[jay80424]

Wheel truing Noob here.

Bought a truing stand, and have been playing with it a little.

Just sarted to true up some wheels last night.

Just wondering, for those that true up your own wheels, to what degree of precision fo you usually strive for?

I just got a set within .003".

Also, how important is it to true a wheel without the tire mounted, or does it matter?

TIA.

 

[Squash]

"Just wondering, for those that true up your own wheels, to what degree of precision fo you usually strive for?"

For a disc brake wheel I'm happy with .5mm. For a rim brake wheel I'll push that a little further.

"I just got a set within .003".

That's pretty tight. What will be interesting is to see how long it will hold it. There is a point beyond which it is counter productive. I'm betting that the first ride will toss that .003 out the window. But if it's a well built wheel it may well hold for quite a while.

"Also, how important is it to true a wheel without the tire mounted, or does it matter?"

I usually dismount tires when truing a wheel. The reason being, an inflated tire on the wheel does reduce the tension on the spokes as the air pressure does compress the rim toward the hub slightly. This can be very important if you are making a larger correction due to a crash tweak, or if the wheel was built using close to maximum tension on the spokes. With the reduction in tension that an inflated tire can cause, if you are making a big correction or the spokes are close to max tension, you could easily over tension the spokes without knowing it. While not absolutely necessary, you can get away with making minor adjustments in most cases with the tire mounted, it's a good practice to dismount tires before truing.

Good Dirt

TIA.[/QUOTE]

 

[Mike T.]

The best I've done is 0.003" and that's using a dial indicator to measure it. But that isn't practical or useful as wheels flex way more than that in use. It's just a game. Under 10 thou is ok for me or a bit finer if I'm doing it for others. What's way more important is equal tensions (or as close as is reasonable that gives an acceptably true rim) and sufficient tension - probably in equal doses too.

 

[shiggy]

The best I've done is 0.003" and that's using a dial indicator to measure it. But that isn't practical or useful as wheels flex way more than that in use. It's just a game. Under 10 thou is ok for me or a bit finer if I'm doing it for others. What's way more important is equal tensions (or as close as is reasonable that gives an acceptably true rim) and sufficient tension - probably in equal doses too.

I am pretty happy with ~0.5mm as long as the tensions are good.

 

[jay80424]

Thanks guys.

Pulled the tires off, adjusted spoke tension by ear, and retrued. Got .005" with a dial indicator.

One more question for those who use a Park TS2. Both front and rear wheels seem to be dished correctly based on where they sit in relation to the bike (center of steertube and rear triangle).

However, they don't sit equally between the truing calipers. Is this normal, or since the Park TS-2 is "self centering" according to them, is that how you set Dish as well?

This is not a new wheelset build,( i've even got 2 bent spokes). I'm just playing around and trying to learn the tool and methodology.

 

[Mike T.]

Pulled the tires off, adjusted spoke tension by ear, and retrued. Got .005" with a dial indicator.

Perfect. That's just what I'd do.

One more question for those who use a Park TS2. Both front and rear wheels seem to be dished correctly based on where they sit in relation to the bike (center of steertube and rear triangle).
However, they don't sit equally between the truing calipers. Is this normal, or since the Park TS-2 is "self centering" according to them, is that how you set Dish as well?

I don't have a park stand but I'm sure I've read of people having dish issues with them until the stand is adjusted correctly. I like to measure chainstay to rim (both sides) and then I know the wheel is dished to that bike (assuming it's built with symmetrical chainstays in the first place....some aren't). I also flip-flop the wheel in my Roger Musson stand too and measure the difference, halve it and re-dish as needed.

This is not a new wheelset build,( i've even got 2 bent spokes). I'm just playing around and trying to learn the tool and methodology.

A great way to learn.

 

[shopcat_cycles]

Sounds like you need to center your calipers: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/ts-2-2-and-ts-2-centering

That's pretty common - mine need to be centered as well, but I have the wag4 to check dish.

 

[Douglas Fir]

With a new rim- the closer the rim is to true, the more even the

When truing a new wheel up, the closer to true the more even the tension is going to be. The more evenly tensioned, the longer lasting that trueness will last. it is impossible not to.

When truing an already bent rim is a different story all together.

It is impossible to beat dial indicators for truing rims.

 

[shiggy]

Thanks guys.

Pulled the tires off, adjusted spoke tension by ear, and retrued. Got .005" with a dial indicator.

One more question for those who use a Park TS2. Both front and rear wheels seem to be dished correctly based on where they sit in relation to the bike (center of steertube and rear triangle).

However, they don't sit equally between the truing calipers. Is this normal, or since the Park TS-2 is "self centering" according to them, is that how you set Dish as well?

This is not a new wheelset build,( i've even got 2 bent spokes). I'm just playing around and trying to learn the tool and methodology.

I always use the separate dishing tool rather than go by the stand.

 

[meltingfeather]

I always use the separate dishing tool rather than go by the stand.

This.
WAG-4 FTW.

When truing a new wheel up, the closer to true the more even the tension is going to be.

Not necessarily true. You can get a wheel perfectly true with tension all over the place. It won't stay that way for long, but trueness is no indication of even tension.

The more evenly tensioned, the longer lasting that trueness will last. it is impossible not to.

Definitely true. :thumbsup:

It is impossible to beat dial indicators for truing rims.

Don't know about beating them, but it is possible to do just as well fucntionally without them. They certainly are a trick addition to your truing stand. :thumbsup:

 

[Douglas Fir]

A better dishing tool

Hey you folks may or may not want to learn about this small tool company that makes very accurate, common sense tools. this one reads both sides of a rim while it is still in the stand.

http://www.morningstartools.com/dish_tool.html