For context, I have to say I am a complete novice at bike maintenance, although I am curious and trying to get smart... which is why I love your channel. This was mesmerizing... and, this is probably the most niche thing I've ever seen when it comes to tweaking and tuning with bikes. Holy!
Back when I was OCD on subject material. Boy, truly engaging, enjoyed your presentation with the methodical approach. I also subbed you because like they say......I liked what I came away with. Great job. I, at 68 am always learning and this was nice to file into my archives of information. Thank you Sir...!
Great information, Anthony. I started building wheels in 2021 during the pandemic. Started with the Park Tool tension gauge and graduated to the Wheel Fanatyt dial gauge. Have been recording the results at Spokeservice.ca where they had a free utility to record and graph the results. Unfortunately, that site is no longer active and I've not found option to replace it. I'm curious if it would be possible to purchase a copy of the Excel file you created for recording your results? Only other option I can think of is to create a conversion table going from the Wheel Fanatyk readings to the Park Tool and use their online program.
Glad you enjoyed it! I don't recall that Spokeservice.ca website. I'm happy to share my spreadsheet for free. I've sent it off to others as well. Here's the link to the file on my Google Drive. Just download it, save it under a new name and it should work fine. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rhF7SD-rfWK-j0z_q-0zvNzNNt7-m_lc/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=102873414814529560742&rtpof=true&sd=true
I've built a fair amount of wheels and I get what you're trying to accomplish concerning spoke tension but I think the true of the wheel in the end isn't going to straight and true if all the spokes have the same exact tension. I've spent hours truing a wheel and getting the spokes tensions as close as I possibly could but they are never exactly the same.
You are right about the compromise between equal spoke tension and the true of the wheel. But pro wheel builders will typically prioritize equalizing spoke tension over the true of the wheel. Wheels never fail because they are out of true. They usually fail because spoke tensions are uneven.
Great video! Btw did you by any chance tested some other variation of the Parktool tool, maybe ZTTO or TOOPRE branded? have the ZTTO one, and I am trying to figure out if I can use Parktool conversion table with the ZTTO TC-1. I have carbon spokes on Elitewheels D65, I asked manufacturer for conversion table for the spokes, they gave me parktool numbers, but it says 18 for 120kgf, but when I use the ZTTO TC-1 on the spokes, it's like 24-26 currently, which doesn't make sense right? Either the tool have different spring and shows very different numbers to Parktool one, or manufacturer game me wrong conversion number?
No. I haven't tried any of the Park Tool knockoffs, like the ZTTO TC-1. I don't see how the Park Tool conversion chart could be used for anything other than the Park Tool Tension Meter. For the Park Tool chart to be accurate for use with another tension meter, the mechanism, spec and brand of spring, and the spring calibration would all have to be identical between the two tools. That's just never going to happen. The marginal of error would be so high as to make the conversion chart useless; may as well go by feel and sound in that case. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I was struggling with the same issue you're having when I first got into wheel building. That led me down the rabbit hole of building my own spoke tension calibration jig.
@@bikesbymike It makes perfect sense, thank you very much the reply! I guess I will just get the original ParkTool one, so I can true the D65's without creating the calibration jig, that's beyond my capabilities :(
Wheel size doesn’t matter. A good spoke tension meter will work well on all size wheels. Conversely, a bad tension meter will be equally bad on all size wheels.
For context, I have to say I am a complete novice at bike maintenance, although I am curious and trying to get smart... which is why I love your channel. This was mesmerizing... and, this is probably the most niche thing I've ever seen when it comes to tweaking and tuning with bikes. Holy!
Thanks Anthony. I get a bit of OCD when dealing with anything wheel building related 😂
Thank you for sharing the spreadsheet, Mike (not sure why I referred to you as Anthony in the comment from yesterday, apologies).
You're awesome, David. Much appreciated!
I like your test jig... well done. Thanks for the video
Thanks for watching!
Back when I was OCD on subject material. Boy, truly engaging, enjoyed your presentation with the methodical approach. I also subbed you because like they say......I liked what I came away with. Great job. I, at 68 am always learning and this was nice to file into my archives of information. Thank you Sir...!
Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching.
Great information, Anthony. I started building wheels in 2021 during the pandemic. Started with the Park Tool tension gauge and graduated to the Wheel Fanatyt dial gauge. Have been recording the results at Spokeservice.ca where they had a free utility to record and graph the results. Unfortunately, that site is no longer active and I've not found option to replace it. I'm curious if it would be possible to purchase a copy of the Excel file you created for recording your results? Only other option I can think of is to create a conversion table going from the Wheel Fanatyk readings to the Park Tool and use their online program.
Glad you enjoyed it! I don't recall that Spokeservice.ca website. I'm happy to share my spreadsheet for free. I've sent it off to others as well. Here's the link to the file on my Google Drive. Just download it, save it under a new name and it should work fine. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rhF7SD-rfWK-j0z_q-0zvNzNNt7-m_lc/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=102873414814529560742&rtpof=true&sd=true
Thank you, Mike. Enjoy a coffee with the Super Thanks.
I've built a fair amount of wheels and I get what you're trying to accomplish concerning spoke tension but I think the true of the wheel in the end isn't going to straight and true if all the spokes have the same exact tension. I've spent hours truing a wheel and getting the spokes tensions as close as I possibly could but they are never exactly the same.
You are right about the compromise between equal spoke tension and the true of the wheel. But pro wheel builders will typically prioritize equalizing spoke tension over the true of the wheel. Wheels never fail because they are out of true. They usually fail because spoke tensions are uneven.
Great video! Btw did you by any chance tested some other variation of the Parktool tool, maybe ZTTO or TOOPRE branded? have the ZTTO one, and I am trying to figure out if I can use Parktool conversion table with the ZTTO TC-1. I have carbon spokes on Elitewheels D65, I asked manufacturer for conversion table for the spokes, they gave me parktool numbers, but it says 18 for 120kgf, but when I use the ZTTO TC-1 on the spokes, it's like 24-26 currently, which doesn't make sense right? Either the tool have different spring and shows very different numbers to Parktool one, or manufacturer game me wrong conversion number?
No. I haven't tried any of the Park Tool knockoffs, like the ZTTO TC-1. I don't see how the Park Tool conversion chart could be used for anything other than the Park Tool Tension Meter. For the Park Tool chart to be accurate for use with another tension meter, the mechanism, spec and brand of spring, and the spring calibration would all have to be identical between the two tools. That's just never going to happen. The marginal of error would be so high as to make the conversion chart useless; may as well go by feel and sound in that case.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I was struggling with the same issue you're having when I first got into wheel building. That led me down the rabbit hole of building my own spoke tension calibration jig.
@@bikesbymike It makes perfect sense, thank you very much the reply! I guess I will just get the original ParkTool one, so I can true the D65's without creating the calibration jig, that's beyond my capabilities :(
@@FliskerX Nice. Yeah, going with the Park Tool is the easiest option. Good luck!
Are there any tension meters that work well with small wheels? I'm thinking of 406mm cargo bike wheels, for example.
Wheel size doesn’t matter. A good spoke tension meter will work well on all size wheels. Conversely, a bad tension meter will be equally bad on all size wheels.