Guy at the co-op showed me how to true a wheel with a zip tie

He walked over while I was staring at my wobbly rim and said "you're overthinking it," then taped a zip tie to the fork. Now I skip the truing stand for minor fixes and just use that trick.

2 comments

2 Comments

laura94022d ago

Overthinking it" is exactly the problem with this trick. In my experience, a zip tie truing method is fine for getting you home from a trailhead, but it's not a replacement for a real stand if you actually care about your wheel lasting. The zip tie doesn't account for lateral tension, dish, or spoke wind-up, so you can end up with a wheel that looks straight but has uneven stress that breaks spokes later. I've seen guys do this at the shop and then bring the wheel back a month later with a cracked rim because they took out too much tension on one side. Your mileage may vary, but I'd rather spend the ten minutes putting the wheel in a proper stand than chase a wobbly rim for the next hundred miles.

lunashah22d ago

Exactly this. Zip ties can't measure tension.