Finally got my shop's wheel truing time under 10 minutes on average

I've been tracking our wheel truing times for the past 3 months, and we just hit 8 minutes and 30 seconds average across 20 wheels this week. It used to take me almost 15 minutes per wheel when I started at this shop in Denver back in February. What changed was I stopped using the cheap spoke wrenches and switched to a Park Tool SW-7 with a proper grip. Has anyone else noticed a big time drop after upgrading basic tools like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jamie1mo ago

Finally got my shop's wheel truing time under 10 minutes" - man, I still celebrate when I finish a wheel in under 15 minutes without having to take a breather. I'm convinced my cheap spoke wrenches are actively plotting against me. Last week one of them slipped and I gouged my thumb pretty good, which did not speed things up at all. Switched to a better tool after that and shaved off a solid 2 minutes just from not re-gripping a hundred times. It's funny how the little stuff adds up, right? Have you noticed a difference in your arm feeling less like a noodle at the end of the day too?

grant4781mo ago

Oh buddy, I think you replied to your own post instead of to someone else. Not judging, just figured you'd want to catch that before anyone notices.

the_hayden1mo ago

Funny you mention spoke wrenches, my buddy Dave was building up a gravel wheelset last month and his cheap wrench slipped so bad it completely rounded off a nipple. He spent like 20 minutes trying to get it off with vice grips and cussing up a storm. Finally said forget it, drove to the shop and bought a Park Tool one, never looked back. He texts me a picture of the old wrench just sitting in the trash can like it deserved it.