Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Park Tool WAG-4 Professional Wheel Alignment Gauge Reviews

Park Tool WAG-4 Professional Wheel Alignment Gauge Reviews
Most popular product on Amazon.com : Park Tool WAG-4 Professional Wheel Alignment Gauge,The WAG-4 allows easy checking of the dish on road, mountain, or BMX wheels from 16? to 29?. It works with any hub width and its innovative design even allows it to be accurately used with the tire still on the wheel. It has an accurate and truly versatile wheel alignment gauge that belongs along side every truing stand.

Park Tool WAG-4 Professional Wheel Alignment Gauge

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000651134/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000651134&linkCode=as2&tag=shoesonline0b-20
Product Description : For a wheel to perform properly, it is important for the rim to be centered between the locknuts of the hub, or “dished”. To check this, and to make precision adjustments, a wheel alignment gauge (also called a “dishing tool”) is a must. The WAG-4 allows easy checking of the dish on road, mountain, or BMX wheels from 16” to 29”. It works with any hub width and its innovative design even allows it to be accurately used with the tire still on the wheel. An accurate and truly versatile wheel alignment gauge that belongs along side every truing stand. What I do like about this gauge is that:+ The black plastic blocks act as a stand-off from the rim, so the gauge can be used with a tire mounted and inflated (unless it's a **really** fat tire).+ The blocks slide, so the gauge can be used with all sorts of rim sizes -- 29"/700c? No problem.+ The tip of the feeler is "bent in" so that, in most cases, dish can be checked while the wheel is still mounted in the bike frame or fork, without removing the quick release. This makes it very convenient to use in conjunction with the Feedback Sports Truing Station, which requires the QR to be in place and secured (as if the wheel were mounted in the dropouts) while holding the wheel.There are a couple of things I don't like:- The knob used to secure the feeler gauge is just a friction lock. The feeler is a little wobbly, and the friction lock has to be adjusted "just right" so that the feeler can be moved with thumb pressure, but won't move on its own. I think I'd prefer some sort of threaded setup here so that I can position the feeler precisely, and it'll stay where I set it.- The black plastic blocks slide a little too freely. Like the feeler, once I have these blocks set in place, I want them to stay where I set them.Prior to picking up this WAG-4, I simply (and reliably) used the "flip-flop" method of checking for true / centering in my truing stand. This dishing gauge is more convenient than flipping the wheel during final check, but while I'm building up the wheel, I still prefer to true only to one side so still flip the wheel often during the build. Still, this is a good tool to have on the bench as the final check is more reliable, and because centering can be checked easily without ever removing the wheel from the bike. I can't fault the tool. It is made of good quality and works fine. I just regret the purchase, because I realized I didn't really need the tool to build a wheel when you have a truing stand or at lease the pro stand. Once you true a wheel on a stand that is correctly aligned, the gauge becomes redundant. Live and learn. If you true/build wheels, this is a must have as I have built tens of sets over the years, but only 30% correctly. You need the right tools for the job as I am proof that anyone can build a wheel, but not everyone can build a wheel right.

Buy new Customer Rating: 5.0
Customer tags: Sports, Outdoors


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