hat and beard
Maximum Pace
- Apr 3, 2012
- 437
- 516
Thanks. I'll begin with these, then.
Can you (or anyone else) recommend a reasonably priced trueing stand?
Most of the cheaper stands - Feedback sports; Spin doctor; Minoura FT-1; Park TS-8 - have mixed reviews.
If you want to save some cash you can just use your frame as a truing stand. You can get your wheels running plenty true using a brake pad as guide.
Stolen from Sheldon Brown's site:
"This approach is not quite as convenient as using professional tools, but the results can be just as good. The following techniques work with improvised tools.
A rim brake can provide a reference for lateral truing if rotated so one shoe is very close to the rim. You may use rubbing of the brake shoe on the rim as a reference, or you may observe the gap between the brake shoe and the rim. The distance from the brake shoe to its reflection in the rim sidewall is twice that to the rim, doubling the precision of this reference. Look at the brake shoe end-on to see the spacing most clearly,
When truing a rear wheel on the bicycle, clip a small metal or plastic ruler to the seatstays with a rubber band to provide a reference for vertical truing and centering. Twist the rubber band where it passes behind the seatstays, to keep it clear of the rim. The scraping of the ruler against the rim flanges is your reference for vertical truing. As you true the wheel, tilt the ruler slightly to touch first one flange, then the other, to get an average height. When using a front fork as your truing stand, you can use a spoke instead of a ruler, held crossways ahead of the fork blades. The rubber band will clear the rim at the rear of the fork blades.
Centering may be checked by flipping the wheel over (so the cassette is on the left, etc.). When the position of the rim between the brake shoes and frame parts remains the same after the wheel is reversed, the rim is centered. You may also check dishing by placing two piles of blocks, books etc. on a tabletop to support the rim at two places opposite one another. The distance from the tabletop to the hub locknut on the underside should be the same, no matter which side of the wheel is down."