Torque Wrench
- Thread starter neon
- Start date
You probably don't need one for working on your bike. I've only used mine on my bikes once. Just remember when torquing by feel... you need less force than you think. Too many innocent fasteners are cranked down far too tight. Be especially careful with carbon components, like handlebars.
You'll get varied responses on this one. Some use a torque wrench, some don't. Some have torque wrenches, but have no idea on how to use them. Some say it's a must when dealing with CF. Lots of things fly around.neon said:
I have built bikes without the use of a torque wrench. I have yet one to fail on me.
I have one that I use very occasionally. Once you use it a few times, you start to get a feel for proper torque. Like the second poster said, you need less than you think in terms of torquing by feel. The most common bolt to overtighten are the seatpost and the bars/stem. If you do get a torque wrench, I'd suggest the Park one (its like $35), but store it carefully and don't bang it around, as this could cause it to become uncalibrated. I made the mistake of spending about $80 on a Craftsman, and now it just sits in a tool box.... 
I have a craftsman torque wrench left over from my youth. It was a must for tightening head bolts on automobile engines. I rarely use it now, but perhaps I should. As bad as a part coming loose can be (and I have had the rear brakes sieze a few times because the skewer was too loose - although a torque wrench would not have helped me there), there is nothing worse than the feeling of stripped threads. I have done that once on an auto engine and once on a bike. Fortunately on the engine, it was the bolt that stripped and not the engine block, and on the bike, it was a nut and not threads tapped into the frame. Both of those were easy and inexpensive fixes. Tapping larger threads into the frame and finding a machine screw or bolt to fit the new (and now, non-standard) threads is not something I would want to do.
Hi martin_j,martin_j001 said:I have one that I use very occasionally. Once you use it a few times, you start to get a feel for proper torque. Like the second poster said, you need less than you think in terms of torquing by feel. The most common bolt to overtighten are the seatpost and the bars/stem. If you do get a torque wrench, I'd suggest the Park one (its like $35), but store it carefully and don't bang it around, as this could cause it to become uncalibrated. I made the mistake of spending about $80 on a Craftsman, and now it just sits in a tool box....
The Park torque wrenches are beam type and if they become uncalibrated (i.e. the pointer is not pointing at "0" with no load) then all you do is overtorque the wrench in the opposite direction until the pointer is back to "0" with no load. It's right in the directions that come with the wrench. All beam type torque wrenches are like this and that is one of the "pros" for buying them - you calibrate them yourself.
As far as using a torque wrench on a bike .... If you are a beginning bike mechanic and don't feel comfortable or knowledgeable on how tight things need to be, then you should use one and find out. For most people, once you get the feel of it you can probably go without. A friend of mine who is a professional always uses a torque wrench for CF stems, bars, and posts, but he does so for liability reasons. On the side he will tell you that all you really need for these items is to tighten until they stop slipping and that is tight enough (but usually well below the "spec").
fish156 said:
Very good points, and I'd forgotten that fact about the beam type wrenches, good catch. I found the same out with my carbon bar that I tried for a while--at spec was way tighter than it needed to be--I was a good 20-30 in/lbs under spec and it was plenty tight enough....
Helicoils may be a wonderful thing, but I don't go out of my way to need them. With a lot of newer bike parts, there simply isn't enough extra metal to use them at all.RickF said:
I Am a mechanic by trade , and the idea behind a torque wrench is to tighten the fastener's the same amount every stinkin time.it's a mater of perfection /profesionalism.would you want me NOT to use a torque wrench on your airplane?Quality bike parts aren't cheap, if you have a torque wrench use it.
Do note that Park Tools, and Campagnolo provide torque specifications on their websites, and Leonard Zinn does in his bicycle maintenance books. This says a lot. Do you need to use one for many minor routine tasks? Probably not. But I sure as hell used one when I tightened my crank arms. No "creek" and no sheared off bolt!
I can recommend buying a used Utica torque screw driver which takes Hex bits for working on bikes. I have 2 of these and they were cheap and very useful. I also got a set of cheap bits that included phillips, slot and hex. Total cost for 1 screwdriver and bits was about $35 US.
Utica make a number of different models I have a TS100 and a TS35. The bitholders also vary. I recommend the collet type that screws down and clamps the bit.
I found these tools to more sensitive and useful than a beam type torque wrench which I also have.
Utica make a number of different models I have a TS100 and a TS35. The bitholders also vary. I recommend the collet type that screws down and clamps the bit.
I found these tools to more sensitive and useful than a beam type torque wrench which I also have.
