Torque wrenches - worth it?

ashfanman

Just bought my first carbon bar, which I'm going to fit once I get some new grips.

Question is, do I need to invest in a torque wrench to make sure that I tighten the stem bolts properly, or should I just do it by hand until they feel tight enough? How easy is it to damage carbon bars through over-tightening?

I'm probably being over-cautious as I've never had a carbon bar before, but I just thought I'd check with you guys to make sure...

pdid

I was over cautious with my carbon bars, they slipped around on me in the middle of a berm. I now own a torque wrench.

Undertightening can be as dangerous as overtightening.

Joe_Pineapples

The torque wrench should be your best friend.

I learned the hard way with a Golf GTI 16V cylinder head!
I now use my two wrenches all the time.

ashfanman

Hmm, okay. Maybe it is a good idea after all.

Is there any particular 'size' that I will need for stem bolts?

I've had a look at the usual outlets (Wiggle/CRC/Merlin), and the only ones I can see that aren't prohibitively expensive are:

Ice Toolz: http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/bicycle-w ... rench.html

X Tools: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=11142

Cyclo: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=32396

BBB: http://www.jejamescycles.com/bbb-torque ... 38574.html

Which would you recommend, or are there any others that are worth going for at that price range? (I know that should technically be posted in 'buying advice', but it doesn't seem worth another thread...)

Thanks,

CJ

ride_whenever

I think ritchey do a tool that is preset to 4Nm which is fairly handy if that is what you need!!!!!

I've got the weldtite one that seems to work fairly well, although the BBB one is often recommended. Don't forget to check the stem for burs that could damage the bars.

Tank-slapper

ashfanman wrote:

Hmm, okay. Maybe it is a good idea after all.

Is there any particular 'size' that I will need for stem bolts?

I've had a look at the usual outlets (Wiggle/CRC/Merlin), and the only ones I can see that aren't prohibitively expensive are:

Ice Toolz: http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/bicycle-w ... rench.html

X Tools: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=11142

Cyclo: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=32396

BBB: http://www.jejamescycles.com/bbb-torque ... 38574.html

Which would you recommend, or are there any others that are worth going for at that price range? (I know that should technically be posted in 'buying advice', but it doesn't seem worth another thread...)

Thanks,

CJ

The Merlin one doesn't give the torque range and the X Tools is out of stock. The other two look OK, bit pricey though. The Sealey STW1012 can be found for under 30 if you shop around.

Daz555

Whatever happened to 'fully tight' or 'until it goes soft, and then back a quarter turn'....

Actually I must get myself a torque wrench. Handy bit of kit.

Joe_Pineapples

My two are both Facom ones, bought used from The Barras in Glasgow, so they were probably stolen!

My advice would be to just buy one from a brand name you can trust, it doesn't need to be cycle specific.
Also a sheet of A4 stuck to the garage wall with part torque settings comes in handy.

ashfanman

Tank-slapper wrote:

The Merlin one doesn't give the torque range and the X Tools is out of stock. The other two look OK, bit pricey though. The Sealey STW1012 can be found for under 30 if you shop around.

Thanks for that.

I've had a look around for the Sealey STW1012 and the best I can do is £27 with £6 postage: http://www.pvrdirect.co.uk/productinfo. ... ef=STW1012

Don't suppose you happen to know anywhere that sells it for less than £30?

Joe_Pineapples

ebay.

.blitz

I think a torque wrench is pretty much essential for stuff that has to be really tight - guessing what 60Nm feels like is not easy - but I tend not to use one on small items - like handlebars

I got a decent 1/2" drive wrench a few years ago from Machine Mart but Halfords sell them as well.

Joe_Pineapples

Good tools never die, they just get sold on.

Buy a good used one, there's plenty of used tool specialists and of course, ebay.

Snap On, Facom, Teng, Britool, Beta, etc etc.

Johnny Napalm

Nice and topical, as I've been browsing Ebay over the last few days for the very same thing!

rowlers

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

The torque wrench should be your best friend.

I learned the hard way with a Golf GTI 16V cylinder head!
I now use my two wrenches all the time.

LOL, me too. tightening up the cam bearing caps on a 1990 16v, ooops, one snapped stud later!

bikaholic

Never used a torque wrench on a bike myself, on car components with gaskets, yes, but on a bike, no.

I do it by feel, and you should learn to do it that way too. You'll come to appreciate this skill when you're stranded in the middle of nowhere with only your multitool to fix your bike.

If you don't trust your own judgement for doing fast and accurate repairs, then, certainly, get a torque wrench.

Thread8

when you do get a torque wrench, make sure you un-torque it after every use to keep it accurate and make it last longer

rowlers

bikaholic wrote:

I do it by feel, and you should learn to do it that way too. You'll come to appreciate this skill when you're stranded in the middle of nowhere with only your multitool to fix your bike.

I agree, but if you have no idea what 5Nm feels like to begin with, you are fairly stumped! Get a Torque Wrench and get used to what a particular torque feels like, then you know how tight to go on the trail

ashfanman

Just bought the Sealey STW1012 for £33 from the link I posted.

Thanks for all your help!

Raymondavalon

A little late on this as you've made your purchase..

I bought the BBB torque wrench and what a lovely bit of kit it's turned out to be
It even came with a calibration chart outlining the individual tool's accuracy at different torque ranges - as in the calibration certificate is linked to the wrench's serial number.

What made me purchase it was owning an FS bike with quite a few rear linkages all needing to be torqued. I now use it to torque all my bikes using guideline torque ranges if they're not published, for example 4Nm for brake levers and 5Nm for stem bolts.
Strangely enough since owning the BBB torque wrench I now check the rear suspension linkages before every ride and also the stem bolts too on all the bikes. Call it paranoid but nothings worse than a loose component on a ride other than stripped threads...
Every serious mountain biker who undertakes their own maintenance and repairs should invest in one..

bikaholic

"... I now use it to torque all my bikes using guideline torque ranges if they're not published, for example 4Nm for brake levers and 5Nm for stem bolts..."

Don't just blindly follow numbers - apply some common sense to what you're doing.

For example, does a used bolt, or a greased bolt, or a bolt with threadlocker on it produce the same clamping force under the same torque range as that used for a virgin new bolt?

For stem bolts, tighten each bolt a little at a time. Get the bolts hand tight, then just a little more (say, up to a third of a turn more, up to a quarter for carbon bars). In other words, torque enough to hold but not so much as to crush.

For brakes levers, up to hand tight is enough. This will hold the levers firmly enough on the bars in use, but allow them to absorb impacts by spinning around the bars in the event of a crash.

pdid

And don`t forget you`ll need a 3/8th`s drive to hex converter bit.

Raymondavalon

bikaholic wrote:

Don't just blindly follow numbers - apply some common sense to what you're doing.

For example, does a used bolt, or a greased bolt, or a bolt with threadlocker on it produce the same clamping force under the same torque range as that used for a virgin new bolt?

For stem bolts, tighten each bolt a little at a time. Get the bolts hand tight, then just a little more (say, up to a third of a turn more, up to a quarter for carbon bars). In other words, torque enough to hold but not so much as to crush.

For brakes levers, up to hand tight is enough. This will hold the levers firmly enough on the bars in use, but allow them to absorb impacts by spinning around the bars in the event of a crash.

I'm not quite some ambitious newbie armed with combo of new tools and Dutch courage. I have over 30 years experinece on two wheels, both petrol and pedal powered and have undertaken most basic and manistream maintenance myself.

The 5Nm torque settings are screened on to the stem my FS bike and also the recommended settings on one of my HT bikes. No I don't use threadlock on the stem or brake/gearshift lever bolts.
The 4Nm setting is recommended for the brake levers by one manufacturer of the three different brake manufacturers used on my 3 bikes, sadly 2 of the makes don't have any torque settings or recommendations.
4Nm keeps the levers secure but also allows them to shift in the event of an impact, I would call it more of a sweet spot than a compromise.
The most important thing is that I am not doing any "balls to the wall" tightening and prevention beats cure..