Originally Posted by
3Roch
OK, I build wheels but even if I wasn't i would absolutely have a spoke tension gauge. There is no way plucking spokes tells you much of anything and absolutely does not tell you what the tension is...and that matters. The park gauge, and probably others come with a chart that tells you what the actual tension is and it's easy enough to find out proper tensions for the rims. Soft wheels break spokes and I know from personal experience "bought" wheels can be really off
In addition to that it's nice to have some sort of truing stand, even if you make it out of a dumpster bike. It's a lot easier than doing it on the bike. You can determine if the dish is OK just by flipping the wheel in your "stand"
I disagree that it is easy to find what the proper tension is for rims. It's not something that is readily published and even if the numbers were published you would need to know lots of parameters that the manufacturer can't really take into account. For any tension recommendations, the manufacturer would need to know what spokes are being used, what rim is being used, and even what tire pressure is being used. That's far too many variables for any recommendation to have meaning. I've never been able to find a chart or graph or even a number for the tension that should be used on the spokes with any given rim.
You don't need to know what the actual tension is. The tension needs to be consistent. Some of us learned how to build wheels before the advent of the tension meter. Even when the first tension meters came out, they were prohibitively expensive and of questionable use. Even the Park tension meter is only good for measuring relative spoke tension. Using tone to tune the spokes is as valid as any tension meter I've ever used. It's also something that can be done on the road or for the home mechanic that doesn't have a tension meter. It works well enough.
As for using the bike as a truing stand, most any bike can be used to true up wheels well enough to get you moving. Rim brake pads are adequate enough to do a quick wheel true. Zipties on a disc frame are also good enough to just touch up a wheel. Everything is easier on a truing stand but it's still possible to do it on a bike. It's a good skill to have if you need to do something to a wheel out on the road.