I seem to recall that unless your spending a lot of money, cheap tensioners are pretty rubbish. That said, I own one and they are great for checking relative tension – it’s reassuring to know that you’ve got even tension on all spokes and I’ve found that this goes a long way towards making a stable wheel, even if you can’t be 100% sure of the absolute tension of each spoke other than by an educated estimate. Would love to hear what other people use here…
I use a DT Tensio and a Park TM-1. DT Tensio is great, but expensive, I find the Park slow/frustrating to use but it has references for a good range of spokes.
Two main reasons I use a tension meter, even spoke tension and max spoke tension. A lot of modern lightweight rims have low max spoke tensions.
If a cheap spoke tension meter is consistent and gives repeatable results it will be very useful for ensuring spoke tension is even when building. I would check some known spokes/tensions on built wheels for a guide on its readings at specific tensions if you want to build to the max spoke tension or make sure you dont exceed it.
Yes, it is surprising how much tension can vary on a wheel that has had the nipples wound down the same amount.
Its really depends on needs/budget/time etc, I have built wheels with minimal tools which were “fine”, but can now do ones which are “better”