One comment about my truing stand changed my whole process

A guy at the shop I sometimes use said my wheels were 'true to the rim, not the hub' and that felt like a slap. I started checking the hub flange runout with a dial indicator first, now every wheel I build takes an extra 90 minutes but rides noticeably smoother. Has anyone else had a customer or fellow mechanic point out something that obvious and then you couldn't unsee it?

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cameron_hernandez691mo ago

Hub flange runout is one of those things that gets ignored because the rim is what you can see, and a dial indicator on the hub makes it feel like you're chasing ghosts at first. Where it really shows up is disc brakes, since a hub face that isn't square to the axle will make the rotor rub no matter how straight your wheel is. So you're not just getting a smoother ride, you're fixing something that would've bit you later on a different part of the bike. Most builders never check it because their fixture doesn't let them, not because it doesn't matter.

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