Park Tool TS-2.2P Truing Stands: Rider Review

Our "Rider Review" article series features honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for. 

Having straight wheels is a blessing people often take for granted, a lot of the time bike shops also take this for granted which is why many people buy truing stands and learn to straight their wheels themselves. Those weekly visits add up in the end and you can end up spending a lot of money to fix something that is easier than you know. Jonas bought a Park Tool TS-2.2P Truing Stand and taught himself how to straighten out a wheel. Let's see what he thought of the stand.

Jonas' Review

Starting in 2010 I began commuting to work regularly, slowly ramping up from twice a week to a full five days a week, weather permitting, year-round which isn’t too difficult in sunny San Diego. Over the years my commute has steadily increased from roughly 10 to now 20 mi round trip with annual riding distance hitting nearly 4,000 mi per year! Over those years I have steadily accumulated stock of Park Tools to repair my 1996 Trek Mountain Track 830 workhorse. After my second rear wheel broke (cracked rim) last year I decided it was time to take the plunge and build a new rear wheel myself. Having no prior wheel building experience, the task seemed rather daunting. However, after discussing with a coworker I was convinced it would be a worthwhile learning experience and far more fun than purchasing a wheel outright. Hence the purchase of the Park Tools Powder Coated Professional Wheel Truing Stand TS-2.2P.

First Impressions

When removing the TS-2.2P from the box, the first impression is that it is a solid stand that will last a lifetime. Setup was a breeze, screwing in two knobs after applying a small amount of lubricant and then slipping on the plastic caliper gauge tips. Construction, welds and the painted finish make this stand a beauty. Adjustments are effortless when turning any of the three adjustable knobs for the axel width, wheel diameter, and caliper arms. The one downside I found is that with a 26” wheel, the stand will tilt back on its own weight and rest against one of the knobs which makes adjusting it slightly more cumbersome as the stand needs to be tilted upright to adjust the caliper height while performing vertical truing. Of course, this could easily be remedied if the stand was bolted to a workbench (which I don’t have) or the optional purchase is made of the Truing Stand Tilting Base TSB-2.2, which at least for now, I will do without. Other than that, using the TS-2.2P couldn’t be more effortless.

Conclusion

"Building my first wheel was far easier than expected thanks to all the amazing online resources available: Sheldon Brown spoke length calculators and YouTube. I stretched out the process over several weeks, first working on taking the appropriate measurements, lacing the wheel and finally truing. This was overkill, but it eliminated any frustration from the building process and the overall time spent building was about five hours. Lateral truing of the wheel was simply moving back and forth from side to side. Once the wheel started firming up then vertical truing was performed by further adjusting the calipers and lowering them below the rim. Even dishing was fairly accurate by flipping the wheel and gauging rim distance relative to one caliper arm. Luckily, I was able to fine-tune the dish by borrowing a dishing tool. Final adjustments went smoothly as well and I am definitely happy that I made the purchase. The stand will definitely come in handy in the future as I will use it to true my wheels more regularly, to keep my bike in excellent shape (and build a few more eventually). My rating for the TS-2.2P: 4.5 out of 5 stars." - Jonas