Minoura Workman truing stand - does it work?

RS said:

Anyone use one of these to keep wheels true? They're only $40 at
nashbar and don't look too cheesy.

thanks

Years ago (prior to 1989), before I bought a Park TS-2, I owned and
used the earlier version of the Minoura. It probably won't hold up to
the rigors of "shop use", but if you're not building alot of wheels, it
should be fine

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In article <[email hidden]>,

RS said:

Anyone use one of these to keep wheels true? They're only $40 at
nashbar and don't look too cheesy.

_ They work. I've built a couple wheels with one, but I never
quite trust that the dish/centering is right and end up finishing
the wheel on the bike. I suspect that with a lot of use the plastic
auto-centering gizmo would get sloppy. For minor trueing, I'd
save your money and invest in a good workstand so you can get
the bike high enough to comfortably true the wheel on the bike.

_ Booker C. Bense

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As others have said, they are fine for home use where you are only
using it every once in a while. The biggest caveat with it is that it
is too flexy to get accurate centering/dish measurements for new builds
and major reworking. You will need a separate dish stick for that. It
is stable enough for truing though.

It seems like some versions of this stand have the center alignment
"T"- tool as a separate item now. Don't bother buying this accessory if
that is the case since it doesn't serve any useful purpose in light of
the stand's inability to stay centered in use.

I use the "Spin Doctor" and it works fine.

- -
Comments and opinions compliments of,
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

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ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

"amakyonin" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

As others have said, they are fine for home use where you are only
using it every once in a while. The biggest caveat with it is that it
is too flexy to get accurate centering/dish measurements for new

builds

Quoted message said:

and major reworking. You will need a separate dish stick for that. It
is stable enough for truing though.

It seems like some versions of this stand have the center alignment
"T"- tool as a separate item now. Don't bother buying this accessory

if

Quoted message said:

that is the case since it doesn't serve any useful purpose in light of
the stand's inability to stay centered in use.

Bought one from REI Co-op a few weeks ago. Discovered I had a nice Co-op
credit due so the price was right.

I agree with your criticisms, it wouldn't stay centered and the "T" tool
was useless. I had to use my old Park Wheel Dishing Tool. It's almost 30
years old! The new ones have some better features so I'll probably
modify my Park tool this week end.

I guess that I expected more from a Japanese made product. The hokie
method for attaching the Minoura to a bench leaves a lot to be desired.
With a little more effort it could be a great product.

We had a VAR #74 wheel truing stand at the bike shop that I ran in the
70's. I used to

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/var/pages/var0035.html

I'd get one of the Park Pro stands if I were going to use it more than
occasionally.

Chas.

RS said:

Anyone use one of these to keep wheels true? They're only $40 at
nashbar and don't look too cheesy.

It will be fine. I bought an older Minoura model 20+ years ago, have
built several wheels with it, and still use it.

Even the Park stands aren't great for centering. Either buy a dishing
tool, or just flip the wheel over in the stand to check centering.

Art Harris

"Art Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

RS said:

Anyone use one of these to keep wheels true? They're only $40 at
nashbar and don't look too cheesy.

It will be fine. I bought an older Minoura model 20+ years ago, have
built several wheels with it, and still use it.

Even the Park stands aren't great for centering. Either buy a dishing
tool, or just flip the wheel over in the stand to check centering.

Art Harris

The Minoura will probably work fine for most riders needs.

I like to adjust my wheels to less than .5mm (.020"😉 hop and .25mm
(.010"😉 side to side. This evening I retrued the wheels that I built
several weeks ago. Because of the flex in this stand I had to pull the
wheels out several times and check them with a dish tool. I could have
done just as well truing them on the bike!

Chas.