berner

This should work fine. I never thought of it as there is no tree in my apartment. Early in my cycling career I found one wheel needed truing. Being a newby, I took the wheel to a bike shop. When the wheel came back it seemed to be true alright but spoke tension was all over the place. It was not any measure of my genius to figure out that spokes should be at near equal tension if they were to do equal work.

My solution was to turn the bike upside down in the apartment and spin the wheel rapidly while holding a felt tip pen against the stays or fork and just touching the rim. This leaves a clear ink mark on the high rim areas of the rim that easily washes off. This process is repeated until until the wheel is true to a satisfactory point. When the wheel is true, the pen leaves a mark almost all the way around the rim. I find an accuracy of a mm or less is not difficult, depending on how patient you are. It is necessary to make sure, (by eyeball in my case) that the wheel is maintained centered in the frame. The first time was slow and frustrating but I have gotten quite a bit faster. Spoke tension is judged by plucking and listening to pitch.