Trying to true a wheel without a trueing stand taught me a lesson

Last Saturday I needed to fix a wobble on my rear wheel before a group ride the next morning. My trueing stand is packed away in the back of my garage somewhere, so I figured I'd just use the frame with zip ties as reference points. After about an hour of frustration and making the wobble worse, I gave up and took it to a shop on Sunday morning. The mechanic there told me a zip tie on the frame can't compare to a proper stand with dial indicators, especially on a deeper rim. Has anyone else had a similar experience trying to skip the right tool for wheel work?

2 comments

2 Comments

beth_stone11d agoMost Upvoted

That "zip tie on the frame can't compare" line is a bit much, honestly a zip tie works fine for most wheels if you're patient and careful with small adjustments.

lily_ramirez411d ago

Beth over there (@beth_stone) probably has a garage full of zip ties holding everything together, right? Lol zip ties on a wheel will get you home but that's about it, not exactly precision tuning territory. Sure they work in a pinch but comparing it to a proper tension gauge is like saying duct tape works fine for a broken axle.