Symox

I have been truing my wheels on their respective bikes. I'm thinking of biting the bullet and getting a real truing stand but don't want to spend too much. Anyone have experience with the Minoura FT-1 that they would care to comment on?

thanks

Andrew R Stewart 

This topic has been posted about many times, a low cost truing stand. As i've said before I consider a solid and consistent wheel/stand unit to be very high up my list. Pretty much all the low cost ones I've seen/used are flexible and have poor axle holding designs. Nothing wrong about saving money but I suggest that you don't try better and more solid stands after buying this one.... Andy

kingston 

I have one and have built several wheel sets with it. It's good enough that I have a hard time justifying a nicer one for how little I use it, but it's crappy enough that I wish I had something nicer every time I do.

jccaclimber

Honestly a frame upside down is nicer than a crummy truing stand.
The point of a tool is to improve things. A cheap truing stand does not do that, and a frame works better than one might think.

Crankycrank

+1. For me it's not as rigid as I would like meaning I have to be very gentle with spinning the wheel or it moves in the plastic dropouts. Dishing the wheel it also needs to be carefully flipped around several times to make sure it gives repeatable results. I could be wrong but prices seem to be inflated a bit for now and waiting for who knows how long until the covid supply chain improves could see a price drop. Despite it's faults it's much easier than not having any truing stand and for the price I paid it's worth it. Oh, and don't clamp the wheel with the quick release in the stand as it just bends and distorts the dropouts. Just tighten the QR's up enough to touch them and no more.

delbiker1 

I cannot comment on the Minoura other than I have looked at and considered them. A couple of years ago, I purchased a Feedback Pro truing stand, and it works well for my purposes. Being that it trues one side at a time, it takes longer to do, but that is not an issue for me. I do not have to true wheels very often as I am on the small, light side at 165 fully clothed, do not mash, ride on mostly ok to very smooth pavement, and in a flat, semi-rural area with not a lot of braking. I trued a wheel a couple of days ago, IIRC, that was only the second time this year. Quality, well-built for their purpose wheels, not necessarily expensive, make a huge difference.

https://www.jensonusa.com/Feedback-Pro-Truing-Station

curbtender

I was given a cheap radial arm saw. It did the job, but it needed to be squared up almost every time you used it. Same with this stand.

pdlamb

I have an older model probably made by Minoura but branded Performance Bike. It's all I've needed for many years.

Of course, it's possible they've cheaped it down since I bought mine.

oldbobcat

I'd use it. Around 45 years ago I bought a cheap truing stand from my local shop. I put a pair of the owner's shop-built wheels in the stand to test it, and figured I could use it to build better wheels, and I did for 40 years. You can get good use from just about any tool as long as you understand its vulnerabilities.

oldschoolbike

I built and trued solid and precise wheels "on the bike" for decades. I finally bought an FT-1. Like any other less than industrial grade stand, you will need to have a dishing gauge as well, or it's back to the bike to check dish. Here's the thing though: With the type of base the Minoura has, you can stick a few felt pads on it and use the stand on a desk or table, sliding it around to get the best ergonomics and/or view of the pointers. I much prefer truing wheels sitting in a chair than standing at a suspended bike or hunched over an inverted one, and in the right light the pointers really are better than brake shoes.

oldschoolbike

SoSmellyAir

This sentiment applies to so much in cycling and beyond, at least for me.

Retro Grouch 

In the end, the only thing that a wheel trueing stand does is to provide a stable place to measure from.

I own an old Minoura trueing stand. It's fine for trueing wheels provided your front hub is 100mm and your rear hub is 126mm. It'sll work OK with 130mm rear hubs but wider than that would be stretching it. If I was doing a lot more wheel work than I do today I'd buy myself a better one and I wouldn't let ANYBODY, even my own sons, borrow it.

Russ Roth

This sums up my ownership of mine for a good 8 years until one day it grew legs and walked off to I have no idea where.
The one feature I liked is the wire loop that helped to stabilize it on the table was long enough that I could sit in a chair, partially slide it under my butt so the stand was between my legs and tilted down and I could work on a wheel while watching TV without having to hunch over the coffee table. Didn't really like it but also didn't hate it, it was cheap and did the job well enough with a little extra patience.

tFUnK

I have an earlier model and echo the sentiment from others. I strongly prefer using the Park Tools pro version at the bike co-op (before I moved at least) but for the amount of wheel building and truing that I do nowadays (very seldomly), the Minoura does the job.

Lazyass

Yep, zipties on the chainstays/fork with the tips cut equal lengths works fine. It's better than my cheapo Spin Doctor stand.