is offcenter to the left and hence needs to be dished right. I would dial in the left gauge until it made contact with a whole lot of the rim and then tighten/loosen appropriately until there was no more contact. Then, I would dial in the left gauge a bit more, until it made contact with the rim again, but make no further spoke adjustments.

Then I'd flip the wheel around, dial in the right gauge until it made contact with the majority of the rim and then do the adjustment dance again. Once I'd moved the wheel off of the right gauge, I'd move in the right gauge until there was contact again, and flip the wheel.

Now, before I flipped the wheel the first time, the left gauge had been touching the rim, but after the previous set of adjustments on the right side the rim should have moved sufficiently that there is no longer any contact. So I'd dial in the left side again and repeat. The point is that you know you're getting close to the correct dish when, upon moving the wheel off of one of the gauges and flipping, there is contact with the opposing gauge. At that point you can generally stop flipping (unless you're bored or OCD. I'm typically both so I keep flipping for a while.) and just concentrate on truing the wheel.

The above method is pretty tedious, but is a good way to start (at least it was for me), and it has the advantage that there is little additional truing necessary once the dish is pretty much in place. After I dished the first wheel in the manner above, I took bunch of shortcuts the second time and moved things a bit more aggressively.