A VAR dishing tool is sells for how much?
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A VAR dishing tool is sells for how much?
Howdy,
I spent about ten years working as a wrench in bike shops so when at a yard sale this last weekend I happened to spot a VAR 143 dishing tool I jumped on it. A couple of the better shops I worked in had this tool, and I really liked using it, but I've only had a Wheelsmith dishing tool at home for lo these many years. Anyway, once I got home I checked ebay's completed auctions (you never know), I found that two "vintage" VAR 143 dishing tools had sold in the last month, each for around $300. WOW! This one I just picked up appears to be newer so I doubt it's worth anywhere near that much, but I have to wonder: what is it about a vintage dishing tool that could possibly be worth that kind of money? Also (just in case), I wonder what this one is actually worth?
Any ideas from anyone who is familiar with this dishing tool? A Google search yielded one place that listed this tool for $150 new but was "out of stock", which makes me wonder if it's even available any more. And a Google Shopping search yielded nothing useful.
Oh, and at that same yard sale was a dirty but barely used Park TS2 truing stand, which I also bought. I already have one, but I'll clean up this one and sell it for a fair bit more than I paid. That was a good yard sale.
Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
John
I spent about ten years working as a wrench in bike shops so when at a yard sale this last weekend I happened to spot a VAR 143 dishing tool I jumped on it. A couple of the better shops I worked in had this tool, and I really liked using it, but I've only had a Wheelsmith dishing tool at home for lo these many years. Anyway, once I got home I checked ebay's completed auctions (you never know), I found that two "vintage" VAR 143 dishing tools had sold in the last month, each for around $300. WOW! This one I just picked up appears to be newer so I doubt it's worth anywhere near that much, but I have to wonder: what is it about a vintage dishing tool that could possibly be worth that kind of money? Also (just in case), I wonder what this one is actually worth?
Any ideas from anyone who is familiar with this dishing tool? A Google search yielded one place that listed this tool for $150 new but was "out of stock", which makes me wonder if it's even available any more. And a Google Shopping search yielded nothing useful.
Oh, and at that same yard sale was a dirty but barely used Park TS2 truing stand, which I also bought. I already have one, but I'll clean up this one and sell it for a fair bit more than I paid. That was a good yard sale.
Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
John
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Congrats on your find. I'm into yard sales too. Keep watching Ebay, one like yours will show up eventually.
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Luxury... I'm only used to flipping the wheel to assess dish.
Which got pretty damn complicated with my last bike; the DS dropout is a couple of mm further from the centreline... much head-scratching ensued; I'd be pretty interested to find how close to perfect I got it.
Which got pretty damn complicated with my last bike; the DS dropout is a couple of mm further from the centreline... much head-scratching ensued; I'd be pretty interested to find how close to perfect I got it.
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It is a nice tool. I don't own one, but I borrow one from a friend. I don't think his is vintage, it's probably over 12 years old. I don't think it's $300 dollars nice. I think the price is high because they are often out of stock, the exchange rate, and it is well made and regarded. For $300 I'd be looking at the EVT dishing tool, even though that one is overkill.
edit: Wow, the EVT is going for $459! I could have sworn they were going for $300 not too long ago. I haven't seen one in the flesh, but I do know that the faces are milled after welding to ensure accuracy. A VAR is cast (maybe forged) aluminum, and the faces on the example I saw weren't especially flat, thought I don't think it matters much for the dishing tool to be accurate.
edit: Wow, the EVT is going for $459! I could have sworn they were going for $300 not too long ago. I haven't seen one in the flesh, but I do know that the faces are milled after welding to ensure accuracy. A VAR is cast (maybe forged) aluminum, and the faces on the example I saw weren't especially flat, thought I don't think it matters much for the dishing tool to be accurate.
Last edited by krome; 05-07-12 at 06:52 AM.
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It's amazing what old tools will bring. I found a Stanley "Bailey No. 4" wood plane in decent condition at a flea market for $3 last year and bought it only because I needed a plane for one job. After I cleaned it up I did a bit of internet searching and found them on Fleabay for anything from $50 to $300!
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Functionally, the only thing that a dishing tool does is to provide you with a reliable place to measure from.
Beyond that, there's art value. I'm thinking a $300.00 VAR dishing tool must include some of that. What did that painting of "Scream" sell for?
Beyond that, there's art value. I'm thinking a $300.00 VAR dishing tool must include some of that. What did that painting of "Scream" sell for?
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I've always had access to one, but surely you could improvise one. All you'd need is a a board that hits the rim sidewall at 180 degrees from itself and a gauge to the locknut. I can't think of the perfect something off hand, but... how hard can it be?
Edit: Sometimes I wonder why the "new thread" button doesn't just link to a search field- It's already here.
Edit: Sometimes I wonder why the "new thread" button doesn't just link to a search field- It's already here.
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Making an improvised dishing tool is easy and good quality commercial ones are relatively cheap too. The VAR in question is way expensive for reasons beyond its functionality.
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About 127 million.I dropped out at 120 million!
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The VAR #143 is nice, but it suffers the same limitation as Campagnolo's "N" dish tool: it doesn't really work with wheels smaller than 26". I have a ~$15 Minoura dish tool that is more versatile:
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I have a vintage Minoura dishing tool that'd be worth a small fortune if that little blue ball hadn't broken off.
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