Park Tool TS-2.3 Pro Wheel Truing Stand [Rider Review]

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

Building wheels is indeed intimidating when diving straight into it. Our friend, Philip, built up their wheels with very specific wheel building tools that made the job much easier and less intimidating. Read on for more! 

Overview

What’s that you say? Do you want to build your wheels? Naaah…that’s black magic, leave it to the pros, kid. That’s about the reaction you get when you tell somebody you’re going to build yourwheels from parts. Not too long ago, I would have agreed with them and instead purchase factory-built wheels. But…that’s no longer how I roll after getting set up with a few Park Tool wheel truing tools (purchased from the fine crew at Worldwide Cyclery). The three tools reviewed today, I’d say are a must for anyone serious about building their wheels. I won't dive into all of the ins and outs of wheel building...there's already plenty of guides and videos on the internet. If you' re completely new to wheel building, or even a seasoned expert, I highly suggest taking a look at Roger Musson's website. The site also hosts, in my opinion, one of the best spoke length calculators available.

TS-2.3 Professional Wheel Truing Stand:
Upon unboxing the TS-2.3, my first thought was, “Dang…this thing is solid!” It's essentially ready to go out of the box with just a couple of knobs to attach. It comes pre-calibrated from the factory and the included instruction booklet is worth a quick read to familiarize yourself with how to adjust it and recalibrate it in the future if the need arises. The included thru-axle adapters are a nice addition that is 't included with most other manufacturers’ offerings. A variety of mounting options are available for the stand: bolt it to a benchtop, clamp it to a table, or install it in the TSB-2.2 truing stand base. I've even used it by just setting it on the floor. Fine-tuning the wheel in the truing stand is straightforward and the adjustment knobs offer the precise movement of the main caliper arm and calipers. Tech Tip: I would recommend adding a little grease to the caliper arm adjustment knob (#8 in the part numbers diagram) and caliper finger adjustment know (#17 in the part numbers diagram) during assembly.

WAG-4 Pro wheel alignment gauge:
After you've built up a bit of tension in the spokes and trued the wheels time to break out the WAG- 4...the perfect tool for dishing your wheels (in other words, centering the hub inside the rim). For proper wheel building, a dishing tool is a must and the Park Tool WAG-4 is a beautifully simple device to complete the task. Simply adjust the sliding spacer blocks to the edges of the rim and push down the adjustment gauge until the tip contacts the end cap/locknut. Flip the wheel over without adjusting anything and see if there is a gap or perhaps too much extension at the gauge tip on the other side. Once properly dished, the tip of the gauge will sit perfectly flush against both sides of the hub caps/locknuts.

TM-1 Spoke tension meter:
You could debate on whether or not using a simple spoke tensiometer, like the TM-1, is worth the time and/or accurate enough for wheel building. Well, I for one, being new to wheel building can't recommend it enough! How accurate is it? I dunno...but I'm going to have to assume is more accurate than me just guessing what the spoke tension is by just feeling, squeezing, or plucking the spokes. For somebody that doesn't plan on building hundreds of wheels, I'd say it's a worthwhile investment for the simple fact that whether it's accurate or not, it's going to enable you to achieve a fairly uniform spoke tension on each side of your wheel which will equate to an overall stronger wheel in the end. I've used it on all of my wheel builds to date and will continue to do so. Manufacturers will often list the maximum spoke tension a rim supports and/or the targeted spoke tension when building a wheel with their rims. The TM-1 comes with a conversion table that will allow you to decipher what the spoke tension reading is, given the spokes material, thickness, and shape. Some odd-diameter spokes, like Sapim D-Light spokes which are 1.65mm thick, are not listed in the table so you need to use the Park Tool wheel tension app (https://www.parktool.com/en-us/wta/) "smartCard-inline") to get an accurate TM-1 conversion table. I like using the Wheel Tension App on all my builds because it allows you to easily record the tension after you measure each spoke and it calculates things like average spoke tension, deviation, and upper and lower tension limits. It even includes a neat diagram of the wheel outlining the right and left side spoke tensions. Other useful things you can record in the app are details about the rim, spokes, and hub. I make note of things like rim ERD, spoke length for left and right sides, and any other unique aspects of the build. After that, print out the results, file it away, and you can then reference it in the future.

Tech Tip: The TM-1 is pre-calibrated from the factory, so I highly recommend the first thing you do when you take it out of the box is calibrate it against something. I used a small steel rod ~3mm thick and 300mm long and took a tension reading at a precise spot on it (record where it is and use this steel rod for nothing else...ever) so I could check its calibration in the future and recalibrate it if need be. A dropped tensiometer is useless and you'd have to send it back to Park Tool to recalibrate in the unfortunate event that happens.

Final thoughts

For nearly 60 years, Park Tool has been producing high-quality bicycle tools for professional bike shops and home mechanics alike, in-house (currently at their St. Paul, Minnesota factory). That expected high quality and precision was not lost when they created these wheel truing tools. They offer exceptional value and results that have stood the test of time. I never thought that one day I would be building my own wheels, but I’m here to tell you that no longer is it black magic. With the right tools from Park Tool and Worldwide Cyclery, anyone can have success building their own wheels!