Torque wrenches

Paul Davis said:

Another problem with it is that it will only measure
torque on right hand threads which isn't very helpful for
bottom brackets.

That's ok for Italian thread BBs.

Quoted message said:

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence
and what sort of damage can one do without one? I
understand that having the correct torque for crank arms
is pretty important.

You're more likely to under-torque a crank bolt than over-
torque it without a torqge wrench.

Quoted message said:

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

Why is that? Sears sells a beam type for around $20 that
covers 0-75 ft-lb. That would be fine for crank arms and
cassette locknuts.

tinyurl.com2wz8lOpen ↗

Art Harris

So "Paul Davis" <[email hidden]> says:

Quoted message said:

I apologise if this is a basic question but as I say, I'm
new to the mechanics side of cycling and therefore lacking
somewhat in the confidence department.

If you can accurately estimate how much weight you are
lifting at any given time you can learn to accurately apply
torque. If you're a chronic wimp or strongarm gorilla maybe
a torque wrench is an idea but most mechanics I know don't
use one very often. Understanding what a foot pound is and
the dynamics of how threads engage is helpful.

jeffb

RE/

Quoted message said:

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence and
what sort of damage can one do without one? I understand
that having the correct torque for crank arms is pretty
important.

I'd say it has something to do with the sensitivities of
the worker.

I'm like Magilla The Gorilla without a torque wrench. In
fact I bought one after frying a number of fittings/screws.
To me, the most needful are those little alu screws/sleevs
that hold the chainrings in place.

Now that I have a couple of them, I wouldn't tighten many
bolts without one.

Others have probably worked day-in-and-day-out for years
without ever needing one.
--
PeteCresswell

In article <[email hidden]>, Paul
Davis says...

Quoted message said:

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

Beam torque wrenches work just fine, do not go out of
calibration, measure both left and right handed torque and
are cheap. When used on cars sometime the nut or bolt is in
a position that makes it impossible to read the scale.
Doesn't happen on bikes.

--
Ed

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of
maintainence. I'm keen to start learning though and am
beginning to collect together various tools. I already
have a fairly cheap Draper torque wrench with a range of
20-80Nm which should make it usable for crank arms (40-
50Nm) although apparently cheap torque wrenches go out of
calibration quickly and are inaccurate towards the ends of
their range. Another problem with it is that it will only
measure torque on right hand threads which isn't very
helpful for bottom brackets.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence
and what sort of damage can one do without one? I
understand that having the correct torque for crank arms
is pretty important.

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

I apologise if this is a basic question but as I say, I'm
new the the mechanics side of cycling and therefore
lacking somewhat in the confidence department.

Thanks for any thoughts, With Kind Regards, Paul.

The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque wrench
because they have calibrated hands. They know what torque
to apply to each size and type of fastener from years of
experience. Myself, I don't have that experience so I use a
torque wrench on any critical fastener (especially
aluminium threads).

Bruce Graham

"Harris" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:kNDcc.454$Fo.13399@dfw-
read.news.verio.net... <snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a
beginner (the local

bike

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

shop has warned me off of beam type torque wrenches)?

Why is that? Sears sells a beam type for around $20 that
covers 0-75 ft-lb. That would be fine for crank arms and
cassette locknuts.

tinyurl.com2wz8lOpen ↗

I've rebuilt V8 engines with a Sears Craftsman's torque
wrench and have used it for many other things as well.
They work just fine. All the engines have outlasted the
cars BTW (c:

C.Q.C.

Quoted message said:

"Paul Davis" [email hidden] Writes:

Quoted message said:

I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of
maintainence. I'm keen to start learning though and am
beginning to collect together various tools. I already have
a fairly cheap Draper torque wrench with a range of 20-80Nm
which should make it usable for crank arms (40-50Nm)
although apparently cheap torque wrenches go out of
calibration quickly and are inaccurate towards the ends of
their range. Another problem with it is that it will only
measure torque on right hand threads which isn't very
helpful for bottom brackets.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence and
what sort of damage can one do without one? I understand
that having the correct torque for crank arms is pretty
important.

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

There is nothing wrong with a beam type torque wrench as
long as it has a pivot in it's handle. Why has your local
bike shop warned you off a beam wrench? Any beam type torque
wrench will work with either left or right hand threaded
fasteners and they don't need much in the way of
recalibration..

However, my personal favorite type of torque wrench are
the Snap On Torqometers. These have a dial readout, 1% to
2% accuracy down to 20% of their range. They can easily be
recalibrated. They are expensive from Snap On but you can
find them new or nearly new on ebay for very good prices
($35 - $65). A 0 to 600 inch pound wrench will cover many
applications. And a 0 to 150 inch pound wrench is great
for those low torque applications like the newer Campy
Record hubs.

Ed <[email hidden]> wrote in :"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

Beam torque wrenches work just fine, do not go out of
calibration, measure both left and right handed torque and
are cheap. When used on cars sometime the nut or bolt is
in a position that makes it impossible to read the scale.
Doesn't happen on bikes.

Beam torque wrenches are $20 at Sears. They are perhaps
not as accurate as the clicker type, but they are fine
for bikes.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of
maintainence. I'm keen to start learning though and am
beginning to collect together various tools. I already have
a fairly cheap Draper torque wrench with a range of 20-80Nm
which should make it usable for crank arms (40-50Nm)
although apparently cheap torque wrenches go out of
calibration quickly and are inaccurate towards the ends of
their range. Another problem with it is that it will only
measure torque on right hand threads which isn't very
helpful for bottom brackets.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence and
what sort of damage can one do without one? I understand
that having the correct torque for crank arms is pretty
important.

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

Get a beam type wrench. They are inexpensive and don't go
out of calibration like the click type do.
-------------
Alex

Hi,

I'm not certain why beam wrenches were frowned upon,
they just were. I was particularly asking about the Park
beam wrenches.

As I've said, this is all new to me and I lack confidence so
feel the need to be sure I'm starting off on the right foot;
I feel that a torque wrench would help with this. I don't
have a problem using a beam wrench but have always tended to
take the LBS's advice, I'd be more than happy to hear
other's views.

Thanks, Paul

Paul:

I'll add my 2cents. The beam wrench is better than the
clicker in 99% of circumstances - 100% of circumstances when
working on a bike. Why? As mentioned before, calibration is
easy. You bend the beam until it reads 0 with no torque
applied. It works on both left & right threads also, which
certainly helps. I would highly recommend you start with a
3/8" beam torque wrench. Craftsman is good, but I think you
could do just as well with a wrench from Parts Plus, Auto
Zone, whatever. Also get a 1/2" torque wrench if you have
spare money. It'll come in handy every once in awhile,
especially if you work on your own bikes.

Here are the only advantages I see for clickers:

4) They work in places where you can't necessary see the
display. For example, working underneath your car inside
the engine compartment. Here you just set it and go until
it clicks.
5) If you do a LOT of torque wrench work, it gets old
looking at the display. It's the same advantage for a
different reason. You set the torque and go. Example:
changing tires at the end of winter.

I purchased a couple clickers at a "Cheap Tool Sale". I
didn't know if I could trust them so I've compared them a
few times against my beams. So far so good, and they cost me
a grand total of $22 for both a 1/2" and a 3/8" torque
wrench. I still don't trust them as much (and I'm sure their
lifetime will be limited) but they make my life easier so I
just periodically do a comparison against the beam.

BTW, I use only the beam wrenches on my bikes.

MOO, Matt

Paul Davis said:

Hi,

I'm not certain why beam wrenches were frowned upon, they
just were. I was particularly asking about the Park beam
wrenches.

As I've said, this is all new to me and I lack confidence
so feel the need to be sure I'm starting off on the right
foot; I feel that a torque wrench would help with this. I
don't have a problem using a beam wrench but have always
tended to take the LBS's advice, I'd be more than happy to
hear other's views.

Thanks, Paul

In article <[email hidden]>,

Paul Davis said:

I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of
maintainence. I'm keen to start learning though and am
beginning to collect together various tools. I already
have a fairly cheap Draper torque wrench with a range of
20-80Nm which should make it usable for crank arms (40-
50Nm) although apparently cheap torque wrenches go out of
calibration quickly and are inaccurate towards the ends of
their range. Another problem with it is that it will only
measure torque on right hand threads which isn't very
helpful for bottom brackets.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence
and what sort of damage can one do without one? I
understand that having the correct torque for crank arms
is pretty important.

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

I apologise if this is a basic question but as I say, I'm
new the the mechanics side of cycling and therefore
lacking somewhat in the confidence department.

Thanks for any thoughts, With Kind Regards, Paul.

Go to Sheldon Brown¹s site:

http:/www.sheldonbrown.com/html

He used to have a great universal torque wrench scaled from

loosey goosey to stripped!...🙂

HAND

--
³Freedom Is a Light for Which Many Have Died in Darkness³

- Tomb of the unknown - American Revolution

Paul-<< Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a
beginner (the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type
torque wrenches)? >><BR><BR>

Think they have it backwards. The beam type is very reliable
and easy to use. Go to Sears...

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Bruce-<< The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque
wrench because they

have calibrated hands. They know what torque to apply to
each size and type of fastener from years of experience.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<BR><BR>

What absolute crappola...Is it in the morning or the
afternoon after their hands get tired? Is it before or after
they eat.. Calibrated hands-geeez

Any decent wrench that doesn't use this easy to find and use
$20 tool needs to put his ego away and do it right.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

"Paul Davis" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of
maintainence.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence
and what sort of damage can one do without one?

They're not essential at all. I can't think of a really torque-
sensitive fitting on a bike.

Quoted message said:

I understand that having the correct torque for crank arms
is pretty important.

It's not, within reason.

Putting a bike together is easy, taking one apart can be a
challenge, especially if it's more than a few years old.

So [email hidden] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) says:

Quoted message said:

Bruce-<< The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque
wrench because they

have calibrated hands. They know what torque to apply to
each size and type of fastener from years of experience.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

<BR><BR>

What absolute crappola...Is it in the morning or the
afternoon after their hands get tired? Is it before or
after they eat.. Calibrated hands-geeez

Any decent wrench that doesn't use this easy to find and
use $20 tool needs to put his ego away and do it right.

You're full of [censored].

"Bruce Graham" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message .> >
. . . .

Quoted message said:

The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque wrench
because they have calibrated hands. They know what torque
to apply to each size and type of fastener from years of
experience. Myself, I don't have that experience so I use
a torque wrench on any critical fastener (especially
aluminium threads).

Bruce Graham

Yup. The experts at my LBS managed to tighten the cassette
lockring on my bike such that the little cogs were slipping
around about 15 miles into a 40-mile ride.

--Jens

Paul Davis said:

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner
(the local bike shop has warned me off of beam type torque
wrenches)?

I just found the following, which I posted in 2002, via
google groups:
------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
I remember reading an article in "Machine Design" many,
many years ago about P.A. Sturtevant, who developed his
brand of beam type torque wrenches in the '30s. There was a
government spec for torque wrenches for the military that
included the requirement that the wrench be capable of
being dropped from work-bench height and still retain its
calibration. Sturtevant took fifty of his beam type
wrenches up in a Cessna and dropped them onto a runway. All
remained in calibration. I don't recall if he won the
contract or not.

BTW, these are still being manufactured by S/R (Sturtevant
Richmont).

Also, there's an interesting article on torque wrenches at:

geocities.comtorqwren.htmlOpen ↗

jeverett3<AT>earthlink<DOT>net
home.earthlink.net~jeverett3Open ↗

jeffbonny said:

So [email hidden] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) says:

Quoted message said:

Bruce-<< The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a
torque wrench because they

have calibrated hands. They know what torque to apply to
each size and type of fastener from years of experience.

Quoted message said:

><BR><BR>

What absolute crappola...Is it in the morning or the
afternoon after their hands get tired? Is it before or
after they eat.. Calibrated hands-geeez

Any decent wrench that doesn't use this easy to find and
use $20 tool needs to put his ego away and do it right.

You're full of [censored].

Hmmm. Who has more credibility here?

Bill "I vote for the Eye-tallion feller" S.