Factory Wheels - normal tolerances?

[Wayne77]

I have almost no experience with with factory wheels and what normally expected tolerances should be. To date, I have had a few sets built by a local wheel builder and a set by Mike Garcia. All sets were perfectly round and true out of the box.

Yesterday I picked up some new Reynolds Alta Race wheels at a discount on a whim - I figure they'd make some good alternate wheels and they look pretty nice. Anyway, I put them on the truing stand and the front wheel is about .5 mm out of round in one place and the dish is off by about 1.5 mm to one side. The rear wheel is also about .5 mm out of round and the dish is off by about 2 mm in the opposite direction.

Should I have the same tolerance expectations for factory wheels that I have for handbuilts?

Is .5mm - .75mm out of round / dish issue even something I should worry about or should I send the wheels back? (not sure If I'd be able to feel a difference, but I'd sure hate to "think" it may be affecting something...) If it were a normal 28-32 spoke wheel I probably wouldn't worry as much, but the low spoke count has me concerned that fixing the roundness issue will be much more difficult. (I am taking them to my bike shop tomorrow to have them take a look.)

Thoughts?

[Grant McLean]

Less than 1mm out of round?

If you ride on terrazzo marble floors, maybe you can tell,
otherwise.... i think you'll live. :)

The dish should be closer to 1mm. That way if you change wheels
you won't find any difference in brake pad set up, unless the rim width
is more than 1 mm or so wider or narrower.

That said, the most important specifcation is spoke tension. All the visual
stuff is nice, but it doesn't mean anything in terms of ride quality or long
term strength and durability.

g

[Wayne77]

Less than 1mm out of round?

If you ride on terrazzo marble floors, maybe you can tell,
otherwise.... i think you'll live. :)

The dish should be closer to 1mm. That way if you change wheels
you won't find any difference in brake pad set up, unless the rim width
is more than 1 mm or so wider or narrower.

That said, the most important specifcation is spoke tension. All the visual
stuff is nice, but it doesn't mean anything in terms of ride quality or long
term strength and durability.

g

That was my feeling also. I guess I was wondering if it would have any affect at high speeds, causing shimmy or something.. I'm guessing the answer to that is no as well. Anyway, I'll probably re-dish if it becomes a problem. Spoke tensions seems to be ok, so I guess I'm good to go!

Thanks

[wasfast]

If it really bugs you, I'd just spend 5-10 minutes with a spoke wrench and true it up or have a shop do it. For the low prices that the Alta's are being sold for, it's a minor issue to me.