Fasstco spoke torque wrench

[RCannon]

I finished a set of wheels last week and was worried about setting spoke tension. That and I also enjoy torque wrenches. I purchased one of the fasstco spoke torque wrenches and went back to the wheels.

It takes forever to bring the spokes up to tension. I tried to match the tension previously to bikes on a dealer floor. This is way too loose according to the wrench.

Observation two is this. Perfect torque does not equal a round and perfect wheel. It is entirely possible to have the torque right on the money with a lot of rim runout. If you were to walk up to a wheel and start torquing a spoke until the wrench clicked, your screwed. You must bring them up to torque a 1/4 turn at a time.

My only complaint with the wrench is this. It is possible for the inserts to make a 90 degree turn. Should this happen, the wrench will not click no matter how tight the spoke is. Tis could lead to soem VERY tight spokes and possible rim damage.

Overall I am pleased with this set-up. I thought about holding out for the excel adjustable wrench. I dont see a lot of value in the adjustable part. 48in/lb is plenty tight. The lack of adjustment is no big deal. Just dont spend the money on this wrench thinking it is the magic bullet for rim work, its not. There are no shortcuts created by using a spoke torque wrench.

As far as brand new excel rims go, if they were shipped to the Huffy Bicycle company they would be rejected due to excess runout. Slightly dissappointing for 120 bucks.

[642MX]

When tightening spokes your right about going a quarter turn until there torqued, but you can't tighten all the spokes in a row, you must tighten every third spoke to keep a wheel true. It is possible to get an Excel to turn perfectly with no radial runout, but you have to have alot of patience.

[Thumparoobonzai]

Exactly what 642MX said. 1/4 turn every 3rd spoke until you have them all torqued properly. When the bike is new it takes about 4 complete revolutions to get them all snug. Once they are, it's easy to maintain. I did the same thing you did once (90 degree off) and rounded a nipple off. Boy was I PO'ed.

But I really like mine. ?

[Way Fast Whitey]

a friend of mine has one and i don't think its so great. my rims were basically true when he torqued them, afterwards they were worse. the olny reason i want to use it is to tell if my spokes are tight enough.

[B86_Racer]

As far as brand new excel rims go, if they were shipped to the Huffy Bicycle company they would be rejected due to excess runout. Slightly dissappointing for 120 bucks.

What makes you think the rim has excess runout from the factory? If you didn't true it very well it will look like it has alot of runout even if it doesn't. You can't just tighten all the spokes 1/4 of a turn til their snug and then torque them all down and expect your wheel to be good. It just doesn't work like that. You have to play with your hop and then your runout 'til it's as good as you can get it. Usually .020" is pretty good, but .010" is possible with a brand new rim

[642MX]

a friend of mine has one and i don't think its so great. my rims were basically true when he torqued them, afterwards they were worse. the olny reason i want to use it is to tell if my spokes are tight enough.

I doubt it was the torque wrenches fault that your wheels now wobble. Tools are only as good as the person using them. ?

[RCannon]

My rim is perfect in all directions. The spot I have trouble with is the weld joint. Its really no big deal, just not even in the same league with a 70.00 Mavic Mountain bike rim.

Obviously, its plenty good enough for a dirt bike. I just expected better.

[CRFThumper]

I love mine!If your wheel has a hop in it ,and you torque the spokes the wheel will still have a hop in it but the spokes will be tight LOL There is a lot more to truing rims than meets the eye!Where this tool shines is if you start with a new rim and lace it up then go a 1/4 turn on every third spoke till they are all tight!If you have a bent rim common sense says some spokes are going to have to be tighter than others!Also this wrench is somewhat adj,take the black cover of the end and you will see a Allen head,loosen the set screw and turn the Allen head one turn out,this will give you 36 in lbs! I was building a set of wheels for my little ones yz85 and thought the setting was to much for the little spokes so I called fastco and they said it was ok to do this!

[Matt96xr6]

RC it sounds like you are trying to replace a trueing stand with a torque wrench. Just wont happen.

Do you know how they lace the wheels at the factory? On a machine that tightens all the spokes at the same time.

[RCannon]

LOL!!! Hey, have you been peaking under my garage door??? Yes, a truing stand (professionally built) is next. I did build a wooden one. Its not bad, but still.....7000.00 bike, 4 dollar truing stand......

It is a fun project to build wheels. I can see myself doing more of them in the future.

[ethan]

How did you build your truing stand?

[RCannon]

I just used 2x4's. I found some old pland in a Bicycle magazine and just scaled it up. I bought a dial indicator from Harbour Freight and mounted it on one of the legs. Overall I woudl have been miles ahead by buying a real stand.

It was almost worth the effort.

[ethan]

I want to build one. Can you post some detailed pictures? Please?

[RCannon]

I dont know how to post pictures, but I used this as the idea.

http://www.coloradocyclist.com/common/products/productdisplay2_v2.cfm?PRRFNBR=13118&CGRFNBR=251&CRPCGNBR=251&CI=1,152,251&TextMode=0

I did not make a piece to push up against the tim. Instead I clamped my dial indicator to a c clamp and can use it on either of the legs.

[CRFThumper]

I built one as well.I used 2"x2" angle made a 18" by18" base and then made a 90 and welded it to the base,I used some 1" collars with set screws to hold the axle works great!! But the 200.00 job is sure nice!!!! ?

[ethan]

I think I can put something like that together. Thanks for the idea. If you ever figure out how to post the pictures, that would be awesome!