I used to think that my bolts were tight enough when they make that ‘squeak’ noise. But I guess I was wrong. Now I would like to do things proper, as I’m upgrading to disc brakes – finally!.

Any suggestions on what to go for? At the pricey end there’s 2 Park tool ones – which is best? Are there any better? What range (Nm/LBS) should I go for?

It’s a minefield – I need help!

😕

I wouldn’t recommend getting a torque wrench until you’ve developed a good feel with/for ordinary tools.

The torque range depends on what bolts you’ll be tightening. Check the torque settings for a variety of bolts on your bike. Write them all down, it will be useful a some point and it will also give you an idea of which range you’ll need most.

I disagree with Three Fish’s point above. I would have thought a torque wrench is a good way to get a good feel for how tight things should be if you’re new to that sort of thing. Personally, I have never seen the need for one, I’m happy to guess but if you’ve got carbon bars you may have a different view.

Sealey Perhaps consider this instead of the bike brand ones, which always seemed a little pricey to me.

I would have thought a torque wrench is a good way to get a good feel for how tight things should be if you’re new to that sort of thing.

Torque wrenches are invariably longer than even long-handled hex keys, so using one does little or nothing for developing a feel for ‘normal’ tools. Perhaps more importantly, the mechanism on a torque wrench can also detract from the sensation of the threaded interface tightening on itself, which is how one would usually determine the correct tension for a fitting.

so using one does little or nothing for developing a feel for ‘normal’ tools.

….how do you know the feel for correct tension for a fitting in the first place though? I recall quite a few folk on here posting about how they didn’t realise how tight they had fastened everything until they got a torque wrench.

I suppose some people talk about ‘put a mark in the palm your hand if you use a 8cm long allen key’ as some sort of guide, but that is even less scientific than the +/-15% variation in budget torque wrenches.

three fish, any tips for the beginner who hasn’t a scooby about the difference in ‘feel’ between three and twelve n/m?

I’ve been maintaining my bikes all my life without using a torque wrench – I’ve never stripped a bolt. But I’ve recently bought a Pace and am upgrading my Klein to discs. So rather than guess what’s right – I thought a torque wrench would be useful as I don’t want to over/under tighten bolts in the hubs or on the disc mounts.

It all boils down to being a disc brake novice and wanting to get things right. V brakes were much simpler to set up but they don’t half fatigue my arms on these modern trails.

I’ll be posting about bleeding tips soon no doubt.

Three_Fish: you make a couple of good points, there, but I still think someone who isn’t used to tightening bolts regularly is better of with a torque wrench to begin with.

Eyerideit: if you know what range you need for your disc bolts then get one for those and carry on doing everything else by feel.

I use Sealey torque wrenches and they work well enough for me. Remember that if you’re buying one to use with bottom brackets it’ll need to measure torque in both directions (usually having a push-through head), many don’t.

I very definately fall into the inexperienced ‘how do you develop feel in the first place’ camp which is why I use torque wrenches. Torque wrenches are a lot longer than the usual allen key sets and so give a very different feel, but once you’ve set a bolt to the correct torque there’s nothing to stop you then tweaking it back and forth a little with an allen key.

There are dangers though (as I’ve found to my cost) the most obvious being blindly tightening something waiting for the torque wrench to click, until the bolt snaps! You still need to be aware of tightness just in case.

I recall quite a few folk on here posting about how they didn’t realise how tight they had fastened everything until they got a torque wrench.

I think that it’s rather telling that a number of carbon component manufacturers now produce pre-set torque keys for use with their products. I suspect that quite a few people are over confident about their ability to ‘feel’ torque but probably not so hamfisted as to crack aluminium components. Carbon components seem to have somewhat lower margins for error and I suspect a number of people have consequently been somewhat suprised when they crack them. I’d imagine that a lot of users have tried to warranty carbon components that have been over tightened, hence the introduction of torque keys.

make sur you you read the torque value of the bolt correct i tried tighening my crank arm to 90 ft lb instead of 90 ft inches 🙄

Thanks all for your input.