Park Tool's Easy to Use, Super Versatile TS-4.2 Bicycle Wheel Truing Stand

[@JimLangley1]

★ WATCH this video next to learn more about how different types of truing stands work kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHeboWShpKygpa8

[@ueberraschungstuete]

I upcycled a neodymium magnet from an old hard disk. I just put it onto the upright poles now I can store spoke wrenches there. As a base I used two plywood boards. In the upper board I milled some 4 sided "pockets", could have used just a jigsaw for it though. In the lower board I chiseled hexagonal holes to fit the heads of two M8 screws for which I drilled through the upper plywood. Those screws are for holding the truing stand. Both plates can either be fit together using screws or glue. This works great as a base, too is dead cheap especially when one can source some rest wood from a construction site.

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks a lot for watching and for giving the details on your custom truing stand and base. It sounds like a great design and using a magnet for holding spoke wrenches is brilliant. Wonderful ideas. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@LocksRocks]

Thanks for another great video Jim! That's a nice new stand.

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks for watching and commenting, Locks! I'm impressed how many new features Park added while still keeping it feeling just like the stand I've been trusting for so long.

[@thuggooch1776]

Thnx for sharing. I just put my 4.2 together today and this will be a great way to learn.

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks for watching and commenting. I think you’re going to love the stand.

[@888timesmart]

You could have also shown the DT-3 rotor truing attachment. I have one on my 2.2 stand.

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks for watching and the great suggestion J. L. appreciate it very much! For anyone interested, here's a link to that cool tool: amzn.to/3Mb4IK0 The way it works is it attaches to one arm on the Park truing stands. The truing tool has a threaded indicator that you can move in to get the tip right next to the rotor to easily see the wobbles. Since the wheel is firmly held in the truing stand and the rotor is so easy to see up high in the truing stand it's easier to fix wobbles than when a wheel is on a bike. Park also makes a rotor truing tool that works nicely here amzn.to/3ZwAww0 You can even attach a dial indicator to the DT-3 if you like to use those. Here's Park's dial indicator for the tool: amzn.to/3nIq2MP

[@Bikeops2021]

Quality bit of kit there Jim. PT sure make some nice kit... Great video Jim I'm sure you'll have many years of wheel-building with TS-4.2 Wishing you & your family & indeed all your subscribers a Happy New Year... 🎉 lol... I didn't realise this was from last year... 😂😂

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks so much Graham❤️, I appreciate you watching and sharing so many of your great comments. The new truing stand is nice for modern wheel standards and I’m enjoying it! You have a wonderful New Years too! 🚵‍♂️

[@Bikeops2021]

Cheers Jim…👍

[@adZHARRISON]

I just got mine last week - i liked the caliper adjustment on the No 4 stand - on this 4.2 the bolt just screws up against the painted surface marring it up . Mine came with a base and a TS-TA thru axle adaptor , im now making a stainless bracket with dimple die'd hole to bolt inside the C-channel upright/drop out to hold my axle adaptor , ill use a dome head allen bolt to go through the top of the ready drilled holes and the bottom on the adaptor will rest on the pivot bolt sleeve below

[@JimLangley1]

Congratulations on getting a 4.2, adZ! I don't think you can see it in my video but my stand had a bolt holding the arm in place for shipping. On that bolt was a little red plastic cap. I believe that little red cap is supposed to go on the end of the caliper arm adjustment bolt so that it doesn't contact the arm. If you didn't get that cap it would be easy to put something plastic that fits over the bolt. I don't understand why your stand came with the TS-TA adapters? Because the 4.2 has built-in thru axle holders which I do show in the video. Enjoy that great new truing stand!

[@1988howie]

@@JimLangley1 exactly

[@allanmenor9758]

Which is better ts 4 or ts 4.2 or ts 2.3?

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks for watching and the question, Allan. The 2.3 is Park's newest truing stand. The 4 was discontinued when Park came out with the 4.2. All Park truing stands share common features that I show in my video that make them easy to use. So it's less about which stand is better than which stand is the best stand for the typical wheels you want to build and work on. The 4.2 can handle even the widest hubs (up to 250mm) and the widest rims (up to 5 inches). The 2.3 can take up to 200mm hubs and 4 inch rims. So, if you don't work on oversize wheels like that you may not need the 4.2. I hope this is helpful, thanks again for watching.

[@1988howie]

I was thinking the same question

[@JimLangley1]

@@1988howie thanks for watching and I hope my previous reply to Allan answers your question HowiE. If you have more/other questions, just let me know. Happy to help.

[@1988howie]

@@JimLangley1 thank you! Yes, you answer its perfect!

[@torquecanyon8424]

Hi Jim, did you calibrate after you pulled it out from the box?

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks for watching and the question, Torque! Park truing stands actually come from the factory ready to use so you don't have to check or change anything. Now, if somehow the stand got damaged in shipping, the one thing that possibly could get knocked off is the automatic wheel centering feature. That's never happened to me with the many Park stands I've bought and used over the years (I ran a wheel shop and bought multiple stands for the building stations we had). However, if a stand was to get knocked out of center, they are made to be relatively easy to re-center. Park has a video about how to do it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZm2i359f9GcraM I hope this helps and thanks again!

[@torquecanyon8424]

Thanks Jim.

[@ueberraschungstuete]

@@torquecanyon8424 I bought mine in Germany. The packaging is really good with the foam and fits tight into the box. The package has to fall from a few meters height to have an effect on the truing stand I think. The upright poles are snug into the upper foam, while the base sits tight in the bottom foam, which is reinforced at the sides by thick plastic boards. This way the truing stand cannot work itself into the foam and get a clearance allowing it to wiggle in the box.

[@IvanMalechko]

Hi Jim, love your channel! Tons of bike wisdom for all of us home mechanics! For quite a while I have had a very cheap and basic wheel trying stand (it’s even cheaper than my through axle adapter :)), it’s wobbly and unstable but with some time and patience and the help of a dishing tool it gets the job done pretty well. Recently I finally decided to get a fancy park tool stand (2.3). But with my previous experience working on other stands, I’m a bit doubtful about this double-sided caliper as I always used to do one side at a time with an independently regulated right and left caliper. So, my question is how well is park tool calipers centered out of the box? Do they go out of center after some use? Should I get a park tool calibration gauge (which is ridiculously expensive for what it is) to calibrate it once in a while? Or do I still need to use a dishing tool and turn the wheel from side to side to make sure it’s not “dished”? Sorry for the long comment and thank you!

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks a lot for watching and the awesome comment, Ivan, I'm so happy you're enjoying my videos! Congratulations on getting Park Tool's new 2.3 truing stand! I haven't even seen one yet except in Park's video on it. Regarding how well they are centered, I've worked on quite a few different ones and I would say that the new ones I've set up out of the box have been centered properly from the factory. And usually they stay centered if they're treated nicely. Dropping them or cranking down hard when installing wheels or pounding on wheels while they're in the truing stand maybe to take out a rim dent - these things can knock the stand out of center a little. But as you know, the stand is designed to be able to fine-tune the centering. Park has a new video about this here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZm2i359f9GcraM The thing is though, that you may find as I have and a lot of other wheel builders, that the centering indicated by the truing stand is not to the tolerance you like to get your wheels. The stand gets it close, but with any axle issues or if the little plastic tips on the indicators/pointers are a little off, it's not going to show super fine gaps. I try to get my wheels as perfectly centered as I can - no visible gap. And for that I find that there's no substitute for a proper dishing gauge. So, the way I center wheels is using the Park stand as the "rough" center, which tells me I'm very close but then I always take the wheels out to double check with my old faithful Campagnolo "N" dishing tool (I have modified mine to work with BOOST and standard wheels and I still think it's the best dishing gauge available - though now mostly on eBay.com). As far as Park's calibration gauge, I have never owned or even seen one except on their channel. I have always used a perfectly dished front wheel to center the stand. But, I haven't had to center the stands but a couple times because even if one gets a little out, I don't worry about it. The first time I check the dish of a wheel with my dishing gauge and I know the dish is where it needs to be, when I put the wheel back in the stand and move the indicators next to the rim, I know that the indicator that's closest to the rim is now marking the properly dished wheel's perfect center position. And from then on as I finish the wheel, I just keep that side of the rim right where it is in relation to the indicator and the dish stays where it is. Sorry for the long reply but I hope it's clear and helpful. Please let me know if not and I'm happy to explain more. Thanks again for the support and great comment and enjoy your new 2.3!

[@IvanMalechko]

​@@JimLangley1 Thank you so much for such a detailed response! Now it makes total sense to me. 👍

[@JimLangley1]

@@IvanMalechko you're very welcome, Ivan!

[@samguan5236]

Hi Jim, I’ve been looking at a truing stand just to do basic maintenance truing but at the same time learn the art of wheel building in the future. I’m just a weekend warrior wrenching on my family and friends’ bikes. I think my decision for purchase is either an average priced quality stand or go big and buy the best like the 4.2. I’m thinking the basic Park Tool Home Mechanic Truing stand or the Feedback Sports truing stand both are just one sided which might be harder to use as I have to keep flip wheels back and forth. Any suggestions?

[@JimLangley1]

Thanks for watching and the question, Sam. For working on family and friends' bikes, you can usually do fine truing wheels while they're on the bikes. That's the way most pro mechanics fix most wheels during tune-ups and even during more major bike work such as overhauls. You can get wobbles out from loose spokes easily by sighting the gap between the rim and the brake pad on rim brake bikes and on disc bikes, you rest a thumb on a seatstay and watch and feel the gap between your thumb and the rim. That works fine for truing on bike repairs. When a truing stand comes in is when you need to work on wheels with major problems (big wobbles and hops/dips - out of round issues) and when you are wheel building and don't necessarily have a bicycle to put the new wheel(s) in. So, I would say that you might want to wait to decide what to buy for a truing stand until you find out how much you will really use it. If you do end up building wheels for yourself and others, that's when you'll definitely appreciate a good truing stand. I've learned that paying extra for quality tools is always worth it. They make it easier to do a good job, they hold their value and they're a joy to own and to use. I have owned the one arm truing stands and didn't find them any better than truing the wheel in a frame. The thing about Park's shop-quality stands is that they're rock solid, very stable. One arm stands aren't that stable. Stability is important because you're trying to make fine adjustments, so small that you can't even see them once you've got a wheel as perfect as you can. If a truing stand wobbles as you are working it makes it a lot harder to see those fine adjustments and it gets frustrating. It takes focus and time to fix wheels and a good stand makes the job a lot easier. I know the Park stands are expensive compared to some others, but there's a huge difference in the quality of construction and performance. And, it'll probably be more expensive to buy several cheaper stands trying to find one that likely still won't perform up to Park's standards. Remember that they've been making and refining this stand design for about 50 years now. The other guys trying to copy their design are copying something which is totally different than inventing, refining and perfecting. I hope this is helpful. If you want to see my new truing stand in action, I just did a video where I fix a crashed aero carbon wheel in it kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKqzeISog8uIfLc That's a big job and you can see how many different steps go into it and how well the TS-4.2 works for doing it all. Let me know if you have any questions or comments and I'll get right back to you. Thanks again!

[@samguan5236]

@@JimLangley1 Great information! Thanks so much Jim.

[@JimLangley1]

@@samguan5236 you're welcome!

[@kitbiggz6135]

Park tools is overpriced

[@saadatfa]

Can you tell me, what is not overpriced today in this crazy world? With the today price of a "Dream bicycle", i bought 3 cars in past. I drove at all of the 3 cars all in all 700,000 Km in a period of 20 years! Renault, Mercedes, VW. You are right, Park tool is overpriced, but, when i think, a China Truing stand costs 200€ and more and it is only nice in pictures...! Yes, i am thinking about price and quality since two weeks ago! It is sad😞Anyway i will buy a quality even for rarely using!

[@ueberraschungstuete]

Maybe, but if you plan to use it there are a few arguments for paying more. The cheapest truing stands are useless. I'm from Europe, therefore I calculate in Euros. 1. You can get better build truing stand for 130,00 € to 180,00 €. Which have bad reviews (1-2 Stars), but you can get them to work. 2. You cannot trust the quality control of those manufacturers. You may get a good build or a bad build. 3. You never know, if there are changes to the design when the next shipment arrives. 4. You cannot get any spare parts. Something is broken or worn out -> Start to fiddle around. 5. If there are spare parts from eBay they may not fit because they slightly changed the design. 6. You will start to calibrate before you can even start. Park tool building every part by themselves and selling basically the same product over 40 years and sending out spare parts is a huge factor here. And Park Tool is around quite long it will hopefully not go out of business. But even then, you might get used tools for spare parts or another corporation building spare parts. I would always pay double the price, if I know the manufacturer sends out spare parts and supports the products for years to come. Nothing is making me more mad than paying 200,00 € for a product which is waste because of a broken part worth a fraction of the product.

[@Inaya.aayat009]

Overpriced thats ok for a precised engineered tool.

[@kusterflattail]

If you built the stand and was selling it, you would not sell it cheap either. Instead of whining g about the cost of precision tools, think about the cost of employee wages and benefit packages that are the snowball rolling downhill.

[@samgritnik6481]

The best ones always are