Wasted $120 on a wheel truing stand that wobbled like crazy

I bought this cheap truing stand off Amazon a few years back because I didn't want to drop real money on a Park Tool one. It looked fine in the pictures but once I got it set up, the whole thing flexed every time I tightened a spoke. I spent maybe 4 hours over a week trying to shim it with cardboard and tape, just to get a decent true. Finally gave up and got a used Park Tool stand off Craigslist for $80, and it works perfect. Has anyone else tried to cheap out on a stand and regretted it?

3 comments

3 Comments

shanec619d ago

That cardboard shim trick is genius, I did the same thing with my cheap stand and it actually worked okay.

singh.harper9d ago

Yeah the cat factor changes everything. I had to wedge a folded up beer coaster under one corner of my stand after my dog leaned on it during a thunderstorm. Ended up cutting a piece of an old yoga mat to the exact size I needed and it's been rock solid for months now. Way more stable than cardboard might look a little goofy if you peek behind the TV but nobody notices unless I point it out.

wendy_lee489d ago

And the funny thing is, I actually tried that same cardboard trick on my TV stand (which is one of those flimsy IKEA ones) and it worked great for like a week. But then my cat decided to jump on top of the TV (because of course she did) and the whole thing wobbled so bad I thought it was going to crash down. Had to duct tape the cardboard in place after that, which makes it look super janky but hey, it's stable now.