Best Wheel Truing Stand Reviews 2023 & Buying Guide

Bike riding is a thrilling and enjoyable hobby that can turn into a nightmare if your bike’s wheels are not in proper condition.

Wheels that are improperly trued can cause the bike to wobble, veer off course, and damage the braking system, potentially leading to a dangerous crash.

As a responsible bike owner, it is crucial to maintain your bike’s health and condition, and regularly truing the wheels is a critical part of this maintenance. However, wheel truing can be challenging and time-consuming, requiring a high level of precision and patience. That’s where a reliable wheel truing stand comes in handy, making the task much easier and more efficient.

Ultimately, a wheel truing stand is an essential tool for any bike owner serious about maintaining their bike’s safety and performance.

Park Tool TS-2.3 Professional Wheel Truing StandCHECK PRICEPark Tool TS-8 Home Mechanic Wheel Truing StandCHECK PRICEVenzo Bike Wheel Economic Truing StandCHECK PRICE

5 Best Wheel Truing Stand Reviews

In this section, I will review the 5 best wheel truing stands I have chosen from all models available in the market. These products have been chosen based on the factors discussed in the buying guide.

Park Tool TS-2.3 Professional Wheel Truing Stand (Editor’s Choice)

Park Tool TS-2.3 Professional Wheel Truing StandCHECK CURRENT PRICE

This is the successor of Park Tool previous version TS-2, the new legendary Park Tool TS-2.3. The main difference between these two stands is that the TS-2.3 can fit a wheel of 29 inches, while the TS-2 cannot. TS-2.3 is more precise with its calipers.

While the discontinued TS-2.2 with nickel-chrome plating made it more durable and also gave it a beautiful finish, the new powder-coated TS-2.3 model is a nice addition to your workshop or garage. It can load a wheel with a hub size of 80 to 175 mm wide. The calipers can be narrowed down to 4 inches for truing a racing bike wheel. Moreover, the calipers are replaceable.

If you’re looking for the best truing stand, this one tops the list with amazing features.

Features:

• Nickel Chrome plating
• Lifetime manufacturing warranty
• Hub capacity of 80-175 mm
• Calipers can be narrowed down to 4 inch

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Can load a wheel of 29 inch
• Replaceable calipers

Cons:

• Not much different from its previous version.

Park Tool TS-8 Bicycle Wheel Truing Stand for Home Mechanics

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If you are looking for a more budget friendly, powerful home mechanic bike wheel truing stand, then this is for you. The Park Tool TS-8 has an exceptional design for home mechanics. It can load wheels from 16 inches to 29 inches as any other truing stand.

It features a sliding dropout mechanism that allows quick installation of wheels. It can support wheels with a maximum hub capacity of 170 mm.

Dishing, symmetrical measurement is possible with this stand. Simply flip the stand and you can perform dishing of the wheel.

Its built-in material is heavy gauge steel, which makes it immune to flexing. This stand can be used both freely or bolted.

Features:

• Heavy gauge steel construction
• Exceptional design
• Sliding dropout for quick wheel installation

Pros:

• Can load 29inch wheel
• Hub capacity of 170mm
• Durable
• Can be bolted
• Dishing is possible
• Very budget-friendly

Cons:

• Not foldable

Venzo Economic Truing Stand VZ-F33-077

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With wide range of compatibility, excellent quality, and amazing features, the Venzo truing stand is a foldable stand that can make your life easier. It’s not for professional use, but it’s great for people who’ll use it at home for truing their bikes once or twice a year.

As you probably know already, truing is a very precise task. This tool won’t offer professional level precision. You’ll have to push and pull the rim manually while using the truing stand. Also, the feelers aren’t completely aligned and you’ll have to bend some of the components into alignment.

Despite all these, we recommend this truing stand because it’s one of the market’s more reasonably priced truing stands. Also, it’ll serve you pretty well for casual home truing.

So, overall, it’s a great truing stand for those who want portability and easier storage solutions.

Features:

• Accepts wheels from 16” to 29”
• Foldable
• Works with quick disconnect axles.
• Made of quality steel

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Can be setup easily
• Replaceable calipers

Cons:

• The gauge isn’t centered

CyclingDeal Bike Bicycle Wheel Tyre Professional Truing Stand Wheel

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If you are looking for heavy-duty wheel truing stands with reasonable pricing, then CyclingDeal Professional Truing Stand CD-WT-01 is the best match. CyclingDeal’s stand is excellent for heavy-duty maintenance. Moreover, this stand can be mounted on the benches for better stability.

It features a centering gauge with a high-quality alloy knob for adjusting. When it comes to combability, this truing stand takes the cake. You can use this stand to maintain your dirt bike wheels. Many truing stands do not offer this feature.

This stand also lets you dish wheels up to 20mm, a huge selling point. I think the sturdiness of CyclingDeal’s stand is the main wow factor of this product.

Features:

• Adjustable holder has width up to 7”
• It has resin-covered caliper fingers
• Compatible with mountain and dirt bikes

Pros:

• Can dish wheels up to 20mm
• Bench mounted
• Compatible with larger tires and rims
• Has accurate and smooth operations

Cons:

• The metal edges can be sharp

TOPINCN Foldable Tire Truing Stand

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If you are looking for something great for team and home mechanics, TOPINCN Foldable Tire Truing Stand is the best option. It is the best of both worlds.

I think this truing stand is amazing for the home mechanic. Due to its foldable feature, you can save quite a lot of space. Moreover, it also makes a stand more portable.

This stand-by TOPINCN is also very easy to use. Although it has a learning curve, you can operate it with knobs. In addition, the alloys protect your wheels from getting scratched.

Features:

• Compatible with wheels from 16” to 29”
• Foldable design
• The measuring part is made of alloy

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Sturdy
• Portability
• Can be folded for better spacing
• High-quality design

Cons:

• The holder adapter pieces are made of plastic

Clothink Bike Wheel Truing Stand

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Clothink truing stand looks almost identical to the Park Tool wheel truing stand. It’s one of the most affordable truing stands on the market. So, it’s a rather basic stand with minimum features.

So, is it worth paying for? Yes, it completely is. If your plan is to true your own bike at home, this one will serve you very well. It’s not super solid or sturdy, but given that you won’t carry it much, it’ll hold.

Also, it will let you do the basics such as fixing front wheels, rear wheels, and for observing the swing of your rim. However, it doesn’t let you screw in the pins for straightening the wheel. So, if your wheel’s got a wobble, it will push the pin back, which can be annoying.

Furthermore, it can’t move the centering gauge, thus making it harder to work on the rear wheel.

Features:

• Steel build measurement parts
• Twist knobs
• Built-in ruler and thimble

Pros:

• No scratch operation
• Budget-friendly model
• Supports 16-29 inch wheels

Cons:

• Inability to screw in straightening pins
• Can’t move the centering gauge

Minoura FT-1 Wheel Truing Stand

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Manufactured by the Cycle Force Group, the Minoura FT-1 is a very lightweight and foldable wheel truing stand. It is a portable stand for its folding properties. The package of this stand comes with a FCG 300 wheel dishing tool and an NW 300 nipple wrench. The stand checks for slight deviation with its calipers and the dishing tool ensures symmetry of the wheel. It can load a 29 inch wheel and check for both horizontal and vertical deviations.

Features:

• Equipped with FCG 300 wheel dishing tool and NW 300 nipple wrench
• Checks horizontal and vertical deviations
• Folding properties makes it portable

Pros:

• Lightweight and foldable
• Can check wheel symmetry
• 29 inch wheel capacity

Cons:

• Only supports standard 9mm QR axles
• Not suitable for 29ers

Bicycle Wheel Truing Stand Buying Guide

Bike riding is one of the most enjoyable hobbies. It is also a good exercise recommended by doctors and physicians around the world. It keeps your body fit and active all the time. You can have great adventures with your bike. But these adventures and enjoyable rides can turn into nightmares because of improper wheel conditions.

Bike wheels need to be properly trued for them to function properly. Improperly trued wheels will circle out of their axis. Sometimes it will wobble and damage the braking system and make you crash.

That is why it is important to true your bike wheels on a regular basis.

Before discussing the best wheel truing stand, let’s explore some basic queries and factors to consider that are necessary to choose a good wheel truing stand.

There are many branded wheel truing stands available in the market today. Each of them is complete with its own unique set of features, design, and price range. Because of such diversity, it becomes very difficult to understand which one is the best bicycle truing stand. So, here are some tips and things to look out for before buying a wheel truing stand.

What is a Wheel Truing Stand?

It is a specialized bike maintenance tool. It is used for truing/straightening the bike wheel for avoiding it to wobble over and fall.

The basic wheel truing stand consists of two parts. An axle stands for the wheel to rotate, and a caliper to measure the slight deviation of the wheel rim. A spook wrench is required to loosen or tighten spook joints to straighten the wheel rim axis.

Why do you need an indoor wheel truing stand?

First of all, it is an essential part of bike maintenance. On the other hand, wheel truing is a very difficult thing to do without a truing stand. It becomes almost impossible to correctly measure the slight deviation of the wheel rim without the stand. With the help of a wheel truing stand, you can perfect the wheel’s alignment and make your bike perfect for riding.

It not only helps you to fix slight deviations effectively but also increases efficiency and reduces labor, and miscalculations.

Related reading: Can You Use WD40 On Bike Brakes?

Components of Wheel Truing Stand

First, you must know about the components of a wheel truing stand. It has three basic components- Axel’s stands, Caliper arm, and Calipers. You will need a spook wrench to true the wheel.

These components give wheel truing stand four basic dimensions. Radial ran out, Lateral side ran out, spook tension and dish.

You must make sure that Axel’s stands are properly leveled with each other and that the wheel can smoothly rotate on them.

The caliper arm helps the caliper to adjust itself up and down. You should be sure of its durability.

And finally, the Calipers! It is the most important part of a wheel truing stand. Without it, you cannot correctly measure the wheel’s rotating axis. Pay attention to the part where the caliper comes in contact with the wheel. That part must be stable enough to withstand the friction of the wheel. Also, make sure that the caliper’s width can be adjusted in proportion to the wheel’s width.

Types of Wheel Truing Stand

When it comes to the types of wheel truing stands, there are two types. Wheel Truing Stands with one axle stands, and the other type comes with two-axle stands.

This only affects the look and cost of the stands. Performance has no noticeable effect from it. But, we would suggest you choose the ones that feature two axle stands with an adjustable caliper arm. They are the best wheel truing stands in my opinion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you true a bike wheel without a truing stand?

Yes, it is possible to true a bike wheel without a truing stand. But it will be improperly trued. Because you cannot measure slight deviations of the wheel without a stand and calipers. These small deviations will ultimately result in the wheel rotating out of its axis and can cause an accident.

So, even though it is possible to true a wheel without a stand, we will not recommend it at all.

What does it mean to true a bike wheel?

Trueing a bike wheel actually means perfecting its rotation on its axis. It is very important because a slight deviation from its axis can lead to a crucial accident. And truing a wheel must be done properly using a truing stand.

How long does it take to true a wheel?

There is no fixed time for trueing. It depends on the wheel condition and the mechanic. If the mechanic is skilled, it can take less than 10 minutes. But that’s not the case always. Even with the best equipment, an experienced mechanic might require more than 15 minutes to true a wheel.

How much does it cost to true a bike wheel?

If we are talking about monetary costs, then it costs from $20 to $30 for truing a wheel based on its type.

But other than monetary costs, it takes a high amount of patience and precision to true a wheel.

How does the wheel truing stand work?

First, you have to set the wheel on the axle stands. Then take the calipers closer to the rim of the wheel. Then rotate the wheel and look for deviations. When you find a deviation, use the spook wrench to tighten or loosen some spooks at that part of the wheel. Once you have done that, you’ll find that the deviation has decreased. Then start tightening the calipers and bring it more closely to the rim. Repeat this process quite a few times. That’s how you use a wheel truing stand. It requires a lot of patience and precision.

Conclusion

Truing bicycle wheels is a difficult task to do without a proper truing stand. So, invest in the best bike wheel truing stands to make your work easier.

You should choose the one that best suits you and your bike wheels. But remember, proper truing of the wheel does not necessarily require the best stand.

It actually requires the skill of the mechanic as well as a high amount of patience and precision. Our favorite is the Park Tool TS-2.3 truing stand, it is a complete package deal.