I never knew what a properly tensioned wheel set felt like. I didn't know if my spokes were tight or loose unless they were rattling around. I just tightened up my favorite set. Turns out they were about half tensioned and they still rode great. Park tools are easy to use and give great instructions.

PROS: Accurate, Good instruction, Easy to use

CONS: none

BEST USES: On All Wheels, Trouble Wheel Sets

Very nice build quality, good finish. Smooth operation and fairly consistent readings. Works with all different spoke types. Intuitive to use.

Highly useful when used in conjunction with the Park Tools TCC spreadsheet (download from their web site). Not only useful for truing wheels, but also for adjusting spoke tension to within a very good average tension range for each side of the wheel (nice and consistent). Promotes strong and true wheels that won't go out of true easily.

PROS: Adjustable calibration, Easy to use, Good support, Versatile, Good Quality

CONS: Not cheap

I killed a slightly bent wheel once. I trued it almost daily, trying to keep it useable. One day I hopped up on it and PANG, I had a taco on my rear axle. Unrepairable.

I think that I had gradually tightened the spokes to an unsustainable tension. I've been a lot more careful since then, but I am much more comfortable with this toool around, enabling me to be sure I don't kill another wheel.

To be fair, the wheel I killed was an Alex Y2000, which was really more trouble than it was worth, but I'd like to keep my Halos and Atomlabs for a good long time.

This tension meter is extremely simple to use. You have to take a moment to go through a large but simple chart to determine what parameters you are looking for, but that's the closest this thing is to difficult. Operating it is a breeze, and it's priced where almost anyone with any investiture in their bike can afford it.

PROS: Ease of Use, price

CONS: none

BEST USES: Wheel truing, Wheel building

I've always built wheels using the musical pitch of the plucked spokes to determine the appropriate tension. That has worked well (never had to true a wheel, never broken a spoke, never cracked a rim on any wheel I've built in the last 15 years or so) along with following the advice in the book The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt. However, I've always been a little uneasy that perhaps the spoke tensions weren't being controlled as accurately as they should. This meter has put my mind at ease (i.e. pitch tensioning works if you have a decent ear) and incidentally proven that at least for the rims I've used (Velocity, Bontrager, Kinlin, Sun) , spoke tension can be at 150 - 170 kgf (per this tool) without cracking the rim. That's nice to know since wheels with high even spoke tension are less likely to go out of true. Now I have more confidence I'll be able to build reliably durable wheels.

PROS: Easy to use

Help very quickly to identify incorrect tension.

While this unit does not have the dial scale of units many times the price, with a little practice results are quite repeatable and plenty accurate enough even for racing wheels. there is a learning curve, but it is easy enough. I found some seriously poorly tensioned wheels I thought were good. I have been building wheels for years but was never quite sure of spoke tension. Now I know for sure!

PROS: Inexpensive, Easy to use, Repeatable Accuracy

This was very helpful while building my wheels. I would not build a wheel without one. It ensures that all spokes are tensioned properly giving you the best wheel build. It is also very quick and simple to use.

It comes with a spoke width tool and chart to convert the tools measurements to newtons. This way you can get the spokes tensioned to the rim's specs without any guess work.

PROS: Helpful Tool, Accurate

I caught this on sale and use it to true my growing bicycle fleet. The tool is well made accurate and supported by Park Tool with an on line app.

By using this I am able to balance tension more accurately than without. This works for me very well.

While the tension meter is a specialty tool and only gets occasional use, I am happy to have it when I true my wheels. Easy to use and seems like it will last a long time.

PROS: Good Grip, Lightweight, Rugged

BEST USES: Road Bikes, Bring it With You, City Bikes, Mountain Bikes, Keep In the Garage

This tool took my wheel building to a whole new level, as well as increased my understanding of a strong, confident, build. It's very easy to implement and understand and, of course, Park adds instructions and online support. The only thing I don't like about it is, it shouldn't be kept on display with the rest of my tools since it's a precision instrument and should be kept in its box instead.

PROS: It's a Park, Easy to use and read, Comes with instructions

Gets the job done and well. The conversion can be a pain but I imagine no way around it with all the different spokes and lacing patters out there.

The product is absolutley easy to use and works amazingly well. The only draw back was figuring out the mfgs. sugggested wheel tension. There appears to be a differnence between the spokes on either side of the wheel. This is especially true if you have disc brakes where the spokes are not centered over the hub and a different tension is 'required' for either side. This is also true for the rear wheel because of the cassette.

I was amazed at how the bike responded differently after re-tensioning the wheel.

I ride and Specialized Epic Disc with Mavic 217 wheels. I was noticing a little wobble while doing single track over rocky trails. It is now gone!

PROS: Simple, Easy to use, Good instructions

Good product. Used this tool with a spoke wrench a ruler and some zip ties to true and dish the wheel on my bike. I was amazed at how well everything worked. This tool allowed me to be certain that I had not over or undertightned the spokes of the wheel.

I can't believe how good this product is...great instructions...went a whole DH meeting without a spoke issue

Not the first tool you need but part of a well equipped kit.

On 14 gauge steel DT spokes a quarter of a turn on the nipple would create a one number change of the gauge's units. The range of the included chart gives a lot of range in the tension you use. I found I had tensioned the drive side of a rear wheel I built near the upper limit of tension. I have had cracks in rims develop in the past. I used this tool to get the tension to about 115 lbs and the non drive side was still acceptable at about 85 lbs. With a 36 spoke wheel this should work.
I also found using the gauge allowed me to easily find loose or tight spokes. On a rim that ran within 0.010" of true I found a few. With a Park Professional truing stand, a Campy wheel dishing tool and this tension gauge I can now measure every variable that can be adjusted in wheel building and maintenance. I am very happy with the tool.

PROS: Easy to use, Accurate, Simple

People comment about this tool being accurate or inaccurate... I couldn't say since I do not have another means to check spoke tension. However, when I tension to the recommended level, the spokes do feel about right. This tool allows me to get consistent tension and locate problems.

I routinely break spokes on my rear wheel (even on handbuilt wheels from bike shops who don't know what they're doing). Though I have had good wheels in the past so I know it's possible. Now I can tune and check my wheels much more easily. I also don't need to take the time to go to the LBS to drop off and pick a wheel... and not know what I'm going to get.

Prompt delivery & good packing (o'seas)

PROS: Relatively consistent, Easy to use, Software chart, Good Quality

This might be a little expensive, but keeping spokes tensioned is important. Only takes a few times breaking a spoke before this tool would have paid for itself. If you ride a lot it will help prevent wheels going out of whack if you're on top of things. I use this tool almost daily. Overall a money saver in the long term. It does take a touch of getting used to though.

Only gripe is since its a rather fragile tool it should come with a plastic case. Mine stays in the cardboard box it came in, which is pretty ok, but you still gotta be careful.

Excellent purchase. Easy to understand instructions and simple to use. For the price this is a quality piece of kit. Fantastic super fast delivery service from Jenson ( faster than most deliveries ive had in GBR) Well done to all at Jenson USA.Many thanksIan Fairbrother

Great product, price from Jenson is so much better than anywhere in Canada, I could not believe that it got to me in 3 business days! Jenson service was awesome, love the worldwide shipping, why doesn't everyone use this one price to the door???

Very fast delivery.

PROS: Good Grip, Lightweight

BEST USES: Road Bikes, Mountain Bikes, City Bikes

I have been building wheels for 35 years, mostly for my own needs and have never owned a tension meter. After having an early failure of a new Arch MK3 rim, where the spoke holes were cracking on the drive side, I decided to buy the Park TM-1 tension meter. Using the tool, I found that I exceeded the manufacturers max tension spec by more than 25%... When rebuilding the new wheel, I found that in addition to monitoring the max tension, the TM-1 allows me to optimize the variation in tension between all the spokes. Even a wheel that is true to within 1mm can have variations in tension that this tool helps identify and then can be corrected, ultimately resulting in a wheel that stays truer longer.

The tool and accompanying app are great if you don't know much about wheel-building or tension. The app makes it easy to visualize the relationship between spokes on the wheel. The tool itself is simple to use, and handy to have around. That said, I think it is a bit unnecessary for the casual mechanic. Oftentimes, testing the spoke tension by pulling it with a finger is just as effective as using this tool.

PROS: interesting, easy to use

I bought this after over-torquing the spokes in a rear wheel and cracking the rim. I have built dozens of wheels over the years and this is the first time this happened, so I think it's a good idea to double-check your tension after building a wheel.

PROS: Inexpensive

CONS: Fragile

I was snapping spokes on carbon rims due to uneven tension issues. Now it's super easy to keep the wheel evenly tension by throwing it on the stand every once in a while. Well worth it for the toolbox.

PROS: Reasonable Price, Accurate

CONS: Conversion table a pain

A great product which really assist in building a strong wheelset.

It is a tight fit however to use on 20inch BMX wheels.

PROS: Typical Park Quality, Simple to use, Cost Effective

CONS: Tight Fit On 20in Wheels

This tensio will give a fine reading for the home mechanic, but cannot match the accuracy of the DT Swiss or Wheel Fanatyk gauge (those are much more expensive, though).

I've built a couple sets of wheels using the Park tool -- it's adequate, but just.

PROS: Inexpensive, Included Tension Chart, Durable

CONS: Not very accurate

I found the spoke gauge a great asset when building wheels and it's a fraction of the price of the competition

PROS: Good Grip, Lightweight

BEST USES: Mountain Bikes, City Bikes, Keep In the Garage, Road Bikes

best to have a 20-inch in your lap when using - awkward fit for that size wheel.

difficult to find spoke tension for the mass produced stuff. i made a list of the reading for each spoke and rather than averaging looked at how the values clustered. chose a tuning spoke for reference then tinked the other spokes and got them in tune.

crude, but it works well for coarse adjustment. there is an interesting hpv article on the web and the tensiometer is most useful in determining a reference pitch when lacking manufacturer data.

PROS: Tells A Good Story

CONS: 20-inch Wheels Maybe

Simple but effective tool.

BEST USES: Mountain Bikes, Keep In the Garage, City Bikes, Road Bikes

This is great for checking spoke tension. I get the spokes to the recommended tension for the rim then true from there. This tool is easy to use. Just extremely overpriced for a couple pieces of metal, a handle, and a spring. Then again, they are all overly priced. Try to find one that is cheaper.

PROS: Rugged, Good Grip

BEST USES: Mountain Bikes, Road Bikes, Keep In the Garage

Finally will check my spoke tension, although still not convinced it is needed for conventional builds. Of many of wheels built, never had a broken spoke due to normal use.

PROS: Easy To Use Good Support

CONS: None

The tool is great, no complaints there, the included spoke thickness checker and the the laminated chart were nice bonuses, but it would be nice if it came with a storage case. Its not the kind of thing you want to just toss in your toolbox, but its an odd size and shape and I cant find a case to keep it in so for me that's a pretty big shortcoming.

I've been doing some basic wheelbuilding for a while and setting tension just by feel. With the tension meeting I found quite a bit of variation, and lower than recommended tension. Tool and table are really easy to use.

The product had obviously been used and returned before I received it.

PROS: Moderately consistent measurements, Lightweight

CONS: Bulky

BEST USES: Wheel building and truing, Keep In the Garage