who uses a torque wrench and what’s a good one to buy? park any good?

Never use one on a bicycle. No need

I got a BBB one when I found I had tightened a bolt on my Thomson stem too much and had to drill it out – a not uncommon problem with Thomson it seems; never had a problem with anything else though.

i just had a uneasy moment fitting a set of cranks (see other thread) can’t hurt to use one.

Halfords Pro – RIDE Green triangle Best buy at the time IIRC. Used to have a lifetime warranty too.

Torque wrenches really need to be calibrated regularly and are inaccurate at the ends of their range – so make sure you get a good quality one with a suitable range and don’t rely on it – use your sense as well

If manufactureres can be bothered to give torque settings then you should be bothered to fit correctly with a good Torque wrench. So keep it calibrated. Its not difficult.

Too many tales of stripped bolts, mullered heads and parts cracking with unpleasant results.

Its just lazy not to and only a bodger wouldn’t use one.

How would one propose keeping it calibrated? Go down the local engineering workshop and ask to use their kit?

Fauxbyfour – what rubbish. Most bicycle stuff does not come with torque settings – altho you can get generic torque values for any bolt ( if you know the tensile strength etc)

Only a bodger wouldn’t use one? Garbage – how about developing feel for the tightness of bolts.

I strip and rebuild motorcycles as well as bicycles – I only ever use a toque wrench for cylinder head bolts. everything else is done by feel and I haven’t damaged a part due to over or under tightening for decades

Norbar SLO – end of thread!

Torque wrenches are a great idea for those without the infinite wisdom of TJ. Ritchey do a bike specific one but its not cheap. Proper engineering ones arent cheap either and the ones Ive had havnt always had the same units as that stated for the compeneent- as the tools were UK and the components US of Goddam A.

I got one when building up my carbon road frame. Last thing you want to do is overtighten the front mech clamp or seat clamp on a carbon frame!

I got the cheap park one that goes upto about 7 or 8 Nm, which is the range I needed.

This is the one I use on my push bikes my motor bike and my outboard

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=28457

So what torque values do you use? Do you oil / grease or use dry threads – can make a big difference to tightness at the same torque values.

This Shimano PRO 3-15 Nm is the one which seems to get the best reviews

I would say certain things eg sq taper crank bolts benefit from torquing, or you must have a skilled hand

I’m with Teej – I don’t think you really need a torque wrench for a bike. Stuff is either finger tight (headset/bb preload), snug (levers and shifters), tight (nearly everything else) or right-tight (cassette lockring). Obviously carbon bits make things a bit trickier, but I haven’t got any carbon bits.

+1 for Norbar. SL1, 8-54nm 3/4 drive.

every significant component on my bike either has the torque spec written on it or in the manual. I’ve got a Pedros Torque wrench. It’s good, but not worth the money. You won’t get a bike friendly one from Halfords or Machine Mart though

3/4 drive

3/8″ surely?

How would one propose keeping it calibrated? Go down the local engineering workshop and ask to use their kit?

Not that I’ve ever tried it but …..

http://www.dieseldoctor.com/messageboard/data/229.html

Fauxbyfour – what rubbish. Most bicycle stuff does not come with torque settings – altho you can get generic torque values for any bolt ( if you know the tensile strength etc)

I believe you get a sheet like this with most Shimano components

I’ve never seen a torque value for any MTB component Maybe I didn’t look.

Do you oil your threads or leave them dry?

If you really want to be accurate then measuring % stretch with a dial guage is the only way. do you replace the bolts each time you loosen / tighten them? You should if you want max strength as each time you torque ’em up the blt stretches.

A torque wrench is a useful tool but no substitute for skill. Think the engineering equivalent of a GPS – follow it blindly and you will get lost.

A torque wrench is a useful tool but no substitute for skill.

🙄

And what if you are starting out? You can’t buy 20 years experience..

That attitude gets me annoyed.

My point being that if you rely on one without any skill then you are still able to make a mistake. Torque wrenches are not foolproof. too many other variables.

a story, a true story, bloke at work took a torque wrench and used it to tighten a bolt. it got tighter and tighter but the wrench didn’t click, eventually he couldn’t get it any tighter by hand so went and got a 6ft scaffold pole and continued to tighten the bolt.

Torque wrench snapped. but it didn’t click.

When asked why, he said it didn’t click, it never crossed his mind that maybe, just maybe there might be a fault with the torque wrench.

For most jobs on a bike you don’t need a torque wrench, common sense should be enough to get things right and is far more reliable.

I have torque wrenches that I use sometimes, other times I don’t

For most jobs on a bike you don’t need a torque wrench, common sense should be enough to get things right and is far more reliable.

The problem with common sense is – it isn’t that common

Farmer boy engineering, Tighten it till it goes slack!

For what it’s worth I hear the Norbar SL0 0-20nm 1/4″ drive is the one to go for.

I prefer to use common sense and a bit of feel.