Torque Wrench – honestly?

[ignorance]

Im sure I have a torque wrench somewhere I am just not sure where to be honest. However when it comes to tightening stuff is it just me, but I just tighten stuff to ‘the right’ amount. I know not to go crazy on like grips on the bars, but give it quite a lot when securing the saddle to post.

Is this a dangerous way of doing things? Nothing has ever snapped or broken when using this method, few bits loose but not majorly, and as it’s only allen keys, easily resolved out on the trail.

So really, what I am asking is, who actually can afford a torque wrench, and if you can’t, can you justify buying one? Because I can’t really see a point?

[/ignorance]

cheers

Is this a dangerous way of doing things? Nothing has ever snapped or broken when using this method,

Got your answer right there really. Common sense can work just as well, IMO.

However, it’s pretty hard to learn the common sense if you don’t start with a torque wrench (or at least some idea of what needs how much force).

buy a torque key instead? Only set at one torque but a lot cheaper.

It depends a lot on what parts you have and how good you are with tools.

Some people are completely cack handed, some are too afraid to tighten stuff etc etc. A torque wrench adds a sense of security. I don’t use one. I tend not to on the car either as I have calibrated fingers 😀

Suspect the ‘reccomended torque’ on components is the manufacturer’s way of arse-covering in the event that someone wants to sue them for breaking a bolt or whatever.

I’m guessing using the right torque get a bit more important where carbon is involved?

Bought a cheap one for car duties, never used it properly. First I have to get on Google to convert the figures, then I find the wrench won’t fit where I need it or I just get to the point where I think its already overtightened and the wrench hasn’t clicked.

never

Never used one, I just tighten stuff till I think it’s tight enough, usually when it becomes too hard to turn something without using a lot of effort (exceptions for things like top caps). I’ve never had anything carbon though mind.

Depends on the components. My metal mtbs with nicely over engineered components are fastened together using common sense but with my silly carbon Cevelo p3c tt bike with carbon everything I always use a torque wrench. Tightening the seatpost is a very fine line between it slipping and cracking the bloody thing, not a lot better with the HED bars. I also always have to use a couple of torque wrenches (different parts need very different tensions not all capable on one wrench) when dealing with the Ergomo power meters I’ve got in a few of my bikes as if the bottom bracket sensors are not installed exactly right the results are worse than useless.

I’ve snapped the heads off bolts and stripped threads before now when not using a torque wrench, but never when using one. Worth having for me.

Yes honestly!
I went through a phase a couple of years ago where I was consistently shearing the bolts on a Race Face stem. The recommended torque was 8.8Kn. They were shearing at less than 15Kn. So I bought one.

So really, what I am asking is, who actually can afford a torque wrench,

I’m saving up for one. I reckon if I can put aside a tenner a month for ten years then that should be just about enough… 😕

If you visit your local motor factor you will get one for a lot less than retail.

Top tip.

I’ve decided I’m going to buy a torque wrench soon as I tend to overtighten stuff, and as such I’ve stripped a lot of threads in my time with bikes.

Are these any good then?

I tend to do suspension pivot and shock bolts but nothing else

buy a torque key instead

Can you now get those in more than 1 size?

You can get a 2-24Nm torque wrench for about £30-38.

Yes for me. I have a load of rental bikes so when the time comes I set it and then its just click click click across all the stems, reset then across all the crank arms clickety click… and so on.

Get one of these if you are in austerity mode http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=11142

I’d say it would be easy to get a torque wrench second hand for buttons. A lot of people buy one intending to use it, realise it’s useless, and stow it in the back of the shed – I certainly have one somewhere. If it can be passed on, then the circle of torque wrench futility can begin afresh.
You’ll find 20 year old torque wrenches that have only been used 4 times.

Im sure i’ve got one in the workshop just I don’t know where.

I’m saving up for one. I reckon if I can put aside a tenner a month for ten years then that should be just about enough…

Have a look? A decent one will set you back at least £100… that’s quite a bit of cash for a tool!

I agree that torque settings are to cover the manufacturer so they can obviously see whether something has been over done. But take for example my grips and brake levers, I only tighten them so that when I pull them very hard they don’t slip at all. No more. So, if I did it any less, I wouldn’t be able to use them – as they would slip, and thus, even if it is below torque, it can’t damage the bars. True?

I think I am a fairly good judge on what 5nm is, maybe 10 too, 5 isn’t much at all, which is pedals I think, just over what I would say is a normal tightness, 10 is rather tight though.

Interesting to hear what others say though. If I could find mine I would use it just to be safe, but at the minute I don’t see a need.

Torque Wrench – honestly?

No. Honestly. It’s a bicycle, not an F1 car or a bit of NASA hardware.

Never used one, never had a stripped thread, snapped bolt, or owt fall off while riding along or anything like that.

In over 23 years or riding MTBs.

My pedals are done up just to when the spanner comes up against some proper resistance. Never had one fall off, ever.

Torque Wrenches are for the Anally Retentive.

And Gorillas.

What effin said. Let’s face it a torque wrench is a bit of a girls tool, and shouldn’t really be seen near a bike unless you also own a nail holder for use with a hammer.

I have well calibrated torquefingers, but not everyone does, and I did earn them with a certain amount of bolt-fubarring. I still use the wrench for cylinder head bolts and the like, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it on the bike. Maybe for an XTR crank the first time.

But then… Look on that broken carbon site at the number of bars that snapped at the stem or brakes- probably every one of those owners needed a torque wrench. Mountain bikers are inclined to overtighten everything.

have a topeak one ever since a mate ripped a pedal out of his cranks and truavit would not replace as it was not tightened using a torque wrench and on my carbon bits i always use one as it is so easy to crack or weaken

got a ritchey torqkey,pulled off the bit and now I can use different sized bits on it.
limited to 5mn.but most critical bolts are.bit less for 3nm.bit more for 8.nothing’s exploded yet.

I find my fingers perfectly calibrated,now.(but then,not having a 3nm or an 8nm wrench-I have no way of really knowing-have I?)
I’ve been using it for a few years.

certainly wasn’t the case before.
a bit like using a pump with and without manometer.maybe some are more sensitive than I am.find it quicker this way.
So
if you’ve got lightweight components it’s a good idea.
Esp when something is slipping,at correct torque.
then you know to find another solution,like carbon paste,instead of giving it a bit more..

Never had the need and never had any issues.

My pedals are done up just to when the spanner comes up against some proper resistance. Never had one fall off, ever.

Hmmm! I wonder if there’s a reason why you only need to get the pedals just to nip and then they don’t fall off?

Just done a cytech 2 course and one of the drivers is to torque things as the manufacturer states.

I now have one and use it all the time, to me its a no brainer.

a vital tool in any professional workshop where multiple repairs and modifications are being performed.

not really necessary for the hobbyist at home, it is an expensive tool that does take some care and attention to maintain.

“Well, I haven’t got a torque wrench, I don’t need one of those.”- the reply from a customer when asked if he’d used one to obtain the clearly specified torque on the expensive pieces of scrap aluminium he was asking me to repair.The cost of repair and correct fitting would have seen him halfway to buying one.

LOL!
the manufacturers specify torque figures just to cover themselves? brilliant!
you think it’d be ok for them to just say ‘tighten this up to Twelfty on the carefully graduated scale somewhere between Too Tight and Not Tight Enough’?

The cost of repair and correct fitting would have seen him halfway to buying one.

He saved money then. WIN!

Those using torque wrench’s on your bicycles – when using a manufacture’s recommended torque, have you determined if this torque figure is for a lubricated or un-lubricated thread? And if lubricated what sort?

I have the two park beam deflection types. Easy and quick to use. Much better than the old idea of tight enough to snap it, then back if off half a turn.

Could be my imagination but things seem to creak less when torqued properly. However, when I first started using one, I was cuffed with how close to the correct value I was.

Have a look? A decent one will set you back at least £100… that’s quite a bit of cash for a tool!

Or about 35 quid. Though obviously that won’t be good enough for STW.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=32396

But of course, this being STW there are three basic rules to follow:

1. Always disagree with anything anyone else says.

2. Never buy anything unless it’s ridiculously expensive.

3. When in doubt, ridicule the idea that any sort of ‘special tool’ bar a hammer and a half-brick is worth using. ‘I rebuilt the cylinder head on my Ferrari using home-made allen keys and a sledgehammer’

But anyway, isn’t it more that sometimes, carbon bits and bobs, things that strip easy like early HT crank pinch bolts etc a torque wrench is worth having. Other times it’s not. Try thinking beyond the black and white.

And as for spending over £100 on a torque wrench, yeah, of course you’ll get a higher quality bit of kit for that, but equally a cheaper, but properly calibrated one will still do the job, particularly if you’re not using it that much.

I bought two, one for the lower range and one for the higher and the total cost was about £70 and both are calibrated (Sealey I think). I also do the odd job on the car so useful for that too. The only thing is that they only work in one direction but that’s not a big deal. I do have a carbon bike and bits but bought these before. It’s partly a peace of mind thing. I no longer worry if I’ve over or under tightened things. I do build my own bikes though and do most of the servicing so it pays for itself pretty quickly.

Really you just need to know what components need to be tight and what components need to be tight enough!

I got 3 identical stems.1 I left as stock, 1 I greased the threads and 1 I chased the threads with a tap.I then tightened the bolts to the recommended 7nm with a torque wrench.The first one you could twist the stem by hand.the second was exactly how tight I’d do it by feel and the last one sheared a bolt before before the click.
I only use one on carbon bars/stems or to bolts to cover my arse.

Never used one – and I have carbon bars, seatposts, frames etc. A good set of hex keys does most things – the “handle” ends are different lengths for a very good reason……

Of course you don’t need a torque wrench, real men don’t use them, same as they swear by hammers with lumps of wood for fitting headsets and hammers without lumps of wood for fitting SFNs. The flared headtubes and wonky topcaps add character to a proper manly bike.

the “handle” ends are different lengths for a very good reason……

Yes, it’s so they fit neatly on those plastic holder things.

Do the “torque wrenches are for gays” brigade ever check the recommended torque settings printed on the part/ on the fitting sheet before being all manly and doing it all by “feel”? Some surprisingly different recommended settings on different parts – don’t just assume because it’s a 4mm hex fitting it will be “about this much”. Again, most mtb stuff is quite over-engineered so is quite spanner monkey friendly. Quite a few annoying creaks and groans people complain of from their bikes are due to under/over/unevenly tensioned components though.

Mountain bikers are inclined to overtighten everything

I think some mountain bikers are actually mountain gorillas by the amount of force they do some bolts up with. Brake lever fixing bolts, for example, shouldn’t make a cracking noise when you undo them.

HTII crank bolts are one thing that you really must torque correctly. The two bolts are pulling one bit of metal together, so they have to be evenly torqued. If they aren’t, the crank arm pivots on the tight bolt, wearing the splines. I’ve seen some properly trashed splines on left cranks because of this.