Deetox

I'm looking to get a decent spoke tension meter to help me learn wheelbuilding. After some research I've narrowed down my options to either the Park Tool TM-1 or a very similar looking one I found called the SuperB TB-ST12. Welcome to Super B Bicycle Tools.

Since the TB-ST12 looks to be good quality and is half the price I'm definitely leaning towards that one right now. Anyone here ever use that particular model and have any comments on it? (No reviews anywhere yet it seems)

I was also wondering since the design is so close to the TM-1 and both have the same measurement scales with the same numbers on them would it be compatible with the TM-1 Park Tool Wheel Tension App? I'm guessing probably not but just wanted to confirm.

easyupbug 

B is a relatively new company located in Taiwan and as there is probably little experience out there I will offer this. You are going to have to gamble. Taiwan can make quality tools but also they may only be marketing Chinese tools. I did vendor qualifications in China for a few years and can tell you the Chinese can make (and do) quality tools or junk. If B is out to capture some of the Park market they can do it with quality at a lower price or they can sell nice looking junk or something in between.
REI web site had a few reviews that gave their tool kit mixed reviews.

FatInBike

I got recently a SuperB tensiometer and confirm it is much more than decent. But, but, but, keep firm in mind that it does not at all help you learn wheelbuilding. Truing and dishing wheels is the final miracle of a lot of patience, calm and small steps, expecially in the final stage. AS alraedy someone said here, for 100 years tensiometer has been unknown.

Dan Burkhart 

I have no experience with either of those brands, but a tension meter needs only to give consistent, repeatable readings and for this, it need not be overly sophisticated.
My Wheelsmith tensiometer has been 100% reliable for many years, despite being totally mechanical.
The key is to have a means of calibrating it to ensure long term consistency.

fietsbob

I question 'needing' a tension meter to build your first wheel..

nfmisso

++++ resonance frequency is a better measure of tension in a spoke than a tension meter.

nfmisso

++++ I have been building wheels for a few years, never found the need for a tension meter. I followed the process on Sheldon's site, great results. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

FatInBike

Confirm, for references see the famous webpage of the venerated S. Brown. Nowadays, for people not used to playing guitars, there are hundreds of app supplying responses to a sound ping.

deacon mark

I am a guitarist and repair guitars also. I don't have perfect pitch but very good relative pitch and I would not really on a note. Feel of the spokes along with the pitches they sound better than pure pitch.

I use a park Tension tool and it works. Gives a benchmark and is a reference.

3alarmer 

...I can't do as good a job by ear as I can with a meter. I've tried.

Where the Park or similar really shines is when you're working on an older wheel or a new build at the final stages, and you want to run all the spokes to see if you can better balance the tensions by taking two adjacent on the same side, one of which might be a skosh high and the other a skosh low. The rim doesn't move, but you tighten one and loosen the other the same amount of turn.

I presume that this new company is selling through distributors on e-bay ? It seems all their distributors are in the Far East and India.

3alarmer 

.
...never mind, I found the Canadian distributor on their website. For what it is, the Park tool is overpriced unless you can find it on sale somewhere. It's not real sophisticated, so it wouldn't surprise me if this company has produced a well made knock off.

That they aren't selling it through a US distributor probably has something to do with how close a replica it is.

corrado33

Using the park tool meter to build my last dozen wheels, I can tell you with reasonable confidence that the park tool meter has a +-1 number accuracy (on the scale on the device.) That can translate to pretty wild swings for thinner spokes. It depends on where you put the meter on the spoke, and how hard to release the lever. If you release the lever really quickly it'll read lower. If you release it slowly it'll read higher.

That said, I bet you could tune a wheel pretty well with a guitar pick and tuner. Or by ear if you are a musician. I don't trust my ear that well and I need something to quantify the readings.

Hell, any smartphone probably has a guitar tuner app on it. Or even a spectrum analyzer app.

Deetox

Thanks for the input guys. I do realize a spoke meter isn't 100% (or even 1%) necessary but I enjoy messing around with tools . I actually wasn't planning to buy one any time soon but I've got some birthday money to blow so may as well spend it on something useful right?

SuperB tools definitely aren't popular in the USA but all the bike shops here in Canada stock their stuff. I've noticed they also license them out to other companies who sell them under different brand names (Sunlite is one you may recognize). I've been aware of them for around 5 years now and in the last 2 or 3 they've considerably upped their game and started releasing a lot of really nice looking tools. I own a few of their smaller ones and they've held up just fine.

Still thinking it over but the more I do the more I lean towards the TB-ST12. Heck I could buy that AND their awesome looking TB-1930 dishing gauge for the SAME cost as the PT TM-1!! Not sure how I can justify saying no to that.

Deetox

I continued my research and came across yet another tension meter made by a European tool company named Unior (whom I'm also familiar with and know they make quality tools):
After watching that presentation I knew right away it was the one for me and I just pulled the trigger. As Mr. Burkhart mentioned earlier it's important to have a means of calibrating your meter and I was concerned about having to deal with that down the road. The Unior stood WAY out to me from the the rest in this regard since it actually comes with it's own calibration gauge! (why don't other meters have this??)

Not only that but it also has a built in 12 size spoke gauge and comes in a nice hard plastic case. Final cost was around $30 more than the PT TM-1 but considering the extra features you get I think it was worth it. (Provided it works as advertised of course!)

rm -rf

Hmm, I just tried my Park meter on CXray ovalized spokes. I tried releasing the tool instantly and slowly releasing. I got readings within .5 of the number scale every time, and usually within .25 of a number--and .25 is effectively the smallest usable increment. Both at the 15 mark for the drive side, and the 7 mark on the non-drive side.

I got the same readings on any part of the ovalized area of the spoke, middle or ends.

~~~~
"Feel"
I don't have any feel for the correct spoke tension, since I only tune up my wheels occasionally, and build one once every few years. I'd never try building a wheel without a tension meter. Especially rear wheels, with very high tension on the drive side, and what seems to be not enough tension on the non-drive side -- I'd probably make the drive side too high.

I can see how it becomes unnecessary with experience. And was probably less necessary when wheels all had 32 or 36 spokes.

~~~~
dishing
I've never needed a dishing gauge. I got good results by carefully flipping the wheel in the truing stand, and comparing the centering marks on the stand. (Some masking tape markers were helpful.)

I checked the dish by mounting the wheel on the bike, getting the brake pads adjusted evenly, then flipping the wheel and comparing the pad clearance when almost touching the rim.

ExpertTools

Probably not the right tool for a beginner, but there's a great tool to keep an eye out for if you want the best. I found a machinist from Eastern Europe who makes these and lists them on eBay from time to time. You can specify what type of dial indicator you want, (digital or analogue, and the brand). The slide is a special roller bearing assembly. Not cheap though; but a thing of beauty.

Bike Gremlin

Info link and/or contact info would be highly appreciated. PM or forum.
I could only find this one, as far as properly built tensionmeters go, but they are in the USA, with a 200+ dollar price, which means about 370 $ while it reaches my garage with all the taxes post and customs:

Wheel Fanatyk Tensiometers - Wheel Fanatyk

ExpertTools

That Wheel Fanatyk appears to be a very nearly identical design, but not as nicely made. Price can vary greatly based on the type/quality of the dial indicator used, but seems to be in the same ballpark; I paid 230 euros for mine shipped to the US. I just sent an email to the maker to ask if he's still making any more of these. I know one issue he had was trouble obtaining the very special slide bearings for the main assembly, (not the roller bearings the spoke bends against, but the slide for the part on the back when press with the palm of your hand.) I'll send you a PM if he can make more.

unterhausen

well, Ric Hjertberg (Wheel Fanatyk) did the original design for that tension meter, so I guess it would be rather similar.

I recently bought a Chinese knock-off of the DT Swiss design. The action is very good, but the calibration is off quite a bit. I'm a little concerned about the way the indicator interfaces to the arms, but I don't use one often enough to worry about it too much. All the DT's I have used have been a little sticky at the spoke interface, so they can be inaccurate if not used very carefully.

I find that I'm pretty good at using pitch to tension a wheel. At least for relative tension. Once I get it the way I want it, I use a tension meter.

markokompic

I have this tension meter and it works great. I have built my first set of wheels using one. Yes, it is absolutely not needed, but I find it very useful to equalize spoke tensions before final tensioning and truing. Also, it is very easy to compare spoke tension with another wheel, so that you are pretty certain that your wheel is in acceptable tension range.

ExpertTools

Not according to their web site: "A breakthrough vision by HP engineer Jobst Brandt in the 1970’s" - They merely perfected the design.


The main thing is that the Wheel Fanatyk tool is readily available....not so sure about the one I posted.

corrado33

Interesting. I wonder what's causing the difference between mine and yours? (I'm not making it up either, I've done the same test with 3 or 4 different types of spokes, I just make sure to always release the handle in the same manner to get consistent readings.) Those readings seem super low though, are those spokes very thin in the "short" direction? A reading of 7 is below the scale for most of the spokes on the conversion table sheet that comes with the tool.

https://www.parktool.com/assets/doc/p...conv-table.pdf

I've only ever used steel round spokes (sometimes butted) so my readings are more often up ~20 on the scale.(For fronts or DS) Then again, I'm a beginner wheel builder so I may be tensioning the hell out of my spokes, but when I tried lower tension I just lost the wheel true after a week or so of riding and the spokes started to loosen.

Bike Gremlin

The (original) design is of Jobst Brandt I believe.

Pitch checking is good to make sure you got the uniform tension. Tension meter is needed to check the tension is proper (knowing when to stop tensioning).

Bike Gremlin

Yes, they seem identical. Thanks.

For me, the price from abroad is: (noted+shipping) * 1.1 (customs) * 1.2 (Value added tax)
The Fanatyk charges 45$ for shipping, so it adds up quite steep.

velocentrik

Taiwan does not import Chinese goods. The majority of the Taiwanese economy and, believe it or not, their foreign policy and national defense philosophy is based on cycling components, goods and tools. They honestly believe that the Western world love their Taiwanese cycling goods to the point that they will defend them from Mainland China in that messy situation. It's actually their official articulated position. Taiwan makes most of the high end components and frames in the world. A lot more than people realize. Very few things are "branded"!though like SuperB tools or Giant bikes or Microshift components. Mostly they make tools and bikes and bits for other labels.

A lot of quality SuperB and IceTools (Lifu) are outright better tools than Park makes, and significantly better value.

SuperB has been making tools for years for other labels. Think of them as Giant right after they stopped building for Specialized.

I like many of my SuperB tools better than my Park tools. I have the Park tensiometer. I would never recommend it. If you can't afford a good DT analog or digital tensiometer, I'd recommend a used Wheelsmith tensiometer. Pay the $20 to WheelFanatyk to get a custom calibration sheet. You'll end up with a more accurate and consistent reading than with the Park/SuperB design.

If you want to get the Park design, pass on the Park tool, get the SuperB instead. I would.

There are some bike tools I would never trade/sell because they are rare, interesting, quality tools, or well made and functional. I'd trade my Park tensiometer for a needed bike tool at a swap without thinking twice. I'd either go cheaper with the SuperB, go vintage and more accurate with the Wheelsmith, of give into the lust for a DT tensiometer.

SuperB makes the best Mavic hub pin tool in the business. Metal with a yellow rubber sheath. Makes the actual black plastic Mavic pin tool look like a toy.