Recommend me a torque wrench

[therams]

OK, I am going to be getting a nice shiny new carbon bike over the Christmas break. So I really think a torque wrench is essential, as I tend to be very heavy-handed with the old spanner.

So what do people use?

 

[Norm]

Halfords Professional range.

But any wrenches will lose accuracy over time, so a mediocre one which is tested and maintained will be better than a top one which languishes in your garage between uses.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Bought mine last year from PVRdirect.co.uk - Sealey, certificated, STW1012, 2-24Nm - the most useful for general use on the bike, stem bolts, seat post, etc. Also bought a AK623 for the heavier jobs (have an Ultratorque BB for example). You are not going to get one that will do everything. Also bought a set of Hex bits and holder (SO533), and various adapters/sockets. The whole lot came to around £63 - at the time this was the best price by far for certificated kit. Think their prices have risen since, but still worth a look.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

+1 for the Sealy mentioned above. Reasonably priced and supplied with an individual calibration certificate.

 

[Dave5N]

Never seen the need. You can feel when it's right.

Torque wrenches for bikes is a product of our litigation-phobic culture

 

[swee'pea99]

Never seen the need. You can feel when it's right.

Torque wrenches for bikes is a product of our litigation-phobic culture

+1

Ever read 'Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'? He uses that feel for when a nut is 'just right' quite interestingly...how you just have to have a feel for how far to go so it's tight enough to do its job and not shake loose, but no further, or you'll strip the threads - and how getting a feel for that point can only be gained by experience, and how it involves hand/brain coordination, and stuff like that. I'm rambling here, but then I haven't read it for thirty years...

But yes, torque wrench? Never had one, never felt the need.

 

[youngoldbloke]

- and carbon fibre frames, steerers, stems, handlebars, seatposts etc. weren't around 30 years ago. Not just a case of stripping a thread, but of cracking or crushing the component. I find it surprising sometimes that the recommended torque amounts to far less than experience of the old technology would suggest ...... better safe than sorry?

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Personally I wish I had the inner ZEN to tell me when it is right, alas that is not the case...

However the torque on a horizontal bolt is simply the turning force provided by a weight dangling over a horizontal lever. Most specs nowadays are in Nm, 1Nm is 8.85 pound-inches, which is the same as 0.102 kilogram-meters in metric.

For example, if you have a socket wrench that is say 1 foot long, you will exert roughly 1Nm of torque on a horizontal bolt if you hung a 1lb weight at a point on the handle just under 9 inches from the bolt when the wrench handle is horizontal. If you need 6Nm of torque on the bolt, the weight needed is 6lbs hanging at the same point.

The same torque is achieved as long as the distance multiplied by the weight is the same (assuming the spanner is relatively light and its weight is not material in comparison), so you can always adjust one to suit the other.

In metric, 1N-m is 1.02kg at 10cm. 6N-m is 1.02kg at 60cm or 10.2kg at 6cm, or other combinations thereof.

As long as one understands the above and does the multiplication carefully, this method is quite safe and sufficiently accurate.

 

[swee'pea99]

- and carbon fibre frames, steerers, stems, handlebars, seatposts etc. weren't around 30 years ago. Not just a case of stripping a thread, but of cracking or crushing the component. I find it surprising sometimes that the recommended torque amounts to far less than experience of the old technology would suggest ...... better safe than sorry?

Fair point. And as to your last point, who could argue?

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Each to his own, but when dealing with expensive and fragile components, even highly skilled and experienced engineers will use a torque wrench. As an ex-engineer, why would I risk wrecking a £1600 frame for the cost of a £30 torque wrench?

 

[Dave5N]

Christ on a bike, if they are that fragile and delicate anyway, I don't think I want to ride them anymore.

 

[MacB]

plastic frames eh, what do you do?

I've got a vast array of crappy little allen keys from various flat pack purchases. When I started I found that I couldn't overtighten using one of these, it hurts your hand. Now that I have more of a feel I use larger cycle specific ones. I can see the concerns around crushing carbon parts but required tightening should be reached long before crushing becomes an issue.

 

[Browser]

If I were buying, low-end would be Sykes Pickavant, higher end anything from Facom, this one from Colnago or a Teng Tools.

 

[Zippy]

On my car maintenance course the teacher there said you only needed two levels of torque - a grunt and a grunt and a fart; the latter for snugging down wheel nuts!

Hope this helps.

 

[ASC1951]

[quote name='swee'pea99']+1

Ever read 'Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'?..... I'm rambling here, but then I haven't read it for thirty years...[/QUOTE]Still one of my half dozen 'best books ever written' - I re-read it last year and it stands up very well.