Wednesday, February 22, 2012

You know how it goes...

A little while ago, i was having some issues with my Park Tool TS-2 wheel jig. Every now and then after building a wheel i was finding it wasn't perfectly centred. Maybe a mm or two at most, but enough that i noticed it. Obviously, i went back and centred the wheel and then adjusted the jig. Then another wheel or two and it would happen again. Odd for it to happen only occasionally. Curiosity got the better of me and i spent a bit of time poking around the web trying to find if there were similar experiences out there and what to do about it. It turns out that there are. The threaded axle that arcs the uprights in and out to adjust for different width hubs is on quite a coarse thread. It seems that a micro change in position at the lower end can lead to enough error at the hub holding end to lead to a wee bit of lateral movement. Of course once you have identified this (i think i was noticing it more because i was constantly going between 150mm all the way down to 100mm OLD hubs) you get the Park Tool 1554-1 centering gauge, consider a rebuild if there is any wear (on mine there was none apparent) and perhaps get a dishing gauge...EVT make a superb one. It adds about 30 seconds to the wheel building process to check that everything is centred prior to truing the wheel.



But, you know how it goes: i can't ignore it. So i get to looking at other wheel jigs. The issue is that i don't build enough wheels to justify what i would really like - a P&K Lie.

Watch these videos for a bit of a description of why it is such a refined tool.





Amazing dedication to making a tool as good and useful as possible.



Slightly less terrifying cost wise are the DT Swiss, and Centrimaster Classic.



Then there is the new one sided Centrimaster.



Hmm. We'll see. Anyone need a well cared for Park Tool TS-2 cheap?

7 comments:

Phil The Horse said...

Hmmm That PKlie i didn't need to see ;-D

mansonsoul said...

You know it's funny you should mention your Park TS-2... how much were you thinking for it? Because I NEED one in my life.

b1umb0y said...

Don't forget the Park TS-3. Best I have ever used.

dRjON said...

the TS-3 did look cool....
price? i dont know to be honest...will think this whole thing over more...

mansonsoul said...

No worries Jon, but if you do come up with a price do let me know, my email address is the name I'm posting this comment from at gmail dot com.

b1umb0y said...

Sorry, I didn't know it was no longer available. I want to say the price was around $350 (Park was selling it at wholesale at the time).

Would definitely be worth watching for on ebay or the like. Maybe Park have a few lying around somewhere. It came with its own alignment gauge, truing gauges, and the rim contacts could be easily adjusted using a small flat bed screwdriver. Anyway, was easy to use.

Cheers,
d./

gregclimbs said...

having now run a few sets of wheels through the dt swiss.....

it is everything I hoped it would be.

takes 170 hubs, takes clownshoes, does offsets all with ease.

none of the slop of the ts2 or calibration. just throw a dishing tool on after you get everything close and you are good.

the way it is supposed to be.

money well spent.

g