Rant: A customer in Denver told me my spoke tension gauge was useless

I was working on this guy's touring bike at the shop last summer. He had this old Surly with a bent rim and broken spokes. I pulled out my Park Tool tension meter to check things. He looked at me and said 'you trust that thing more than your own hands?' I thought he was kidding at first. But then he showed me how he plucks each spoke like a guitar string to feel the tension. He said he learned that from an old frame builder in Colorado Springs. I tried it on the next wheel I built and honestly it worked way better than I expected. Now I use my ears more than the gauge. Has anyone else ditched the tools and gone back to the old ways?

2 comments

2 Comments

lisa_ross1616d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah plucking is way faster once you get the ear for it honestly.

tessa_rivera15d ago

Nah, plucking is the way to go.