himespau 

Huh, I just bought a chain tool from them (or maybe Avenir, I think they're both made by the same people).

Rubato

+1 I do a lot of work on boats and while looking for a scrap of bronze for the jaws, stumbled across some teak scraps...and some varnish...and, well, it took a long time but I think I do better work because the stand is so nice. Musson's plans for a dishing gauge can easily be adapted to a nice scrap of Ash or Birch plywood, maybe with some brass trim.

neurocop

Like a couple of other posters, I'm a fan of the Minoura FT-1 truing stand...It seems kind of plasticky and probably wouldn't hold up under heavy commercial use in a bike shop, but it's fine for the home mechanic. You need to set it up correctly without forcing stuff, but once set up it will allow you to do a great wheel truing job.

While on the Minoura bandwagon, I've got to say that their W-3100 bike repair stand is outstanding and built like a rock. The quick-relase frame clamp, IMHO, is the best of the breed.

trek330

this is what i bought and am very pleased.With the occasional 20% discount nashbar gives it's the best deal I've found.Well made.

himespau 

So, I'd read somewhere that they tend to wobble a bit if you don't have a very light touch. Any truth to that?

fietsbob

DiY, vs PRC made?
It just holds a reference indicator, so making one by bending flatbar ,
and forming a U and bolting an L shape on-to it, then adding a simple clip
placed close to the rim, works
a bit better than a doing it, on your bike.

I made a section of angle-iron into the U, by cutting off the flange,
other than the bottom, so I could clamp it in the bench vise.

flat bar , bolted to a piece of wood, easier with simple tools..

dish stick then becomes a good double check ..

pdlamb

I've seen the wheel wobble, but as I noted above, it's always been because I didn't have the wheel bearings adjusted correctly. I think the stand would have to be pretty far gone, or the operator would have to be ham-fisted, to make, the wheel wobble with the bearings adjusted.

Rickochet

I was trolling Craigslist a month ago looking for road bikes and I saw a new Park truing stand listed for $160. I called the guy and offered him $90 and he countered with $110 shipped. So I Paypaled him and a few days later a brand new Park TS-2.2 was at my door---never even was out of the box! They guy took a Park bike mechanic course preparing for a cross country ride. He received an array of tools and he said he would never use the truing stand. I love it by the way!!! Keep looking at CL and don't just be stuck looking at the city near you. Good luck!

jack002

https://www.instructables.com/id/Bicy...and-Dish-Tool/

If you've not seen it, there are ways of building one. Should be cheap enough.

RaleighSport

I got a very nice minoura trueing stand at the dump for 20 bucks.. results are not typical.

$pecial

I also have this stand and I'm very happy with it. Although the Nashbar looks very nice https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...0052_164238_-1 too.

The day i received by spin doctor I trued 5 wheels. The first 5 wheels I've ever trued.

CACycling

Another option is Park's TS-25. It consists of a wheel mount that attaches to a Park repair stand and a guide that mounts on the stand's upright post. I picked mine up pretty cheap on eBay and have only used it on one bike so far but it is decent. Especially nice as it is on the back side of the stand so you true the wheels while the bike is in the stand. As space is limited for me and I don't have enough workbench space to clamp down a regular truing stand, this gives me a sturdy location to touch up my wheels that requires virtually no additional storage space.

himespau 

Didn't get any responses when I put a request on on Craigslist and couldn't find anything at a decent price on ebay (lots of people paying more with shipping than a new one would cost), so I took advantage of yesterday's 20% off sale and bought a minoura from nashbar. Had thought about going with the slightly cheaper sunlite one from amazon because I liked that design, but a bunch of the reviews implied that it wasn't made well and sometimes the slots weren't formed properly.

eddy m

That one is way too big, complex, costly and ugly, and it looks like it's pretty hard to use. Anyone should be able to do better.

em

eddy m

I like this one, but I don't have the skills to build it, but I did make similar indicators using a straight edge and a flat vise. I like the radial indicator, but I still use a dial indicator for lateral truing.

I drilled a 1 inch hole in the top of my Workmate, and I use 2 forks, one spread for a rear wheel. It all works as least as well as any commercial stand I could get for less than $1000. Even with the dial indicators and the Workmate (which I've had for 30 years) it was still under $100.

em

Sixty Fiver

Have been building wheels (for a living) for many years on variations of this...





Rear wheels pose no problems...



The dial indicators are a plus but zip ties are effective enough indicators.

Shot a little movie of the dial indicators in use... increments on the dial are 1/1000.

Truing Stand At Work

Sixty Fiver

Very nice...

eddy m

That's a lot like what I use, except I don't like using one side for rear wheels, so I got a second fork and spread it out. I push the rim to one side to de-tension the spokes, so one side doesn't work for me. I've also mostly quit using the dial for radial truing, although I use it to measure radial run out when I'm finished, for quality control.

em