Found out my old Park Tool spoke tension meter is off by 8 percent

I was digging through some old forum archives last night and stumbled across a thread from 2012 where a guy tested a whole bunch of spoke tension meters with a calibration rig. Turns out my old model, the TM-1, reads about 8 percent high across the board. I have been building wheels with that thing for maybe 15 years and never thought to check it. All those wheels I thought were perfectly tensioned were actually a little loose the whole time. Has anyone else found a big surprise like that from an old tool you trusted?

2 comments

2 Comments

thea85715d agoMost Upvoted

8 percent off" is closer to a 4 percent difference since an error doesn't double like that.

abby_wilson5115d ago

Wait, have you actually tried running the numbers both ways on a real world example? In my experience, the way percentages stack matters a lot for the final difference. For instance, if you're talking about a measurement error like on a ruler, a 4% difference is basically a 4% off situation because the baseline doesn't change. @thea857, your mileage may vary, but I've seen this trip people up in IT stuff where even a small decimal shift can feel bigger than it actually is.