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Submitted by
DrD
a Weekend Warrior
from Albuquerque, NMDate Reviewed: April 11, 2010
Strengths: lightweight and portable - build quality is decent for the priceWeaknesses: Design is flawed, centering gauge (T gauge) was not square, seems to come out of adjustment very easilyBottom Line: The problem is the point where you attach the hub - it is on a hinge/rotates to keep it parallel with the hub, but doesn't lock out - as a result, even the slightest lateral pressure (seriously - you barely even have to poke it) and the wheel wobbles around - pretty much forget about turning the wheel via the spokes - the wheel just wobbles back and forth (not a ton of movement - maybe a mm or two back and forth at the rim, but that's more than the ballgame when trying to true a wheel - forget about building one! Bottom line - trung your wheels in the frame is much, much easier than using this thing... I returned mine - I'll be trying a Park stand next.
It's a tempting purchase given the price and features, but the flawed design renders it almost unusable to me (you could probably true with it, but it's easier/more accurate to use the frame.)
As an added bonus, the centering gauge they sent was not straight and if you open the calipers up enough to allow using a wheel with a tire on it, they didn't come back to the same position - they were a mm or two off... weird...
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$67.00
Purchased At: REI
Similar Products Used: trued on the bike frame/fork
Bike Setup: Specialized Rockhopper
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Richard
a
from Bronx, NY USADate Reviewed: November 27, 2005
Strengths: Inexpensive, Folds Compactly, self-centering legs.Weaknesses: The caliper for actually truing & centering the wheel is a terrible design . It slides out of position even when the clamping screws are tight. The 2 side nuts for laterally truing are inconvenient to use comparied to the self-centering caliper on the Park TS-2. The t-shaped centering gauge to make sure the caliper is centered is in-accurate. No problem getting a wheel trued for roundness & laterally, but getting the dish (centering in the bike frame) is a hit or miss proposition, and getting it wrong means a lot more work to put it right. After building many wheels with this, I'm going to purchase something else.Bottom Line: If you true wheels occasionally, the Minoura Workman Pro is OK. If you build wheels, don't use this stand. You will have a difficult time getting the centering/dishing correct.
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$59.00
Purchased At: Nashbar
Similar Products Used: Park TS-2. More expensive, but well worth it if you build or true a lot of wheels
Bike Setup: Not relevant
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Brian
a Cross Country Rider
from New OrleansDate Reviewed: April 17, 2003
Strengths: Inexpensive, reasonably reliableWeaknesses: not self centering, a little flimsy (but not too bad)Bottom Line: For the basic home mechanic, this stand is all you need. Accurate enough to true up wheels without a problem. Could be a little more stout, but what do you expect for ~$40?
I have used it to build up about half a dozen wheels so far without any problem. It is necessary to buy a dishing tool (I got the Park portable for ~$20 I think) because while the stand is "sort-of" self centering, it is not reliable and the wheel will be off center. If you don't want to buy a dishing tool, just set the alignment gague for one side, flip the wheel over, and check compare the alignment.
I'm sure that the Park stuff is nicer, but since I only use the thing once or twice a year, this more than gets the job done. If mine disappeared would I buy another? Probably, unless I had an extra $100 lying around to get the Park TS-2.
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$35.00
Purchased At: nashbar
Similar Products Used: none
Bike Setup: does this matter? typical XC and road setups
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
D. Petersen
a Cross Country Rider
from Grand Rapids, MI, USADate Reviewed: December 7, 2001
Strengths: Price and it does the job for the consumer level.Weaknesses: Plastic wheel mounts (just don't over tighten the quick release). The lateral adj. knobs have a bit of play(see modifications below). Knobs need to be color or number coded. The manual is a comic book. I am not confident of the stands accuracy when it comes to centering (dishing) the wheel. Use a dishing tool if uncertain.Bottom Line: Does the job for the price with a few modifications. Not a pro-stand, not a pro-price? Use with a light hand and a few mods.
MODIFICATIONS: (Little cost-I already had the supplies at home).
REMOVE PLAY OUT OF THE LATERAL ADJUSTERS
-Remove acorn nuts and then each adjustment knob/shaft
-Wrap threaded shafts in 1-2 laps of Teflon Plumbers tape
-Reinstall and tighten the acorn nuts.
COLOR CODE THE LATERAL ADJUSTMENT KNOBS (helps with centering)
-Using a magnifying glass and the end of a small ruler insure the tips of the acorn nuts are aligned with the two outer graduated marks.
-Paint each of the eight index marks (on the knobs) a different color (model or craft paint) Rotate the knobs IN one mark at a time and then paint each side a matching color, so when you rotate each side towards the rim the colors will match (they will be painted in a mirror image not symmetrical).
These solved the stands functional weaknesses. Check out the following web site for help with truing a wheel:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html
Favorite Trail: Tsali
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$45.00
Purchased At: Nashbar
Similar Products Used: Bike Frame/Small ruler/Rubber Band, Cycle Pro, and Park TS-2
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Nigel Pickard
a Weekend Warrior
from Westwood MA USADate Reviewed: November 27, 2001
Strengths: Well thought out, foldable, easy to use, great value, sturdy enough to be portable and not to have to attach it to a work bench.Weaknesses: plastic "U" arm -would much rather it be metal, no numeric markings on the graduations on the concentric truing plate. Adjusters seem a little loose.Bottom Line: I resisted getting a truing stand for many years -a piece of wood held to my frame with a clamp seemed to do the trick on many an occasion. However recently I got a new wheelset that just has kept being banged out of true and I got really fed up with messing around with the clamp and piece of wood. Using a posted coupon on the mtbr message boards, I purchased just over $100 of tools from Nashbar to qualify for a 20% discount, making this truing stand very cheap -under $40.
What I got was a pretty sturdy setup, and it seems to be well thought out (white plate to put behind the rim to make it easier on your eyes). The self centering tool, though a little maligned by people actually does seem to work on mine -I checked it by periodically flipping the wheel. I was impressed! My only complaints are the plastic "U" which supports the adjusting bolts and the lack of numeric markings on the concentric trueness plate. The adjusters do seem a little loose, but they still do the trick.
Bottom line: surprisingly good for the money, and more than adequate for the non-expert wheel builder to true the occasional bent or troublesome rim. Well recommended.
Duration Product Used: Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$38.00
Purchased At: Nashbar
Similar Products Used: bike frame, clamp and a piece of wood
Bike Setup: it now has round trued wheels
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mark
a
from Tucson, ArizonaDate Reviewed: January 15, 2001
Strengths: Well-made, delivers good performanceBottom Line: I have used this medium-price truing stand along with a Park dishing gauge to build and true many wheels, first for myself, then for profit. It is far better than the econo Park stand & I even like it better than their $200 model. Only the top of the line $600 Park Professional stand is demonstrably superior. Familiarization and continual use help, I didn't find the instructions any more helpful than the other posters. But if you want to build and true wheels yourself, this stand is an excellent product.
Duration Product Used: 1 Year
Similar Products Used: All Park Truing stand models
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
zelig
a Weekend Warrior
from LondonDate Reviewed: August 31, 2000
Strengths: Price, space-saving design when not in use and functionality. I didn't figure out what the wheel centering tool was until after the first I used the stand and had finished a set of wheels.Weaknesses: As noted by others, needs to be used with a light touch. Written instructions are a joke.Bottom Line: If you're not a professional wheel builder and don't have or need to spend the money for a top of the line Park or VAR, this stand is great. My other stand was lost by the moving company going across town in the US and I left the Minoura in storage in the States thinking I wouldn't need one in the UK. Stupid me, I'm buying another.
Favorite Trail: downhill
Duration Product Used: More than 3 years
Price Paid:
$60.00
Purchased At: Bike Nashbar
Similar Products Used: In 1975 I had a stand made by a machine shop of aluminum bar stock complete with indicators on which you could mount a dial guage.
Bike Setup: Vortex
Overall Rating: Value Rating:
Submitted by
Larry
a
from Pittsburgh PADate Reviewed: May 23, 2000
Bottom Line: I was intially suspicious of the accuracy of the stamped notch in the allignment tool so I gave the tool to a machinist friend to check the centering of the notch. The
notch was 0.060". out of center. My friend then machined a 0.010" line in the true center of the tool. I also found that the truing stand stand legs do not stay centered when you expand the legs for truing up a rear wheel. The bottom line is that the self centering feature should be used as a handy approxiamation. There really is no substitution for a dishing tool.
I was surpried how nice of a job the truing stand did for
radial and lateral truing. With this in mind, I still have no regrets about my purchase. I think it will do a acceptable job for the occasional wheel build or truing.
Duration Product Used: 3 months
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Ray
a Weekend Warrior
from Baltimore, MDDate Reviewed: July 25, 1999
Strengths:
Ease of use
CostWeaknesses:
No instructions about how to actually true a wheel.Bottom Line: I also bought the same truing stand from Performance. It works as advertised and is not particularly complicated. There were no included instructions about how actually to true a wheel, although it was easy to find instructions in a bike repair manual.
Duration Product Used:
less than 1 month
Similar Products Used:
None
Bike Setup:
Trek 7300
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
G-man
a cross-country rider
from Seattle, WADate Reviewed: August 29, 1998
Bottom Line:
I bught the Performance model which is exactly the same as the Minoura. It works great for the price. I got mine for $29, which is hardly any more than having to take a wheel to a shop to get trued. The automatic centering feature is great, it eliminates the need for a dishing tool. This is a good buy for any home mechanic.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
MLN
a cross-country rider
from Louisville, KYDate Reviewed: August 25, 1998
Bottom Line:
A friend and I went in and bought one of these from Nashbar. Build quality was about what I expected (decent, but not great). The important thing is it gets the job done, trued our wheels up. Setup is pretty intuitive (it's a good thing to... the instructions are written by someone with a very rudimentary understanding of the English language! Almost worth it for the laughs!). Good price (especially when you share costs w/ a friend), serves its purpose. My only complaint is the Nashbar ad- they showed a picture of one with some sort of centering tool that was not included with the truing stand.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Nisene
a cross-country rider
from Santa CruzDate Reviewed: April 23, 1998
Bottom Line:
Gotta agree with everyone else. It's not the most solid stand, but it works fine for home use. Can't beat it for the price. The instructions that came with the stand are worthless, I wish it told me how to use all those gauges that came with it! the automatic centering feature is very nice, however.
Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Kathy
a cross-country rider
from New EnglandDate Reviewed: December 14, 1997
Bottom Line:
Pros: Inexpensive, very adjustable, folds for storage, gets the job done.
Cons: Flexible, centering T-gauge didn't center the stand perfectly.I have used this stand to build 5 wheels in the last year, and true at least as many. It is flexible, so I have learned to use a light touch so as not to influence the wheel position. I had a little trouble getting it centered in the beginning, but now it is fine. I liked the caliper on this model better than the Park Consumer stand, which is close in price. It's a good value.
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