Talked to a frame builder at the Portland show who said 'a mechanic who can't true a wheel by feel is just a parts replacer'. That stung.

3 comments

3 Comments

That comment would sting for sure. In my experience, the feel comes from focusing on the spoke tension, not just the rim wobble. Get it close with the gauge, then go around plucking spokes and listening for a consistent musical note. It's a slow skill to pick up, but it clicks after a while.

mason_murray84h ago

Ouch, that's a brutal line from the frame builder. Guess I'm just a parts replacer then, because my wheel truing always involves a lot of staring at the gauge and swearing. My "feel" is mostly feeling annoyed. Maybe he expects us to hear the pings like a dolphin or something. What's the next skill check, building a frame by whispering to the steel?

wyattramirez3h ago

My uncle's old shop in Portland had a wheel builder who could true a wheel by ear and feel alone. He wasn't being mean, he was just from a time before digital gauges were in every stand. That "ping" is the sound of even spoke tension, and you CAN learn to feel it in the wrench. It just takes about a hundred wheels to stop feeling annoyed and start feeling the difference.