>>>Even the crappiest Rigida or Saavedra rims can be made into good wheels if the spoke tension is right.
Here is where I disagree. In fact, it is the crappiness of some rims that leads me to the strongly held opinion that tensiometers are pretty useless devices. A given rim will be both true and round under only one set of spoke tensions. The massive Left/Right disparities due to dish not withstanding, perfectly even tension throughout a wheel leads to a final product that has the same shape as the unbuilt rim. Rims that are nearly round and true out of the wrapper will be round and true under nearly even tension. A rim that is other than perfectly round and true will require disparities in tension to accomodate the hops and wobbles in the rim itself. So, straight rims build into straight wheel under even tension and therefore stay in true longer. Along with top quality spokes, straight rims are the most important aspect of a good end product. Tom Dalton Bethlehem, PA kevin weitzel <kevinsbikes@netzero.net> wrote: Hello all, I have received several emails asking the importance of tensiometers. In a nut shell: Any monkey can follow step by step instructions to lace a wheel... or simply copy the lacing pattern of a similar built wheel. But, where the art form comes in is not only making the wheel straight (side to side) and round (eliminating hop). It doesn't stop there. A "true" wheel isn't truly true, until it is not only straight and round, but maintaining proper AND even spoke tension. Even spoke tension is what makes a wheel last a long time. Even the crappiest Rigida or Saavedra rims can be made into good wheels if the spoke tension is right. A tensiometer takes the guess work out of properly tensioning a wheel's spokes. You can 'twang' the spokes to see if the sound that resonates sounds the same, BUT without a tensiometer, you never truly know if the tension is proper. Keep the rubber side down and ride, ride, ride!
Kevin Weitzel
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