Wheel Truing with Zip Ties!

[abstractform20]

i have trued wheels using brake pads as i dont have funds for a park ts2 yet, however i discovered another great reason to always have zip ties.

my old team fuji (single speed) has a wheelset (entry alx wheels, 30 bucks on craigslist) that needed truing. the rear brake is gone because it was missing a few screws, so i decided to just use the front. i was trying to zip tie the rear brake in place and realized the i could check for any hops (which i dont know how to true), or any wobble/side play; i used 3 zip ties.

1 on each seatstay, and 1 through the brake drillout. to measure how well the i trued the wheels, i decided that if i could not fit the flat side of the zip tie between the rim and the seatstay zip tie, that would be more than fine. well, i finished. no hop and just the tiniest amount of play.

[Uncle Grumpy]

Well done!

You've discovered the bargain truing stand method, used by cyclists for many years and often used by mountain bikers to tweak a whacked wheel back to rideable as a trailside repair.

The one thing is doesn't do is ensure the dish of the wheel is right, but for a makeshift truing job, it's fine.

You'd be better off taking the tyre off and using the spoke well as tyres might not be perfectly round.

Once you've got the hang of it, get hold of a proper stand and build a wheel from scratch. It's not difficult, it's rewarding, and when coupled with a bottle of red wine, quite therapeutic.

Grumps

[Opus51569]

Excellent post and an ingenious way of checking the rims.

[frdfandc]

I've used this method in the past on the trails. Works well enough to get back to the car.

[FatTireFred]

front brake-only on a ss?

[FBinNY]

Can't fault the method, which is ingenious, but doesn't anyone just use their thumb nails any more?

Also true for hops either from the bottom (toward the hub) of the rim, or with the tire off. Tires aren't uniform enough to go by when aligning wheels.

Another tool that less experienced folks might use is a dry marker. Spin the wheel and bring the marker in until it just makes contact on each side, marking the high spot, Repeat for the opposite side, and bottom of the rim. That will leave marks showing the overall pattern of problems without worrying about losing the place.

After working on the wheel, wipe with alcohol, and repeat as needed until you're done.

[PlatyPius]

Can't fault the method, which is ingenious, but doesn't anyone just use their thumb nails any more?

Also true for hops either from the bottom (toward the hub) of the rim, or with the tire off. Tires aren't uniform enough to go by when aligning wheels.

Another tool that less experienced folks might use is a dry marker. Spin the wheel and bring the marker in until it just makes contact on each side, marking the high spot, Repeat for the opposite side, and bottom of the rim. That will leave marks showing the overall pattern of problems without worrying about losing the place.

After working on the wheel, wipe with alcohol, and repeat as needed until you're done.

I use my thumb nail...

[Opus51569]

Another tool that less experienced folks might use is a dry marker. Spin the wheel and bring the marker in until it just makes contact on each side, marking the high spot, Repeat for the opposite side, and bottom of the rim. That will leave marks showing the overall pattern of problems without worrying about losing the place.

After working on the wheel, wipe with alcohol, and repeat as needed until you're done.

The key there is "dry erase" not "Sharpie"!

[FBinNY]

The key there is "dry erase" not "Sharpie"!

It really doesn't matter, most come off easily, worst case is the marks come off with braking. I use "Dry Mark" brand permanent markers for marking metal for a number of applications, and it comes off easily with alcohol.