Truing Stand Help Needed

ami said:

Hello All,

I am looking for the best truing stand under $100 for a gift. Since I
have no knowledge of these things, I thought I would ask you all to
help me out. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Minoura do a basic one. For that kind of money you should get their
dishing tool (you NEED one) as well.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Hello All,
I am looking for the best truing stand under $100 for a gift. Since I
have no knowledge of these things, I thought I would ask you all to
help me out. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

This is an ok truing stand,
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=15314# . Nicer ones will
cost well over you budget. Spend the extra bucks on THE book on building and
truing wheels, 'The Bicycle Wheel' by Jobst Brandt.
---------------
Alex

Zog The Undeniable <[email hidden]> wrote:
: ami wrote:

:> Hello All,
:>
:> I am looking for the best truing stand under $100 for a gift. Since I
:> have no knowledge of these things, I thought I would ask you all to
:> help me out. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

: Minoura do a basic one. For that kind of money you should get their
: dishing tool (you NEED one) as well.

I'm no expert (I've only built four wheels), but why do you need a dishing
tool? I have the Minoura truing stand, which comes with a centering
calibrator, so I just make sure the rim stays centered and the dishing
takes care of itself.

- Mark

Zog The Undeniable said:

ami said:

Hello All,

I am looking for the best truing stand under $100 for a gift. Since I
have no knowledge of these things, I thought I would ask you all to
help me out. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Minoura do a basic one. For that kind of money you should get their
dishing tool (you NEED one) as well.

Why do you NEED the dishing tool? Most truing stands have some way to be
centered. Flipping the wheel in the truing stand will also allow you to
check for proper dishing.

Bengt-Olaf said:

Why do you NEED the dishing tool? Most truing stands have some way to be
centered. Flipping the wheel in the truing stand will also allow you to
check for proper dishing.

Not really. It's essentially impossible to flip the wheel around without
changing the way it sits in the stand, and that can mean several mm of
difference. The center as indicated on an inexpensive truing stand would
be even worse, unless carefully calibrated, and it isn't.

You can make an accurate dishing tool for a few bucks, or buy one for $20.
They are much more accurate than using a truing stand (except perhaps for
very expensive ones, and the cost differential is far more than the
dishing tool).

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Enron's slogan: Respect, Communication, Integrity, and
_`\(,_ | Excellence.
(_)/ (_) |

David L. Johnson said:

Bengt-Olaf said:

Why do you NEED the dishing tool? Most truing stands have some way to be
centered. Flipping the wheel in the truing stand will also allow you to
check for proper dishing.

Not really. It's essentially impossible to flip the wheel around without
changing the way it sits in the stand, and that can mean several mm of
difference. The center as indicated on an inexpensive truing stand would
be even worse, unless carefully calibrated, and it isn't.

You can make an accurate dishing tool for a few bucks, or buy one for $20.
They are much more accurate than using a truing stand (except perhaps for
very expensive ones, and the cost differential is far more than the
dishing tool).

How about using the bike frame for dishing? It's a PITA compared to a
dish stick, but it is hard for me to understand how one would need
more accuracy than the frame provides.

Mark Vieselmeyer said:

I'm no expert (I've only built four wheels), but why do you need a dishing
tool? I have the Minoura truing stand, which comes with a centering
calibrator, so I just make sure the rim stays centered and the dishing
takes care of itself.

That's the more expensive model that you have.

Quoted message said:

This is an ok truing stand,
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=15314# .
Alex

Yup, I bought this a while back and it works well enough. You will
DEFINITELY want to buy a dishing tool though.

Jim Smith said:

How about using the bike frame for dishing? It's a PITA compared to a
dish stick, but it is hard for me to understand how one would need
more accuracy than the frame provides.

I've done it, but it's hard to assess whether a wheel is centred to the
nearest mm between curved stays.

By the way, not many "professionally built" wheels seem to be perfectly
dished - adjust your front brake for minimum clearance, then try
flipping your front wheel and see if the pads rub.

Zog The Undeniable said:

Jim Smith said:

How about using the bike frame for dishing? It's a PITA compared to a
dish stick, but it is hard for me to understand how one would need
more accuracy than the frame provides.

I've done it, but it's hard to assess whether a wheel is centred to
the nearest mm between curved stays.

What I have done is just make a little mark with a sharpie on the fork
leg / seat stay and measured from the rim to that with a 6 inch steel
rule and flipped the wheel and measured again. Since the actual
measurement isn't important, you don't even need a rule, anything
stiff you can make a mark on would work. This gets within 1 mm for
me.

Jim Smith said:

How about using the bike frame for dishing? It's a PITA compared to a
dish stick, but it is hard for me to understand how one would need
more accuracy than the frame provides.

Can you get the wheel in there twice in exactly the same relative
position? I used to do this, and found it to be a headache.

For $5 you can make your own dishing tool, if cost is an issue. Here is
mine: Get a 27" long bit of angle aluminum stock. Drill holes on one
side at the center, and at the position of the braking flats of your rim,
when centered at the hole in the center. Take 3 long bolts that fit
through the hole. They should be threaded all the way up, and about 3"
long. Put the outside two all the way through the angle stock (head will
be on the inside edge), and put nuts on to tighten them. Use two
wing-nuts on the third bolt (preferably flat-head), one wing-nut on either
side of the stock, with the head facing opposite to those at the ends.
You can loosen the center bolt and turn it in or out, then tighten, so
that the head just grazes the locknut on the wheel while the ends of the
other two bolts are on the braking flats. Then move it to the other side
and compare.

Here is an ascii picture:

rim rim
| axle |
| _ |
| | |
|_____________________________\|/_________________________________|
/|\
--

David L. Johnson

__o | And what if you track down these men and kill them, what if you
_`\(,_ | killed all of us? From every corner of Europe, hundreds,
(_)/ (_) | thousands would rise up to take our places. Even Nazis can't
kill that fast. -- Paul Henreid (Casablanca).

Zog The Undeniable <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Mark Vieselmeyer wrote:

:> I'm no expert (I've only built four wheels), but why do you need a dishing
:> tool? I have the Minoura truing stand, which comes with a centering
:> calibrator, so I just make sure the rim stays centered and the dishing
:> takes care of itself.

: That's the more expensive model that you have.

Hmm, I didn't think that was the case, but I googled it and you're right.
Still, I think I only paid about $50 for the Workman Pro model.

- Mark

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

The Park truing stand comes with a dishing tool for
under $100.00.

True, but it is no better than the one mentioned earlier and it costs more
too.
------------
Alex