Hey all! Any recommendations of a cheap, but reliable truing stand for an at-home bike guy that has to true a wheel or two every year? Thanks!

I generally use a front fork placed in a vice on the workbench for front wheels. Rear = tip the bike upside down or hang it in the Park Tool workstand. Zip tie around the fork leg can be cut and used to judge both wobble and dish side to side (check zip-wheel space then mount wheel turned around to compare). After several dozen wheel builds across the years you'd think I would spring for a nice stand...

For just a wheel or two, why not simply - and cheaply - use zip ties on the rear stay/fork with the excess against the rim? You can even reuse the zip ties

I've been using a stand I bought cheap 40(?) years ago. Made of bent flat bar, a couple of simple channels. A couple of welds. Hardware store fasteners. Variations of mine have been there to be had forever. Not at all fancy. No reference for dish center. I highly recommend a separate dishing tool (or your bike) if you aren't buying a fine and expensive stand.

But this cheap stand is 1) light and easy to move. I build my wheels under the excellent lighting over my dining room table, listening to good music. Warm and comfortable. 2) Breaks down and stores easily. 3) I've built a lot of really good wheels on it. (If someone offers me a Park stand I hope I refuse because my shop benefits from 1) and 2) 99.9% of the time.) My dishing tool is of the same concept and flat bar and a rod and set screw. Works but I did put in some effort a few years back to modify the tube plunger to incorporate a sloth foot-like end that can slide into the gap between hub nut or QR nut and the hub lock nut. Speeds up dish checks a lot. QRs or hub nuts needed to secure the wheel in the stand don't have to be unscrewed.

Search on Amazon: Foldable Home Mechanic Truing Stand Suitable for 16in to 29in 700C Wheels
Brand: kekafu
4.4 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
$24.99
shipping is extra if you aren't a "prime" member...

Same one on Ebay... search: Bike Wheel Truing Stand Tire Rim Wheel Repair Tool Workstand Maintenance $25.99, Free Delivery.

cheap and effective.

i use a Spin Doctor truing stand and an old style Park Tool centering gauge... both were used, on CL...10 years, no problems... i bought a Park Truing Stand about 7 seven years ago.. also on CL, used... i like the Spin Doctor better for most jobs. It's light, fast, and simple to use.

If you are near a Lidl grocery store, they have a decent bike repair stand for $20.

I've been using a "Spin Doctor" stand which I got on sale for about $25 IIRC. It works pretty well.


This folds flat and hangs nicely against a wall.

There's no reason to spend more than 5 cents, for the frequency you envision.

The bike itself, with the addition of cable ties, pipe cleaners, or popsicle sticks on the fork blades or stays, makes for a very practical trying stand. I built an true wheels that way for years before my volume justified buying a stand.

Here is an inexpensive option for truing rims on a bike, a little better then the ty-raps, adjustable & reusable. We bought a few sets (working in pairs) for our workstations but they are sold individually.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/146277194457

I also true right on the bike, with the tires off. Guarantees rim centered in fork or chainstays. I use binder clip holding popsicle sticks for both lateral and radial truing. But I like the easy clip-on device shown above, however I want to see both lateral and radial at the same time because I try to keep both good as I close in on final true; This is more important when building a wheel, or first true for me on a new or used bike when I undo tension completely and bring back up, unless radial is dead-on and it only needs a bit of adjustment in lateral.

If you don’t want to spend on a truing stand because you only do a couple of wheels a year then dust off your woodworking kit (or go to a local wood shop with these plans) and make the one in Rodger’s book.

https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

I've got my money's worth from a Spin Doctor-level stand over the last 15 years. Like OP, I don't build many, but I've re-trued a lot of wheels. $4-5 a year and I get to sit in front of the TV in air conditioned or heated room -- totally worth it.

Make sure the stand matches the axle type you'll be working on. Anything will work with standard quick release axles, but you might be careful if you're looking at very wide wheels with through axles.

I'd get something like this:

Truing Stand

Never understood why anyone would true the wheel on the bike.

I use this too. It must be 20+ years old.
I like that I can twist in one side feeler (it's friction fit) and find the highest spot on that side of the rim. Adjust that one, and maybe the next highest. Now pull that away and switch to the other side of the rim. It's easy and effective. The plastic tip of the feeler makes a nice sliding noise on the brake track, so it's easy to find the range of that high spot -- is it just a 2 or 3 spoke adjustment, or maybe longer along the rim?

It's accurate enough to flip the wheel around and get a reasonably centered rim.

Because it's basically just as easy and free.

Also, for those of us who tour, often to places where self reliance is important, truing on the bike with a popsicle stick and rubber band indicator, beats having to haul another item around.

FWIW, the first wheel I ever had to do more than a minor true on was a side of the road rebuild after crash.

I'm not talking about having to do it on the road out of necessity. But if one has the means to get even a modest truing stand, I cannot imagine why one wouldn't own one. Proper tools serve a purpose, and make life easier. Which is why I wouldn't use a flat-bladed screwdriver to remove a tire, or a hammer to align a dropout, or a pipe wrench to tighten a headset. All things that can be done but...why?

I've got a set of Wera hex wrenches. It's just pleasant to work with them. Since I can afford it, why not?

Well for one thing, I don't also need a wheel dish gauge or to try to sight across the rim and hub with a scale/ruler there to see if my dish is correct for the frame, assuming I have measured and calculated what it should be.

Truing in the frame, I just center the rim in the chainstays. Or fork, with a dished front due to disc brake.

This is our most used truing stand, very old but very trustworthy


Yes we have a Park Tool one but that resides in our portable shop trailer.

"They don't make'em like they used to." Nice.

I don't have any objections to truing a wheel in the frame, but I like to build my wheels in the living room, where it would be hard to fit a frame even if my wife wouldn't object!

Centering/dishing is easy; the wheel can also be flipped to check. (A small correction is needed here.) The stand came with a centering tool.

Those examples all probably lead to at least some damage, but you can build a wheel in the bike frame/fork just as well as on a professional stand and without damage - it takes longer, but it's good practice for trail repairs (probably on some other person's bike, as your own is properly built and maintained).

you can just flip the wheel over and converge on proper dishing. I do like the dishing guage

I have a VAR stand (like above) if anyone would like to give it a home.

/markp

Is CyclingDeal truing stand similar to the BikeHand one you recommended to me in the other thread?

Decent truing stand

I cheaped-out for many years, until finally buying an Ultimate stand that came with a truing stand attachment.
That truing stand option put me over the top. Never looked back. Like sweeks said, flip the wheel around to dish.
I like that it allows me to adjust height to eye level standing or sitting. Spring for one, if you can.
Ultimate - who made lighting & camera equipment ages ago - probably sold to another company, hopefully with an improved design.