Originally Posted by cazzooo
Cascade168, I want to get into wheel maintainance, tell me what goes into stress relieving? Also could you reccomend a good tension meter-tool?
A pretty good tensiometer for reasonable money is the Park TM-1, seen here:
http://www.parktool.com/products/det...16&item=TM%2D1
These can be had for <$60 and are a good investment for anyone serious about building wheels. Stress relieving can be done in many ways and you're better off learning from the experts (than me). Your best bet is to read up and figure out what works best for you. Here's a brief description about what's going on from Sheldon Brown:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#seating
He gives a link to "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst Brandt which is an excellent reference and another is "The Art of Wheelbuilding" by Gerd Schraner. Taking the time to read up will give you a much better idea of what the tasks are and what you need for tools. Besides the tensiometer, you will need a spoke wrench, or two, a decent truing stand, a dishing gauge, and, as Sheldon point's out, an old left crank arm is nice to have. If all you want to do is true wheels, you can get away with just a spoke wrench and do it right on the bike. If you want to get serious about wheelbuilding and maintenance, the other tools I mention will make the job a lot easier. But, as many will point out, you can get away with less.