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Home > Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter
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Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter
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Show more by Park Tool
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- Measures the absolute tension of each of the spokes in a wheel
- The TM-1 works on nearly any bicycle spoke
- Used for building or truing wheels, diagnosing wheel problems, or assembling new bikes
- Measures relative tension between all the spokes in a wheel
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Product Description:
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The key to wheels that are strong and reliable is having spokes that are properly and uniformly tensioned. The TM-1 Tension Meter accurately and reliably measures the absolute tension of each of the spokes in a wheel, as well as the relative tension between all the spokes in a wheel. Easy to use and priced affordably, the TM-1 works on nearly any bicycle spoke¿no matter what the diameter, material, or shape. Not just for the experienced mechanic, the TM-1 is for anyone building or truing wheels, diagnosing wheel problems, or assembling new bikes. It¿s a tool that belongs on every workbench.
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Customer Reviews:
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 Use with Caution, October 24, 2008
By New England Yankee (Northern New England)
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I have to say that when I was being trained in wheel work, tension gauges were frowned upon. Tension is important, but the problem is that it is only one variable among many, and concern was always that mechanics would try to apply it in simplistic fashion. The problem is this - if you know wheels, you don't really need a tension gauge. If you don't, using one isn't going to help out much, and can actually hurt you, especially in wheel repair. Gauges are most useful in building new wheels with pristine components, and when building to a production standard. That's not a very good description of home wheel work and not even for shop work.
The gauge itself is decent. Instead of buying it, however, my advice is to take a wheel building and repair workshop at a good local shop instead.
36 of 41 people found the above review helpful.
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 Do you need a wheel tension meter?, March 30, 2011
By Mark S. R. Williams (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
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I've spent most of my life racing and riding bicycles, worked in a number of shops as head mechanic (when I was in school), and built quite a few wheels. So my perspective on the TM-1 is based on this background.
It is of course true, as a few reviewers have suggested, that it's possible to build/maintain bicycle wheels without a spoke tension meter.
However, it is easier and requires less experience and knowledge to handle that task WITH a spoke tension meter. Also, with modern lower spoke count wheels that need to have higher spoke tension, precise tension is more critical to maintain if the wheel is to remain reliable. In this sense, a spoke tension meter is more a must-have tool now that it would have been in the past, much as a small torque wrench is now requisite for anyone who uses carbon fiber components/frames but even a few years ago, few mechanics were using them.
The Park TM-1 is arguably the best combination of high design/build quality and relatively low price compared to any of the various other spoke tension meters available. It is durable, consistent in its measurements over time, and can be re-calibrated.
As an example of the value in using this item, I recently changed the rims on a custom set of wheels that had been built by a prominent wheel builder in the Netherlands. The spoke tension on the original wheels, according to the Park TM-1, varied from about 17 to 22, with most spokes in the 19-21 range. When I re-built the wheels, I did all the usual things to maximize true, roundness, and dish, but also spent some time getting the spoke tension extremely even--with all spokes virtually at 21. Once the spokes were all so evenly tensioned--and of course also at the CORRECT tension--the two wheels basically fell into true and roundness without any additional truing, and the wheels have stayed like that. There is almost no detectable variance in the true or roundness--all in all, these wheels are built to a more precise standard than any of my other custom wheels, and it was relatively easy to achieve because I used a tension meter.
As a second example, Rich Sawiris, the owner of wheelbuilder.com, currently one of the most well-regarded wheelbuilders in the U.S., and also the guy who builds wheels for a number of pro cycling teams in Europe, credits the quality and reputation of his wheels to better evenness and management of spoke tension.
Here's a quote from Rich in Velonews dated April 5, 2011: "Anybody can lace a wheel and true it by tweaking individual spokes, chasing hops and wobbles around until the wheel is true," says Sawiris. "But that doesn't usually result in even spoke tension." Instead, Wheelbuilder.com builders bring all of the spokes up to a proscribed (based on the rim, spoke count and type) and even tension first, checking each and every spoke repeatedly with a tensiometer. Then, the builder goes around and adjusts the elbow bend and the crossing intersections on every spoke before going back and re-tensioning all of them again. Only then is the final truing done, which requires very little tweaking to get the wheel perfect."
So I would argue that a current best practice in wheel building would be to use a tension meter, whether for professional mechanics, or for cycling enthusiasts who wish to do most of their own bicyle maintenance. The Park TM-1 would be a one time only investment. There are more expensive tension meters (which are also more complicated), but I think none that actually perform better.
13 of 13 people found the above review helpful.
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No More Guessing and Hopefully No More Broken Spokes, May 7, 2009
By Joe McCartney (Lynnwood, Wa)
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The TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter works very well. I commute by bike every day to work, and among my three road bikes that I rotate through (set up differently for weather and load), was popping spokes to the tune of about 1 or 2 a month, mostly due to what I perceive to be overtorque on some of the spokes. Now I have torqued my spokes at the lower end of the recommended range and have yet to pop a spoke, and it is reassuring to know that they all are torqued to the same value. It does take a little bit of give and take to get the wheel trued, but with just a little bit of effort you can adjust the tension to the correct range, then make minor adjustments of individual spokes to get the wheel to spin true. You end up with a much more consistent torque range throughout the entire wheel, which eliminates overstress (hot spots) on overtorqued spokes.
11 of 12 people found the above review helpful.
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The best tool you'll never really "need...", January 29, 2011
By Nathaniel Allen (Oakland)
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I guess I'm what you call a "book learned / internet learned" home wheel builder (as opposed to having been mentored in a shop environment), and on my first half-dozen builds over many years, I got along just fine without a tension gauge. The most important factors in building a reliable wheel have proved to be sufficient, even tension. (It took me only one attempt to figure out how horribly unreliable an undertensioned wheel could be!) But... with that number of wheels to my name, I was always curious what tension I was ultimately stopping at. So I've had this meter at my side for maybe about five years now.
If you're the least bit neurotic or OCD, this tension meter will simultaneously be the best and worst friend in your toolkit. It's possible, for instance, to perform your initial lacing to a low tension value, rather than driving the nipples to where the spoke threads just disappear below the nipple. Possible, but a huge time waster.
It's possible to go around and around and around and around again, a quarter turn tighter here, a quarter turn looser there, in an attempt to achieve "perfect" uniform tension as indicated the the Park's scale. Again, a huge time waster.
Here's how I prefer to use the tension meter: leave it in the box initially. Lace the wheel, lightly tension, stress relieve the spokes, build the tension and true with care. All the while, pluck the spokes and listen to the tone. Pull the tension meter out to verify final tension, but then trust your ears while plucking your way around the wheel looking for noticeably high pitched (over tensioned) or low toned spokes.
This meter is great as a final check, and a neat and somewhat inexpensive toy in that respect, but when you're comparing successive spokes in a fully-built wheel, the plucked tone they generate is going to highlight the problem areas far more quickly and just as reliably as this meter.
In a nutshell: This works, and will give you a numeric value to tension to, but *won't* give you a more reliable wheel than what you're capable of building without it. So by all means, pick one up if you're curious and don't mind the investment, but don't add it on your "essential items" list, as it's not a substitute for care and patience and understanding, and definitely not a crutch for inexperience.
5 of 6 people found the above review helpful.
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Got-to-have product for wheels, May 30, 2010
By GreaseIsDWord
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If you work with your wheels at all with spoke tensioning, truing, building, etc., this is a must. As this product was arriving, I did a test and trued a 28 spoke road wheel with round spokes as best as I could. I'm not a bike mechanic, just an enthusiast. The wheel was spot on. When I got the Park Meter, I checked all the spokes. All where within tolerance, but two where 2/3 of what they should have been. It is also a great way to get a start on a good wheel true. Once you know the spokes are in the ballpark, you can start to true from there. Why bother if you don't have a baseline. I go thru and get them all close, not paying too much attention to true, then go back and get true, round, and dish spot on. Amazon is the absolute cheapest anywhere for this product. You can get very quick using this product after little use. In addition to the instrument you purchase, there are two more things in the box -- a reference chart, and a spoke gauge tool. The theory is that you look up what the tension should be for the type and thickness/diameter of spoke on the wheel, then cross reference the range of generic number that reads on the tool. The needle on the tool doesn't have units (because of diameter, blade thickness, and type), but when you look up what type and size spoke you are working with, the number on the meter just becomes a reference point. Don't just true your wheels on your bike using your brake pads, etc. If you don't start out with a real truing stand, get an old bike fork and drill a hole in a block of wood, mount the fork up-side-down, and use a spring clamp with a blade of plastic or aluminum strip/plate as the index. To work with a rear wheel, use the Q/R skewer to clamp it outside of the fork like you would on an inexpensive one-armed truing stand. Then save up for that $200 truing stand you want.
5 of 6 people found the above review helpful.
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Park Tool Tension Meter TM-1 is a COOL TOOL!, November 30, 2009
By M. Bennett (Outdoors)
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Park Tool Tension Meter TM-1 is a COOL TOOL!
Ordered directly from Amazon and recieved quickly! Good Deal!
I strongly recommend this tool. It's sturdy, reliable and simple to use! The instructions are perfectly clear and not complicated. It takes less than 3 minutes to test each spoke in a 36 spoke wheel. Can be used on the bike, or off. The trouble of it is, that it's so easy to get your wheels to factory specs, it makes you think you know what you're doing:)
I cannot perceive why anyone would pay more for a spoke tension meter. There is a 40% leeway in adjustments, so splitting hairs is not necessary! (-20% to +20% of ideal tension)
I see talk on bicycle blogs about re-calibrating the tension meters, and meters costing $600! If you're not working for NASA or a scientific laboratory, don't be concerned with splitting hairs. This meter can be re-calibrated, but once you use it, you'll see that re-calibration will probably never be necessary.
Point of this report is that you will enjoy much less trouble (down time) because your wheels are factory strong at all times. Under-tensioned spokes cause spokes to break. One can have ALL SPOKES SOUND THE SAME and all spokes can be under-tensioned, so the 'sound technique' is not a valid way to judge true tension of your spokes! So I recommend that you don't go for the sound! Go for known specifications and your spokes will stop breaking!
I was paying a bicycle shop to replace the spokes on my mountain bike and I learned with this tool that the bicycle shop did not check the tension on my other spokes and that their work was a nightmare! No wonder the spokes kept breaking! Now, I ride the trails and my bike is in one piece at the end!
Do yourself a favor and get this tool! You'll be passing the guys on the trail that are limping back with broken spokes that use 'music notes' to tension their spokes! Let'em make music slowly, while you conquer the trail!
4 of 5 people found the above review helpful.
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Simple and effective, September 13, 2009
By Jeff Loomis (Seattle, WA USA)
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This tool will help you build evenly tensioned wheels. It is very quick and easy to use. I have not tried any other tensiometer but this one works fine. The tool itself is marked with a numeric scale. An included card shows the tension that corresponds to each number for a given spoke gauge. Once you determine the number you are shooting for you can test a spoke in a few seconds. There is an adjustable calibration screw but without a spoke of known tension you have no way to calibrate it. Using the factory setting the readings seem to be within the range I would expect when testing wheels built by expert wheel builders.
4 of 5 people found the above review helpful.
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Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter Review, February 23, 2008
By A. Blythen
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A very good tool. Very useful for home wheel maintenance.
Just a couple of minor points that could perhaps make the tool better:
-The spoke gauge (that is necessary, and included with the tool) could perhaps be incorporated into the tool itself; removing the need for a separate item.
-If possible it would be good if once the spoke gauge were known the reading could be incorporated into the meter, rather than having to refer back to the spoke table. That said, such a change might make for an overly complex and expensive tool.
Overall a good tool, that is relatively simple in its design, construction and application. Good quality implement that is much more cost effective that many others that are available.
4 of 5 people found the above review helpful.
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 Something You Don't Need, October 26, 2010
By Alltone (The West Coast)
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Much as another reviewer said, I've concluded you are better off using your non-meter skills in tuning and tensioning. I found I've done a better job on my wheels with this thing left in the tool chest. Frankly, even in use it's rather clumsey and the readings seem a little untrustworthy to me...but I obviously don't like the thing.
3 of 4 people found the above review helpful.
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Great tool, April 29, 2010
By M. Weaver
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Super product, was very useful in building wheels. Well made precision tool and comes with a spoke guage and tension chart. With it you can get consistent spoke tension. Would be better if it came with a plastic storage case since they recommend you keep it in the box when not using it to protect it from damage. Highly recommend it.
2 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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Spoke tension guage, January 29, 2011
By Carpenter (Palo Alto)
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Worked great for me. I don't know about building a wheel from scratch ( not my area of expertise) but for some used bikes I bought with loose spokes ( A Rockhopper and a Giant Reign 2 ) I just guaged each spoke on one side of each wheel, added up the indexed amount, divided that amount by the number of spokes on that side of each wheel and arrived at the tension each spoke should be set at. Adjusted the spokes to the averaged amount so now the spokes are at equal tension for each side of the wheels. Tension will of course be less on the disc rotor or cog side of a wheel to keep the dish shape.
1 of 2 people found the above review helpful.
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A Necessity for Proper Wheelbuilding, November 15, 2011
By Tech X
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I've built several wheels using this gauge and I think it's essential if you want to build strong wheels that will last. Lots of people will tell you that you can feel the difference in spoke tension or that you can pluck the spokes to determine by the pitch how tight the spokes are. Maybe with a lot of experience that's a talent that can be developed, but if you want to build good wheels from your very first attempt, this is the way to go. I had built a couple of wheels before I received this gauge and then checked them after it arrived. Although the wheels were both laterally and radially extremely true, the spoke tension was far too high. If I had ridden these wheels I would have probably broken some spokes and damaged the rim. I completely detensioned the wheels and then retrued and tensioned them to the correct level and they have been excellent for several hundred miles. It's super easy to use and costs about the same as a tank of gas and will last you forever if you take care of it, plus you'll be the envy of your friends, I mean how many people have a spoke tension meter!?!
1 of 1 people found the above review helpful.
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How else are you going to know? Voodoo?, July 31, 2011
By Have Raleigh, will travel (Chicago)
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I've built a few wheels with and without this gauge. I know that I feel a LOT better knowing that my spokes are not too tight or too loose -and that the relative tension is even all the way around the wheel.
There seems to be two schools of thought reading the other reviews. One says that this gauge is not necessary and a good wheelbuilder only needs to tell by "feel" if the wheel has correct and/or even tension. The other is that this is just more information that gives you more exact knowledge of where you are with spoke tension.
The question is how does one get this "feel" if one has nothing to compare it to? The old canard about striking the spoke and listening for the correct musical note is a bit funny IMHO. Seriously? There are so many variables with regard to thickness and length of spokes that this seems to me to be just more mumbo-jumbo voodoo.
A lot of wheel builders seem to be quite proud of their "mad skillz" and look down on this gauge it seems. Some say "take a wheelbuilding class for $100+ each session and "learn" this feel." I tend to go with the "get the right tool for the job" school of thought. With this gauge you will know exactly where the wheel tension is and it is one less variable that one has to guess about.
Many of the reasons why some reviewers put down this tool or say that it is doing "more harm than good" in some circumstances seems to read to me as rationalizations why they or other people shouldn't spend the money on a tool such as this. Most bikes shops I visit have this very tool and wouldn't work on wheels without them. And they KNOW what they are doing. Sure, I think that a person may mislead themselves about how important this tool is with relation to other knowledge about building a wheel but if one is careful and does a lot of reading those other things can be figured out as well. Doing everything else right won't help if you have way too much tension on your wheel and start to damage the rim -or have too little and the spokes fatigue and wear quickly.
Perhaps some of the VooDoo practitioners don't like the idea that just about anyone has access to the magic of spoke tension with this simple and inexpensive tool. I can't help but feel that they might be a little jealous/upset that just about anyone from the "outside" can jump ahead miles in their abilities without doing their time under the tutelage of a wheel-witch doctor such as themselves and learning the "black arts" like a proper acolyte.
Raleighphile doesn't role that way! Knowledge and skills should be free to learn and all should have access if they only know where to look.
One more thing:
* the first meter I purchased was defective and was showing a much higher reading than what was actually present. This caused my first wheel build to tensioned WAY too loose. I thought at first that all the wheels I've ever built have been WAY too tight but I checked the gauge against one at the LBS and saw that my gauge was in fact defective. Amazon took it back and gave me another one free of charge with free shipping.
It's something to be aware of. I don't know how common this is.
I keep the gauge safe in the original box whenever I'm not using it an am very careful not to drop or bang it to get the calibration messed up. Having another gauge around or available to check against periodically might be a good idea. If you are friendly with your LBS I'm sure they will let you use one of their gauges to make sure they are reading the same.
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Park tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter, June 27, 2011
By Mantis Dh
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It was a great tool to have it and it easy to used. Frankly speaking this tool is very useful when i check my spokes during truing, it make my wheel balance and equal tension almost 99%.
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perfect tool, November 16, 2010
By A. Cunha (Brasil)
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Perfect tool for those who like to keep your wheels true ! Nice price, and delivered on time... good vendor !
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spoke tension tool, July 13, 2009
By Darryl D. Badong (San Jose, CA)
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Great spoke tension tool @ a very good price and fast delivery by the seller.
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Works great for building unicycle wheels, March 16, 2009
By Corbin Dunn (Los Gatos, CA, USA)
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I've built two 36" unicycle wheels using this tension meter. It was easy to use and works great. I'm definitely not a professional, but it has given me a great wheel built that wouldn't have lasted as long if I did use a tension meter.
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TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter, March 29, 2010
By E. Wilson
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Very easy to use. Makes quick work of lacing up a new wheel, or just tuning up.
0 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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One more good tool to have in the wheel building arsenal., September 13, 2011
By G. Powell (Seattle, WA USA)
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A while back I decided to build my own wheels, I bought Park Professional wheel truing stand, TS-2, a copy of The Bicycle Wheel 3rd Edition, and a set of Bike Tool - Park Tool - Park 4 Sided Spoke Wrench wrenches. Thus armed with new rims, hubs and spokes from my local bike shop I successfully built two wheels. I used the "by ear" method of plucking the spokes and listening for pitch to know whether the spoke tension was even or not. Apparently my ear was good enough because the wheels outlasted the rims without any readjustment. (The repeated breaking with winter riding grit in the pads wore the rims to the point of concavity and thus were replaced.) The replacement wheels were built using the same original spokes and hub, with a new identical rim, I transferred the old rim out by loosening all the spokes, then moving them over one at a time. Then a session on the jig tensioning the new rim. It didn't stay true as long, maybe I hit more potholes who knows. I figure I rushed the job a bit, and I didn't listen as well and thus some spokes were uneven tension. Re-truing produced less of a big wobble and a lot of little ones. So I bought this meter, loosened all the spokes, then using the meter, set them all nearly the same, then tensioned them up to the middle of the manufacturer's suggested range. The wheel is now back true again and I'm happy.
Using a tension meter like this is a bit tricky as you need to place it in nearly the same spot on every spoke. You can mark the spokes by spinning the wheel and putting tape at the same "centered" spot, or you can do what I did, and use the spoke wrench as a bottom of the meter guide. Note, you can't tension the spoke with the meter in place and get an accurate reading, you have to remove the meter, re-tension and re-measure.
So now being an amateur wheel builder, I recommend this meter as making the process that much easier. Yes you can get by without it, but it like the professional jig makes the job easier. It did take a bit longer as I spent a bunch of time after the first bit of tension was on the spokes, getting them all nearly the same before cranking up the tension to full on. But I think it was time well spent, as I had very little to do with the final adjustments.
Note: Keep the box to use for storage. It's just a spring, so you don't want anything resting against it for a long time as it would eventually cause it to bend. Fortunately Park offers a re-calibration service. I haven't used it as I just bought the meter, but in the event that I drop it or whatever I am sure that I'll eventually send it back for adjusting.
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Works, and well., September 8, 2011
By Pat Lamb
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Not too much to say; it does what it's supposed to do. With the spoke tension readings, the knowledgable (and somewhat skilled) mechanic can balance the tension on a bicycle wheel, and make sure it's high enough. Add a little bit of stress relief and stir, and you've got a wheel that should last for thousands of miles with no trouble.
Of course you'll need to use this with Jobst Brandt's "The Bicycle Wheel" or the late Sheldon Brown's web instructions on wheelbuilding.
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A good tool for the price, September 3, 2011
By BNystrom (Nashua, NH)
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I purchased the Park TM-1 to replace a Wheelsmith tensiometer that's woefully inaccurate and for which Wheelsmith no longer offers a calibration service (shame on them!). The ergonomics of the Park tool are considerably better, making it more comfortable to use. Its repeatability is good, as long as you develop a consistent technique. The readings you get will vary depending on how quickly you release the lever. I suspect this is because the tool uses solid posts instead of bearings to support the spokes; the friction between the spoke and the posts creates this inconsistency. However, once you develop a consistent technique, you'll see repeatable results, it just takes a bit of experimentation. Switching to bearing supports would be a nice improvement that wouldn't add much to the cost.
It could also stand to have a rubber bumper of some sort to absorb the impact that occurs if the tool slips from your grasp and snaps open. No matter how careful you are, this will likely happen occasionally and it would be nice if the tool didn't beat itself up. I'll probably install a bumper of some sort on mine.
The included spoke chart is very comprehensive and the attached spoke gauge is handy to have.
Considering the bargain price of this tool compared to those from DT, Hozan and FSA, it's a great value and it will definitely help you to produce high-quality, consistent wheels. Overall, I'm pleased with its performance for the price.
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very helpful tool, May 15, 2012
By Doru Nica (USA)
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I like this tool a lot. I bought it just in case I might need it with the idea of returning it as it was not cheap. But now it's a keeper because it gets the guess work out of building the wheels. Some pro my say that you do not need this and that may be true if you have experience building wheels. But if you don't then you will have no idea if your spokes are too tight or too lose. It will also be left to how well your ear can distinguish different tones when you try to see if the spokes are uniform tightened by hitting them one by one.
The only thing this tool will not do for your is telling you what the real tension is because it lacks in precision. But for comparative measurements between spokes and to get them in the right zone this is perfect especially if you also look at the price and compare with the "pro" tools.
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Must Have for Building and Truing Wheels, April 25, 2012
By Richard Lord
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After a hard ride on the mountain bike the wheels, to me, spokes are one the most important parts to keep in top shape. If you enjoy working on your bike rather than dropping them off for service, this is a great tool to have in the box. The Park Tool TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter is easy to understand and use. The hand grip is ergonomically and the tension makes it easy to open and close. The meter numbers are large and legible allowing for fast checks. It comes with a handy tension chart for the type of material the spokes are made of. Not having a case is the only con I would agree with since I like storing the TM-1 is flat and without obstruction to the tension wires.
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Great!, April 18, 2012
By Nunuthr
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I had my chris king/hed wheels professionally built and after checked with this tensiometer and found that the tension was too low on all areas of the rim. Rim was faily evenly tensioned and by the sound check(plucking) sounded alright. Using this tensiometer I was able to fix the tension based on rim manufacturers recommendations. The most amazing part is it made a noticeable difference in the feel of the ride of my bike.
After correcting the tension on my bike I did my wife's and exactly the same thing. In my opinion, if someone isn't using a tensiometer to hand build wheels they are building an inaccurate wheel. I love my tensiometer and will use it for every bike I ever own.
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Spoke tension meter, April 16, 2012
By Kevin
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An excelent tool like all Park Tools.
Very easy to use and makes it so easy to get the spoke tensions more precise.
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Spoke tension meter, April 12, 2012
By rob
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This works as advertised, but I found it took some learning. I had to remember to keep the tool placed at the same position on each spoke to get uniform readings. I like it as a quantitative benchmark for getting to a balanced tensioning around the wheel. I think use of it allows for more balanced spread of tensioning than by tuning spokes and looking at the rim alone. I used this tool with a $100 wheel-truing stand which I believe gave me a better feel for accuracy. Its been a while since I last used it, but if there was any shortcoming, it was in the convertibility of units. Different guides presented different units, and some that this one did not equate to. This unit required using its included conversion table. I think the higher-quality (more $$$) spoke tension meters are digital and this would simplify the reading and interpreting.
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It worked great, March 21, 2012
By David (NEVADA CITY, CA, United States)
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I really knew very little about wheel building, I have replaced spokes, and tighten a few, but trueing wheels has led to difficulties. I thought if I had a tension meter it would make the job easier.
When the Park Tool arrived I metered all my front wheel spokes. This took under 15 minutes. Than I started to spin the wheel. When I noticed a high side I would meter the opposite spokes and see which spokes had a low reading. One of the spokes nearby always had a low reading. Since I knew what the average spoke tension was I would tighten to that spec. Just by doing this method I took care of the low readings.
I now have all of the spokes on the front wheel at even tension. What startled me was the rear wheel that was running true had several very low tensioned spokes. I was able to get even tension on the rear wheel also. The drive side being just a bit higher.
You can really feel the diffence on my bike. The brakes can now be adjusted very close. Couldn't of done it without this meter. Listening to the sound of a spoke or trying to feel the tightness has never been possible for me.
The tool is very easy to use, and like all Park Tools it is well made. The price was great. It was also shipped quickly.
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Excellent, March 4, 2012
By CZNO
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Tension meter works perfectly. Park Tool delivers an excellent piece of equipment yet again, and there is nothing to complain about. All kinds of charts and gauges are included.
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Inelegant but useful tool, January 30, 2012
By John Duval
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The Park TM-1 is bulky, uncomfortable to hold, a bit clumsy and hard to store. It comes without a case and should not be piled in with other tools. If held vertically, it reads differently on the left compared to the right side of the spoke. You need to be careful to not support it in such a way that you influence the reading. On the other hand, it works quickly and well enough that I didn't find it any slower than comparing the tone of crossed spokes, and a lot less subjective.
I used this to build my first set of wheels. After reading the book "the bicycle wheel", Sheldon Brown's excellent on-line articles, and several other resources, I would agree this isn't an essential tool, but it gave me greater confidence in my work and process.
Had I tensioned based on the pluck tone on other professionally hand built wheels I own, I would have under tensioned. I am a heavy rider, and wanted to be sure I was getting the spokes to the rim manufacturers maximum recommended tension.
I went in expecting to only spot check the tension, but wound up using it all the way around during about half the tensioning process. The process was - find a loose spoke, tighten - find a wobble, tighten the loosest spoke. During the process I probably loosened a spoke a total of twice. So spoke windup never complicated things.
I was surprised how little truing was necessary after focusing mostly on evening out the tension. Getting the tension even within 10% was quite easy, and after stress relieving almost no adjustment was necessary. Sure, it took me 4 hours to build 2 wheels, but confidence was more important to me than time.
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Will make your life easier, October 9, 2011
By Kostas (Manchester, UK)
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This tool will make your life so much easier if you re building a wheel. Getting the spoke tension right is paramount to building a quality wheel that will last you for a long time. There are a number of people online that say they do this by ear using the tone of the spoke...maybe..if you re rather experienced in wheel building..and then again you wont get near the same accuracy. Different length and thickness spokes have different sound and it's key to get the right tension and have it equalised across spokes.. This little tool helped me build my first wheel perfectly tensioned..couldn't be more happy with the results. It s still mega useful to check periodically wheel tension to make sure everything is running smoothly and to repair older wheels from friends and family. Overall very pleased with it.
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TM-1 Spoke Tension Meter, March 29, 2010
By Sailor Ed (Hillsboro, OR USA)
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Very easy to use. Makes quick work of lacing up a new wheel, or just tuning up.
0 of 3 people found the above review helpful.
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