Got schooled by a shop owner in Portland last month on spoke tension.

I was in Portland visiting family and stopped into a little bike shop. The owner saw me struggling with a truing stand and walked over. He showed me how I was tightening spokes without checking tension first, just using the sound. He said "you're chasing the rim not the tension" and handed me a tensiometer. Been using one ever since and my wheels actually stay true now. Anyone else have a mentor moment like that in a random shop?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew_chen2d ago

and honestly that's fair if you're just building for yourself or doing one set of wheels. but the thing is most people aren't that good at ear tuning. i know i wasn't. the tensiometer just takes the guesswork out of it. especially with modern rims that are way more finicky than old box section stuff. you can definitely get by without one, but for me it's peace of mind. my wheels stay round longer and i don't have to keep chasing loose spokes.

aaronrobinson2d ago

I don't know, seems like a lot of hassle over something that's worked for most mechanics for years. I've built plenty of wheels by ear and they've held up fine. Kinda feels like the shop owner was just justifying the price of a tensiometer.