How true is true

DTM12
DTM12 Posts: 163
edited August 2007 in Workshop
Just bought some Dura Ace 7801 wheels which I like, I can be a bit anal about these things but when I spun the front wheel it had a tiny amount of lateral movement, I actually was sad enough to measure it with a feeler guage and a pointer on the rim and it was 0.3mm Is that within tolerance ? Since riding them the rear has settled in and rested at about the same tolerance 0.3 - 0.4mm.(You do have to look pretty close to spot 0.3mm) Both wheels are not getting any worse now and remain perfectly constant.
Should I be expecting better ? Or am I being completely overly perfectionist. The last thing I want to get involved in is a trueing excercise on a wheel that is within acceptable limits, and would be difficult to improve on thereby making matters worse.

Is there any such thing as a completely true wheel ?? At what point should I grab for the spoke key ?

Park tools say 1mm or less is true enough, but I think a wheel 1mm lateral wobble would look completely wrong !

Comments

  • Bronzie
    Bronzie Posts: 4,927
    I'd go with Parktools unless you want to spend the rest of your life truing wheels!!
  • DTM12
    DTM12 Posts: 163
    Very true, I like things right, but sometimes I do need to give my backside a kick, and stop being so perfectionist !!
  • AndyGates
    AndyGates Posts: 8,467
    It's purely personal. I can't be bothered with anything finer than 1mm, because it's just fiddly faff for aesthetics' sake. 0.3mm is well within running tolerances, but feel free to have fun and frustration with it. A perfectly true wheel is a thing of beauty (I'm just an ogre).
    Wanted: Penny farthing. Please PM me!
    Advice for kilted riders: top-tubes are cold.
  • I believe there's actually a British Standard on this, or at least that's what my LBS told me. The BS is apparently 2mm which is purely for safety not performance. Anything up to 1mm should be pretty damn good as if your break blocks are slightly off centre they'll push the rim further than that under breaking and if you lean your bike over under your weight the wheels will flex a small amount so 1mm will be lost in that.

    Just looked for the BS and found this:
    http://www.standardsdirect.org/standard ... _4888.html
    just the contents not the info i'm afraid.
    M_G
  • I think i read 1mm somewhere. for ages I used to give myself a hard time for not building perfect wheels, but when I read 1mm as an acceptable tolerence, I realized my wheels are actually pretty good, plus they seem to stay true once built.

    I reckon that you've nothing to worry about!
  • Icicle19
    Icicle19 Posts: 377
    See

    http://www.chc-3.com/pub/wheel_stand.htm

    re truing wheels to perfection (almost anyway..............)
  • good link! I might build one of those.

    Of course, you still need a good truing techinique to get it true - the guide just shows you where it needs the work...
  • Streak
    Streak Posts: 163
    I managed to get hold of a digital version of the gauge shown in the link, i find it much easier to use and get closer to the lowest limits as posted above. Mind you it might just be luck as i only ever built one pair of wheels!
    I am going to build some sprints next so wish me more luck!


    streak
    I'm not so twp as to not know I'm twp.
    http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2006/ju ... Patten.htm
  • if my experience of sprints is anything to go back, it's not the building ou'll need luck for - it's fitting the tubs!

    Bon chance!

    Leon
  • Streak
    Streak Posts: 163
    Leon, thanks for the wishes! I did fit tubs many years ago when racing as a schoolboy and junior, I hope it's easier with the tapes than the tub glue!


    Streak
    I'm not so twp as to not know I'm twp.
    http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2006/ju ... Patten.htm
  • ah yes, it might be. I used glue, and the stuff is just filth!