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TECH NEWS
Tune Spurtreu uses a laser to perfectly align your stem
You know how it is, you’re squinting through one half closed eye trying to line up the stem with your front wheel, but as soon as you get out on the bike you can’t help notice that it’s a hair's width out, and if you're anything like me you’ll have to stop immediately to straighten it.
So here’s a product that I’m amazed nobody has thought of before, the Tune Spurtrue, possibly the most elegantly over-engineered tool for the simplest task. It uses a laser to align the stem precisely with the front wheel, while the device itself sits on top of the stem and handlebars. Pretty neat, huh?
The Spurtrue is CNC-machined from aluminium with shaped recesses to sit over both the stem and handlebar, though it’s not clear what sort of compatibility it has with the plethora of stems and handlebars on the market. A laser pointer is mounted at the front and operated by a small button. Press it and a beam fires down, simply line it up with the centre of the tyre and you’re good to go.
Products bearing the Tune label usually command a high price but at £65 it isn’t wildly excessive. Okay it’s not something you’re going to use everyday, but for a professional team mechanic or a website with a high turnover of test bikes, it could be prove to be indispensable. We've just been on the phone to Tune UK distributor Poshbikes and they tell us they've had 100s of inquiries already about the Spurtrue., so it seems to have hit a nerve.
It will be available from next month, and you can place your orders now at www.poshbikes.com, 01622 762055 and info [at] poshbikes.com
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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36 comments
This: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HR4w-TAL-w
I've got an Ambrosio Champion stem.
Does this mean I need to use old, italian string?
Maybe I WANT to have a wonky steerer/fork/wheel interface.....could always rotate by 90 degrees and use as a weapon against poor drivers.....aha!
The only place a friggen Lazer is of any use is on a sharks head
Making sure the string is duct-taped right in the middle of the stem using our patented laser.
Yes but before that you have to use my patented string to line up your patented lazer and my patented string is copyrighted with DRM attached and if you even try to align not using my method then the NSA will arrive via black helicopter and next thing you know your being water boarded as a threat to the human race.
We wouldn't need gadgets and curious methods if manufacturers would just build their components with keyways and simple alignment marks. Seriously, how many pence would be added to the cost of a fork steerer by a simple white line up its back, and a handlebar stem with a matching mark?
OMG I love this !
I need one for my saddle as well and for the winter is there one that can make sure my mudguards are straight
Sight on each side of the stem to a spoke nipple, using the top of the wheel as a guide. Works for me, and I am fussy about handlebar alignment.
Yes, yes, yes! Never thought of that. Very simple, just as fast as lasers, and free.
yes but what if my tyre isn't on straight, or my wheel isn't dished or my forks are misaligned or my stem isn't circular or the bars are bent or my eyeballs are assymetrical or the refractive index of the air in my garage doesn't meet UCI standards or local temporal / gravitational anomalies deflect the laser ever so slightly or OMG THE HORROR! how will I ever sleep again?
Just reverse the polarity of the neutron field. Simples!
wonder if I could use the laser from my Barret .....
Alternatively, put your handlebar bag on to be happily oblivious and not be tempted to spend £65 on something that won't save a millisecond or a milligram(me)!
wouldn't an steel rod in a hole be a lot cheaper than a laser?
Fortunately for my wallet, you can't actually order one online yet
Sorry if I'm being a bit thick, but how do you use a bit of string?
My grandad showed me this - you need a piece of string long enough to reach just above your tyre from the front of your stem and a small threaded nut, which you thread the string through and then tie a knot to hold the nut in place. Now use a bit of duct tape to fix the string temporarily in place off the front of your stem and with the nut floating just above your front tyre you use it to guide you whether or not your stem and front tyre are in alignment- so it works just like a builders plumb bob and requires no battery's and cannot be used to frustrate the cat and you could use other things that approximate the string and nut and duct tape to achieve the same result and just put it in your toolbox for the next time you need it... £65 saved for some tool you really do need.
Did he show you how to make sure the bike is perfectly upright? Wheel dish, a tapered headtube, and a difference between toptube and downtube diameters makes the spirit level a non-starter
Brilliant idea, only the price is wrong.
y'all had better make sure i'm not the only one in the office when this shows up, road.cc. "what laser stem thing?"
And the Campagnolo version will be nitride coated with a individual calibration certificate and a choice of either a red, blue, or green lazer and will only cost as much as your whole bike... or you could just use a piece of string... a Campagnolo piece of string mind.
it's simpler to take the front wheel out, turn the bike upside down and rest the fork dropouts and the lever hoods on the ground, and then loosen briefly the stem, and tighten up, reverse above, and voila.
Of course your levers have to be level!
I fail to see how that's simpler. Cheaper, yes, but not simpler nor quicker.
Surely someone could make a cheaper version than £65 though. It needn't be machined out of aluminium.
Jim
Get that 3D printer warmed up...
But you won't care because your hoods and shifters will be all scuffed.
Fear not, I'm in the process of designing a gadget that will satisfy your need.
The perfect gift, for anyone who both cycles and has OCD.
You all know it actually doesn't matter if its 100% straight, right? Your front wheel doesn't track straight because of your stem or else you couldn't ride no handed. Your front wheel is self centering at (pretty low speeds). So while having your stem a long way off centre is going to make holding your bars/cornering a challenge, having it a bit off centre isn't a big issue. Try putting your stem off centre by a small (but obvious to the naked eye) distance and go for a ride trying to avoid looking at your stem too closely. Once you get used to (minor) difference in reach you won't notice the difference.
For £65, I'd rather go out and buy a piece of string!
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