Been using this stand to true wheels for a few yrs now. have also build 3 wheels with it recently. It works pretty good for basic adjustments but a mild pain for doing full out wheel building.
Few nice features....- Price (anywhere from $40-$60 depending on if you find a sale)
- Spring loaded tips so they don't scratch the rim.
- does both round and wobble
- feelers slide up and in enough to true disc brake rotors!! (BIG +)
- Easy to use
Few bad features..- wobbly with tire on or doing 29er rims (I just throw something heavy on it to keep it stable)
- one sided mounting needs to be clamped hard! (I add washers to keep from over tighening QR, remove the springs too!)
- one sided feelers means flipping it around to protect dish
I have to say that it works, and with a little trial and error I can get wheels damn close, if not perfect. but you have to do a lot of flipping the wheel around and check both sides to keep the dishing in place or you could easily end up pitching it out to one side or the other. Not the end of the world by any means for the basic wheel truing of the average rider/home mechanic. But if you are looking to
build wheels from scratch I'd say look else where.
With a few mild quarks I still say this is a good product! most people just aren't going to shell out almost $200 bucks for a professional stand when they might use it once or twice a year tops. And this stand does what it's made to do, True your wheels. If you ever thought of playing around with your wheels, I'd recommend this over the super cheapies!
Bottom line... If you just want to check your wheels once in awhile, or need to replace a spoke or two, it's perfect. If you are looking to start building your own wheels, be prepared to take your time or go get something else.
8 out of 10 in my book, it works
