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Hot take: I thought the old guy at the co-op was nuts for truing wheels with a spoke tension app, but now I use it
I was helping out at the bike co-op in Denver last winter and this retired guy named Ray kept pulling out his phone to check spoke tension on a wheel he was building. I figured he was just messing around, but he showed me the app reads the pitch when you pluck a spoke, and it was dead on with the Park Tool tension meter within about 5 percent. I was skeptical for weeks, then I built a set of wheels for my own cross bike and used the app the whole way. After 400 miles of gravel and two races, they're still perfectly true, no wobble at all. The thing that sold me was when Ray said he'd been building wheels for 30 years and the phone just saves his ears from getting tired. I still use the meter for final check, but the app is faster for getting close. Anyone else tried this or am I just late to the party?
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stella_scott9616d ago
Wait, Ray from the Denver co-op? That guy is a legend. I had almost the same thing happen with a wheel builder here in Fort Collins who swore by his phone. I laughed at first but tried it on a rear wheel that kept going out of true. Three months of hitting potholes on my commuter and it's still dead straight. My ears are garbage so the app does the listening for me. Now I only drag out the tension meter when I'm doing a final check before a big ride.
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