Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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!

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.

Comments about Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter:

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.