# What is considered a TRUE wheel-Acceptable tolerances



## Mashmaniac (Jun 21, 2004)

I was watching my new wheel rim as it spun tonight and I see a very slight bit of movement to one side as it spins, very little, but some. I was wondering, on a brand new wheel what would be consider a true rim. Does true mean absoultely no deviation left to right.


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## ergott (Feb 26, 2006)

I go for 0.1mm to either side. Same for hop.

-Eric


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

The Bontrager manual says that Racelites are true and round to 0.4 mm. My best wheel is better than that, but my worst wheel is 0.6 mm out of round and 2 mm laterally. I can't tell the difference by riding them, and I can't do better than 1 mm without a dial indicator.

em


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Doing better*



eddie m said:


> I can't do better than 1 mm without a dial indicator.


How is that? No offense, but you can easily see 1mm of wobble. Even using just your brake pads as an indicator, you can do better than 1mm. On a wheel truing jig, it's easy to beat 1mm. That said, 1mm of wobble is not really an issue for ride quality. There are a lot of folks who get really anal about "eliminating" wobble to tiny fractions of a mm, and it serves no purpose, IMO.


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

Kerry Irons said:


> How is that? No offense, but you can easily see 1mm of wobble. Even using just your brake pads as an indicator, you can do better than 1mm. On a wheel truing jig, it's easy to beat 1mm. That said, 1mm of wobble is not really an issue for ride quality. There are a lot of folks who get really anal about "eliminating" wobble to tiny fractions of a mm, and it serves no purpose, IMO.


No offense, but how do YOU know what I can see?
I'm sure experienced builders can make perfectly good wheels without a dial indicator, but for me, using a dial is way easier and faster than any other way. You don't need to be anal about it, but if you can measure you can be sure that your work is good, even if you don't have years of experience at it.

em


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## Ligero (Oct 21, 2005)

Like Eric said I also try to get the wheel down to 0.1 but that does not always happen. The lighter the rim and the lower the spoke count the harder that is to do. A quality 32h 430 gram rim is not real hard to get nearly perfect, a 24h 380g clincher rim is another story.


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

Ligero said:


> Like Eric said I also try to get the wheel down to 0.1 but that does not always happen.


Waht do you use to measure that?

em


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## Ligero (Oct 21, 2005)

eddie m said:


> Waht do you use to measure that?
> 
> em


I have a Park TS3 trueing stand and they have dial gauges on them to measure vertical and lateral runnout. I was going to post a link to the stand on the Park tool site but it doesn't seem to be on there anymore.


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## ergott (Feb 26, 2006)

http://websites4ever.com/ergott//wheeltrue.mov

Modified TS-3

-Eric


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

2mm is a LOT out of true.

if you "true a wheel up" most shops will settle on 0.2mm. I have known plenty of people get really frustrated trying to true bonty paired-spoke wheelsets...


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## eddie m (Jul 6, 2002)

Argentius said:


> 2mm is a LOT out of true.
> 
> if you "true a wheel up" most shops will settle on 0.2mm. I have known plenty of people get really frustrated trying to true bonty paired-spoke wheelsets...


The Bontrager manual says 0.4 mm, and the Park Tool website says 1/16" (1.6 mm) laterally and 1/32" (0.8mm) radially. Maybe some custom builders "settle" for 0.2 mm, but the guy trying to make rent in the shop down at the street is more concerned with the difference between cash or credit card than the the difference between 0.2 and 0.8 on your 5 year old hoops. Unless you put a dial on them, you won't know the difference either.
I wouldn't accept a new wheel that was 2 mm out of true, but the one I have works fine on my fixed gear bike. 2 mm is only a little more than 1/16" . The fixed gear limits me to about 30 mph or so, and I can't notice any bounce or wobble at those speeds. If it were a front wheel, or a wheel I rode at high speeds, I might be uncomfortable with it. 
em


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## KATZRKOL (Mar 4, 2004)

*Overkill*



ergott said:


> I go for 0.1mm to either side. Same for hop.
> 
> -Eric


.1mm is an waste of time IMO. . 4 mm is plenty(concentric/side-side., specially when you concider your tire's out of roundness.


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## quattrotom (Jul 15, 2006)

0.1mm? As in 100 microns?

A piece of 20lb standard white copy paper is 0.1mm thick. I've measured my own human hair to be 70 microns (0.07mm) in diameter on an SEM. 

I'm impressed if anyone tries to true a wheel down to +/-0.1mm.


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## ergott (Feb 26, 2006)

KATZRKOL said:


> .1mm is an waste of time IMO. . 4 mm is plenty(concentric/side-side., specially when you concider your tire's out of roundness.


The difference between getting a wheel from + or - 0.4mm and + or - 0.2mm (0.1mm to either side of center) is about 2 - 5 minutes with a stiff, well made rim. A true wheel should never be at the expense of a evenly tensioned wheel (within + or - 5%).

-Eric


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