Tried two ways to set up a truing stand and the difference was huge

I've been working on wheels for my shop in Austin and always used the old cone-and-locknut method on my Park TS-2.2. Last week I tried the newer style with the quick-release skewer adapters that came with it, which I'd never bothered with before. The difference in stability was INSANE. With the old way, I'd get maybe 0.5mm of lateral wobble just from the axle shifting in the cones, especially on a lightweight carbon wheel. The QR method locked the hub body dead solid, zero play. It cut my truing time on a wobbly 29er wheel from like 45 minutes down to 20. Why did I wait so long to try the proper setup? Has anyone else found a basic tool adjustment that made a massive difference in speed or quality?

2 comments

2 Comments

cole_lee93d ago

Man, I feel this so hard. I used the cone method for years because that's how the old guy at the shop taught me, and I just never questioned it. I'd be fighting a wheel, getting it perfect on the stand, only to find it was still off on the bike because the hub was moving around. It was like trying to write your name while someone's shaking the table. Finally using the right adapters felt like discovering the cheat code I didn't know existed.

reese_chen3d ago

Cheat code" is a bit much, @cole_lee9. That cone method teaches you to feel for hub play as you true, which is a real skill. I've seen guys get wheels just as true and way faster with the old way because they learned to work with the system. The QR adapters are nice, but they're just another tool. If your stand is bolted down solid, a little axle shift shouldn't wreck your work. It's like saying you need power steering to park a car.