Torque Wrench - worth having?

starbuck

Is it worth getting a torque wrench? I've been servicing my own bikes for years now and never had a problem (althoughI don't know if I tighten things too much).

If they are worth having, any recommendations on which one? I've heard that you can have issues with how accurate they are which is down to their calibration, so if I get one, I would want one that's accurate but ideally under £50 ish (with a leeway of up to £10-20 depending on quality).

When I had a bike fit a few months ago, the guy changed my stem and seemed to have an allen key type thing that clicked when he tightened the bolt enough - almost like it had it's own torque setting. I didn't ask him at the time what he used, but does it sound possible that it was a type of torque wrench? (TBH it looked like one of those triangular allen key things with 3 diff sizes on the one tool, but it did seem to click after a few turns).

stubs

I use a 1/4" tourque wrench for things like stem bolts, Disc bolts and Crank arm pinch bolts. Superstar do a 1/4" one for about £45 and you can pick up Norbar ones for about £75. I fix bikes for beer and holiday money and I am forever drilling out shagged bolts knackered by customers, I have never sheared a bolt using a torque wrench but I have seen a stem face plate cracked clean through by a numpty with a long Allen key.

chaymck

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-torque-key-with-interchangeable-bits/

angry_bird

The superstar one is alright, decent price, £41 at the moment I think. I use mine all the time now I've got it.

ricardo_smooth

teng tools one with lifetime guarentee. Don't buy a bike specific one, they just hike the price

cooldad

Personally I wouldn't bother, unless you regularly strip/snap things, or bits fall off.

m_cozzy

Definitely. I am so ham fisted I can strip M12 threads in the blink of an eye.All the fine threaded intricate expensive stuff on a bike scared the life out of me. Mine does 5 - 35nm or so, got it from evens I think.

97th choice

ahem, here's a happy coincidence

viewtopic.php?f=40092&t=12938347

satanas

Most items don't need a torque wrench unless you're extremely brutal or have no "feel" for things mechanical. The number one exception here is small stem and extra-small seat collar bolts which can be tightened enough to snap, or to crush lightweight alu handlebars. For these the Ritchey TorqKey is an ideal solution. For anything else, a torque wrench is not necessary IME. However, if you have no feel for things and/or are paranoid it cannot hurt. Just don't expect to be able to find torque recommendations for everything - you won't.

jerryfudd

ricardo_smooth wrote:

teng tools one with lifetime guarentee. Don't buy a bike specific one, they just hike the price

got one of these, use it all the time

http://www.screwfix.com/p/teng-tools-drive-torque-wrench/44700

got it as my very version of tight varied greatly and have managed to snap a few bolts before :oops:

Dan

ricardo_smooth

same one I have. I decided to have it mainly due to the carbon frame and not wanting to overtighten against that. It also comes in handy for servicing fox forks for the top caps as they are easy to ruin if overtightened and/or they creak

anewman

The best thing about owning a torque wrench, is eventually you start to get a feel for how tight you should be tightening when you're not using the wrench. The key thing is to apply force at the same distance from the centre of the nut being rotated.

Kowalski675

anewman wrote:

The best thing about owning a torque wrench, is eventually you start to get a feel for how tight you should be tightening when you're not using the wrench. The key thing is to apply force at the same distance from the centre of the nut being rotated.

The best thing about owning a torque wrench is never having to get a sump plug drilled and helicoiled...