Overheard a guy at my local co-op say a spoke tension meter is a waste of money

I was at the Bike Kitchen in Portland last week picking up a used rear wheel and I heard this older mechanic tell a new guy that spoke tension meters are just a crutch. He said you can feel true tension by squeezing pairs of spokes together and listening for the pitch. That got me thinking because I have been relying on my Park Tool tension meter for like three years now and never bothered learning the old school way. So I spent 20 minutes after my shift testing it on a beater wheel I had laying around and honestly the pitch method works way better than I expected. I could hear the high and low spots clear as day once I knew what to listen for. It is definitely slower than just reading a number but I think there is something to knowing the feel and sound of a wheel. Has anyone else gone back to the pinch test after relying on a tool for so long?

2 comments

2 Comments

tara7451mo ago

Wait, hold on. That mechanic said squeeze and listen? Like he actually told the new guy to just go by ear and feel on a co-op wheel build? I have been using a tension meter for years too and I am honestly shook that someone would dismiss it that hard. I mean sure, the pitch test works okay for finding big differences but relying on it for a wheel that needs to be true and strong? That is wild to me. The margins on spoke tension are tiny, like a few percent off and you get a wobbly mess or a broken spoke a month later. I tried the pitch thing once on my track wheel and I could not tell a 10 kg difference no matter how hard I squeezed. Your ears are not that precise, especially not with a used rim that has dings in it.

jessec391mo ago

Hang on, did that guy at the Bike Kitchen actually show the newbie how to listen for pitch, or was he just talking big?

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