Truing Stands
Browse used truing stands for sale from riders across the UK. A truing stand grips the wheel by its axle and brings adjustable gauges up to the rim so you can see lateral and radial error as it turns, down to a fraction of a millimetre; most take anything from a 16in wheel to a 29er, with adapters for 12mm and 15mm thru-axles. It suits anyone building wheels from scratch or straightening a buckle properly rather than by eye against the brake pad.
How does a truing stand work?
The wheel sits in slots or jaws that hold the axle on the stand's centreline, and two gauge arms close in from either side until they just touch the rim. Spin the wheel and the rim tells you where it runs out sideways; drop a gauge to the rim's outer edge instead and it shows radial hop. Everything after that is done with a spoke wrench, a quarter turn at a time.
Which truing stand should I buy?
The dividing line is rigidity and how it stands up. Shop-pattern stands like the Park Tool TS-2.2 are heavy castings that either bolt to a bench or sit on their own base, and they barely move under hand pressure. Lighter home and portable stands — the Park Tool TS-8, the Minoura Workman, the folding Feedback Sports stand — cost far less and flex a little more, which matters when you are chasing the last half-millimetre but not for occasional repairs. Check the maximum axle width too: older stands predate 142mm and 148mm rear spacing and need spreading or adapting.
Truing stand or dishing tool?
A stand shows you whether the rim runs true relative to itself; it cannot reliably tell you whether the rim is centred between the hub locknuts, because the stand's own arms may not be symmetrical. That job belongs to a wheel dishing tool, and a rear wheel with an 11 or 12-speed cassette needs the check every time. Most builders buy a stand, a dishing gauge and a set of spoke wrenches together.
What wears out on a used truing stand?
Play in the gauge arms is the main thing — grip each arm and rock it, because slop there shows up as phantom wobble you will chase for an hour. Check the thumbscrews and their threads, since they are turned constantly and strip out; check the uprights are parallel and have not been splayed by the stand being dropped or by wheels forced in; and look for burrs in the axle slots that stop the wheel seating the same way twice. The best test is to true a wheel, flip it in the stand and re-check: the error should mirror exactly, and if it does not, the stand is out of symmetry.
What is a used truing stand worth?
These are among the best things to buy second-hand in a wheel building setup, because there is nothing in them to consume — a stand that has trued a thousand wheels works exactly like a new one provided the arms are tight and the uprights straight. Most are bolted assemblies rather than bonded, so wear in the pivots can often be taken up by adjustment. Buy new if you need current thru-axle compatibility and the used stand would need adapters that cost more than the difference.