True vs Out of true

Just wondering when is a wheel considered to be "out of true"? Is there a spec people go with before an adjustment (self or LBS) is deemed worthwhile?

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

I'm happy if I can get a wheel down to 1-2mm.

I assume that's in relation to lateral as well as radial movements?

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

Most shops specify plus or minus .5 mm for lateral or radial.
Spoke tension balance is functionally more important. Tension balance is usually speficied plus or minus 10%. Many top builders aim for 5%.
You can use feeler guage(s) and a normal truing stand to get a good idea of where you are with true.

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA

Thanks. That's a good reference.

I have a nice pair of wheels that I would like to make sure are in the best possible form for those special days.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

Ok, so are you saying that an out-of-true bike wheel isn't too big a deal if all the spokes are tight? I really can't be bothered spending another cent on my commuter.

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2004 Trek 1000
2005 Giant Elwood
ACE Folding Bicycle

No. Daveornee was saying that even spoke tension in a wheel is very important for the durability of the wheel.

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Morphed Bianchi Camaleonte IV 2006, Ridley Damocles 2006, Garmin, Mac

I think that point was that the wheel can be true but still have improper tension. If so, it won't stay true long and is vulnerable to spoke breakage.

Properly and evenly tensioned spokes help insure that the wheel is going to be most durable.
If a rim is bent you can bring it back into "true" with adjustments to spoke tensions, but the wheel is no more stable or durable... and likely will go out of true and/or have earlier failures due to the imbalances of spoke tensions. Even if the rim isn't damaged/bent, there usually is some imperfection in the rim joint. It is more important to have spoke tension at the proper level (usually 100 kgf for all front and right rear spokes) and tension balanced than to have perfect radial and lateral true.

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David Ornee, Western Springs, IL USA