BikePower

The park one is $400 for the pro one. That seems excessive. Isnt there another one of same quality but a lesser known name? I had to take chances on flimsy junk, can someone advise on a sturdy and accurate truing stand? Thanks.

squirtdad

Nope, pretty much anything that equals the Park is priced in the same range unior is $340 https://uniorusa.com/collections/whe...ing-stand-1689

alcjphil

I paid about $200 for my Cyclus truing stand 20 years ago when I was buying directly from the distributor. It is very similar to the Park stand. In today's dollars, at retail prices, the Park stand would be a bargain

rickpaulos

The early Park Tool stands would not take 29er wheels with tires on, or fat bike wheels. The later Park Tool truing stands (ts2.2) are a bit taller to accommodate 29er wheels with the tires still on the rims. The current version (ts4.2) will handle fat bike wheels and through axle wheels. They did sell 29er extensions for the older models (ts). The Park really is the gold standard of truing stands but get one that meets your needs. All are adjustable for dish as well so you don't need an extra dishing gauge. You will want to bolt it to your work bench in a convenient place. Kinda of a pita to do so but it helps keep it from growing legs.

mpetry912 

Find a good used TS2 on eboy for under 200 buck. be prepared to put the rebuild kit into it.

Or get a PK Lie stand, it will cut your building time by 30-40 % and better result

/markp

BikePower

PK Lie stand $2500 on ebay. . um... no.

goint to look up TS2 now. thank you.

howsteepisit

Quite a few from many price ranges available on amazon. I's avoid the dial gauge models. Here is an example that looks pretty good:

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-...2-63e904010ad0

cpach

You might try asking bike shops if they have any old TS2's they could sell you. Many have upgraded to more recent models in the last ten years or so. TBH my shop has two we don't need, but with shipping it's probably not a great deal across the country. The difference between consumer/cheap truing stands and workhorse pro stands (like the Park TS-2 series) is mostly that they are sturdier with less flex, and the caliper arms are a little easier to adjust. Nicer pro stands (the more recent TS-2 series models, the Birzman stand, Var, etc) mostly have quality of life features for working shops--they fit more axle standards, and have clearance to true more kinds of wheels with the tire on, are quicker to swap between thru axle and traditional axles, etc. Extremely nice ones can actually improve accuracy and decrease build time with features like digital or nonlinear dial gauges, like the P&K lie.

WizardOfBoz

Generally agree with squirtdad. You get what you pay for. The Park TS2.2 is a proven, durable, useful tool with very good support and the price these days is not unreasonable. I guess that the current model, the TS2.3 allows for larger, fatter wheels and through-axles. But its' 400 bucks. Another brand mentioned above, Cyclus, is about 300 bucks. I guess that some folks are willing to spend ~$3000 for the P&K Lie unit.

One item I saw, branded as Lifeline, looked reasonable beefy, and could be had for $115:
https://www.storebikeus.com/lifeline...ts3955678.html
I have no experience with these. If you order, depending upon shipping, you might save money ordering it from Europe (Chain Reaction, Wiggles) where the price is slightly lower.

Steel Charlie

I've purchased two Parks off CL for $100 each. Both as good as new. Kept one, gave the other to my little brother.

awac

Get the Park tool Ts- 2.2. It will do what you ask of it. Park are expensive but they work, so they are not, if you follow what I mean. They have a good warranty, good luck with other cheaper manufacturers with that one. Plus if wheel building is not for you, someone will buy it, without you losing too much money. Somebody once said to me, “The poor can’t afford to buy cheap”, always been poor, but I have some great tools! I wonder if that is connected somehow…….

I have a TS-4 and I have never regretted buying it. I did think about the centri-master, but to be honest the TS-4 is kind of a workshop friend now and working to 0.1mm is in my mind all that is required for a good build…….leaves me more money to save up for that Phil Wood spoke cutter and threading machine…..que Wayne’s world guitar scene, “Oh yes, one day she will be mine!”.

Andrew R Stewart 

The more one works with wheels (truing and building) the less one needs a fancy stand. But want is a different thing then need

The number one feature of stands that I see is the solid and repeatable manor of securing the wheel in the stand. This is where more mass (in the stand) is generally better.

The least needed feature of a stand is the dishing aspect. Or is it the ability to note a thousandth of an inch of run out... no, dial gauges place the focus on trueness not on spoke tension consistency.

My favorite stands are the TS2.2 and the Var Preciray. Of the modern ones I avoid using the TS-4 if at all possible. It's too flexible for my tastes. Andy

SJX426 

I looked for years for a Park 2.x and finally found one here. I was using a Spin Doctor stand that I didn't care for because of the instability, too many plastic parts. I upgraded the 2.0 with newer "calipers" with the plastic tips and added a base. Meets my C&V needs.
I did tear it down all the way and cleaned it up with lube and it works great.
PXL_20230122_161723605 on Flickr

squirtdad

here is one way above op's price point but is is pretty abbey tools https://www.abbeybiketools.com/colle...s/truing-stand

Harold74

I have a Bikehand stand that seems to be kind of a Park knock off: https://www.amazon.ca/Bikehand-Wheel.../dp/B00CW90ZKW. They go on sale for about $150 USD from time to time. I'm happy with it for the cost but, if I had it to do over again, I would splurge for the Park for the following reasons:

1) The Park stand allows you to use Park's dishing tool without taking the wheel out of the stand.

2) The shape of the axle holding slots in the Park stand (round at bottom) are better than the Bikehand stand (V at bottom).

3) Because of #2, I feel that Park's centering tool works better than Bikehand's.

Before actually building some wheels, I thought it very important to have one of these stands that allows you to check dish on the stand without a separate tool. I've changed my mind about that for two reasons:

1) These home mechanic stands don't seem to do all that great of a job of dish so I wind up checking it separately anyhow.

2) The centering requires calibration eventually.

I've used a one sided, Feedback Sports stand that we have at the office and quite like it. It's good enough for the amount of truing and building that I do and can be had quite economically: https://www.theproscloset.com/produc...kaApEwEALw_wcB

Schweinhund

https://www.ebay.com/itm/292866988463
It's the manufacturer for BikeHand

mpetry912 

Nice looking part but that's what I paid for my PK Lie stand.

Abbey makes some nice stuff - I have their cassette lockring tool - Campy on one side and Shimano on the other. Really nice tool, fits the part really well. Better than the Park.

here's the thing about "light gap" truing with a stand that uses indicator arms like the Park or this one. it is nearly impossible to identify the ONE spoke (not 2 or 4) that is contributing to lateral AND radial runout. This is the magic trick that Ric Hjertberg teaches in his classes. The deflection indicators on the PK Lie make this very easy.

/markp

squirtdad

that is really interesting, I don't build a lot of wheels, but after my last build using a stand that looks like below, I will get better stand if I build any more wheels. like repairs stands, quality helps

mpetry912 

I still think the TS-2 is a good choice mainly because you can get all the parts, including the rebuild kit which includes the bushings.

sure, you can get the "best cheep" on AMZN for $50 bucks less, straight from Shenzhien, but when one little part strips you are out of luck.

I'd be doing bottoim feeding on ebay "best offers" and pay the shipping for a used TS-2, and put a rebuild kit in it.

/markp

awac

Serious Andy? Never found that. My TS-4 doesn't move when I build. It has some weight in the build and I have also added a thick plywood base which make it convenient to clamp to any worktop, see below.
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...ification.html

awac

Oh that’s nice. I tell you, one day I am going to win the lottery and start the National truing stand museum…..

I have considered Islandix Instruments set up, and will buy at some date, looks fun! I couldn’t say that anywhere else on the web and be understood could I? Lol.

Harold74

I find that I have the very worst form of buyer's remorse when I buy a cheap version of an expensive tool and then, later, realize that I want/need the expensive version after all. Then, effectively, the cost of the quality tool becomes [$$$_Quality + $$$_Cheap = Angry Spouse].

Whatever premium Park Tool charges for their stuff is, for me, almost a form of purchase insurance. Yeah, I probably pay more than I need to for the odd pick or screwdriver. At the same time, I never have to double up on buying a Park Tool product as well as an inferior one. Park Tool deserves this market advantage because they've earned themselves a killer reputation by making consistently good products and providing phenomenal support for them. I begrudge them nothing with respect to their prices.

Harold74

I would like to know about this trick. Is there a location on the Wheel Fanatyk site where I could learn more?

Harold74

I suspect that the ultimate wheel truing setup of the future will be:

a) A home LIDAR scan that creates a 3D virtual representation of your rim and;

b) Some software or AI that recommends adjustments based on the scan.

I have LIDAR at work and it's not all that expensive compared to some of these high end truing stands.

I have mixed feelings about this. Yeah, a truing setup that's efficient and needs no calibration would be cool. However, the software intrusion might detract from the "craft".

mpetry912 

spoke service dot CA is working on something like this.

in addtion to supporting manual truing, it should be able to drive an AI based robot truing machine.

As for the one-spoke trick, I don't think I can summarize it for you here. Definitely an "advanced insight". Assuming that you have mastery of the basics of wheelbuilding, just think about it for a while and maybe it will become clear.

have a look at this Spence Wolf Interview - Bike Forums