Ovenkooked

Hey everyone,

I've been meaning to start maintaining my own wheels and building them and this ad recently popped up in my area for $40. I called the guy about it and he told me it fits both front and rear wheels, but my hesitation is the lack of ability to adjust the width as well as not being able to find anything about this particular stand anywhere online.

Would this be a good first truing stand, and is there any drawback to this type of design?

Thanks!

bboy314

It looks like it’s made to fit 2 different hub spacings. Width adjustability is ideal as it’s more versatile - more than 2 sizes accommodated. This design also doesn’t look very stiff. I’d probably pass and look for something different, but this is probably workable for occasional use.

veganbikes

I would pass unless just collecting random tools people have made. It does look like they spent a little time designing it but it is not a great truing stand unless you are only using it for 2 hub widths and only will ever have those two hub widths which is highly unlikely.

WizardOfBoz

If you are truing 1-6 wheels / year, for general use, and the axle spacing is ok, this woud be fine.
If you are doing 10+ wheels a month and want +/- 0.002" runout, step up and spend upwards of $2000 on a P&K Lie stand.
Seriously, unless you KNOW that you are going to true a lot of wheels and that wheel truing is your future I'd give the item you show in your post a try. If you buy it for $40, and don't like it, I bet that you could sell it for $40.
Low risk, may work great for you.

Garthr

I built some wheels with a Cyclepro like this that uses a very similar fork like holder for the hubs. While I had little experience at the time, I still have it and was playing around with recently and I'm I was able to ride any wheel I built with it. https://bikerecyclery.com/cycle-pro-...stand-folding/

At the time though there wasn't much available for budget truing stands in the mid 80's. Today there are much better and greater variety of designs even on the lower end. Yes you'll spend more than $40, but so what ? You could buy it and use it for awhile, then you'll likely want a better one so the $40 is better invested in a better one to begin with.

The main issue I had with that type of stand in consistency in keeping the wheel centered and from moving about. Lots of wiggling and jiggling. Plus the top is for 100mm hubs and the bottom for 126mm hubs. So you have to spread it to get a 130-135mm hub in there, and it's not very straight. The screw in adjusters don't hold their position well. Now I'm no pro at wheel building but it seems sensible to me the whole point in having a off the bike stand is to consistently mimic the wheel mounted in the bike, centered and in line with the frame. The calipers are supposed to be equidistant from the rim as they move in and out, not unlike a well mounted brake, so to speak. For someone really experienced with truing a wheel, maybe they can use such a stand to greater effectiveness than I, I can't say. All I can offer is I wouldn't buy it myself, I'd look for something that can hold the wheel rock solid and reliably centered. with reliably stable adjusters.

Ovenkooked

That's my main concern. I have 126mm hub that I'm planning to swap with 3 speed. I was thinking I can work around it using some spacers, but that may not work.

Ovenkooked

Thanks for your 2 cents, I didn't think about the bottom slot being made for 126mm hubs. My initial thought was that if it's made for 135mm so I can just use some spacers to fill the space, but given the age of this thing you're probably right. Glad I asked!

philbob57

I used that stand to build wheels I rode on for 25 years. My reco is to pass, because there are now more hub widths than there were when I bought it in 1983. If your hubs work in it, maybe $15.... Also, probably more important, it looks unbendable, but a few years ago, when I needed to build a new wheel, I found that one of the legs(?) had somehow gotten bent. I didn't figure that out until I built a wheel that seemed to be true until I flipped it around.
Also, if you have to spread it to accommodate a wider hub, you have no assurance that each leg will remain in alignment.

Alan K

If you like to have something more flexible for the size of axel, and dishing etc with a more accurate measurements, you could do well with versions that are not made by Park for $2000 as mentioned above.

For example:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/35535126995...Bk9SR57zrMiiYw

mpetry912 

Offer 20 bucks cash and local pick up

/markp

Andrew R Stewart 

These types of stands tend to be pretty wobbly but still a bit easier to work on a wheel with than keeping the wheels on the bike. Andy

Russ Roth

interesting design, I wonder how stiff the uprights are and how well they'd keep the wheel straight though I like how they're adjusted. The arm that holds the feelers should have thin vinyl shims at the pivot points and adjustable knobs so it can be easily loosened, adjusted, and cinched tight to that position but that should be easy to remedy. Be interesting to try one out and see how well it works. Either way, I would think it far better than the stand being asked about at 40.00.


OP: 20 years ago it would have been moderately worth that, but with hub standards on bikes going up to 148mm, most of mine at this point are 142mm, i wouldn't want to just shove wide hubs in there to make it work. At 100/126 or even if its new enough for 100/130 it isn't easily accommodating my wife's 110mm front hub, or any of my kid's bikes. If you're just looking for something cheap for a random adjustment on old road bikes it'd probably be fine.

Alan K

It is less stiff than Park tools pro version but it is adequate enough, once adjusted properly. The gauges arms didn’t come with a hard plastic to protect rim surface. It’s not difficult to design something that will work but it is an oversight on the part of the manufacturer.
There are a few other similar issues but all of them manageable. On its own, the stand isn’t too stable and requires some way to brace it so it doesn’t tip forward or backward. Mounting it on a workbench is an excellent solution to add stability. Once a few of these things are taken care of, it is a good stand capable of truing wheels quite well… as well as the best of them.

Ovenkooked

I think I should just wait for someone to post their old Park stand on Marketplace. That stand on eBay does interest me though since Park ones go for about $200 in my area.

JohnDThompson 

For the occasional wheel build, it should work. You'll want dishing gauge to ensure that the rim is centered between the locknuts. The fancier self-dishing truing stands make this less necessary.

Velo Mule

I have a Minoura truing stand. It is not bad, but not as stiff as a Park. I built and trued plenty of wheels on it. My next stand will be a Roger Musson design. I bought his book because it is inexpensive when compared to the wealth of information it contains. I've yet to build it. Most who have built one like it a lot.

Here is a link to the top video that comes up when I type Roger Musson truing stand into Google.
Of course, you will need some experience with wood and some woodworking tools. If not, I like the Minora truing stand for the money.

Minoura Truing stand from Carson City Bike shop
One plus with the Minoura stand is that it folds and fits in a small box.

I know everyone likes the Park stand however, I think it is kind of like the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. It's good, but you can bake a cake just as good with something that doesn't cost as much and that might be important if you are not doing that many wheels.