Torque wrench hex keys

bonk_king
bonk_king Posts: 277
in Workshop
I bought an Halfords torque wrench recently and it comes with 3,4,5,6,8 and 10mm hex bits, along with some torx bits too.

However, after testing the hex bits out on my bike, some wouldn't fit! It looks like some bolts on the bike are half sizes, either that or a mix of metric and imperial, and I don't think they'd do that on a bike...would they!

I've been on line to try and purchase the in between half sizes and I'm struggling, I just get directed to full sets, and even these don't have a full selection of the half sizes. Typically 4.5 and 5.5mm hex bits seem quite common, but above that, not!

Is it possible to buy them singley, or would I need to buy a full set of metric with all the half sizes in? How far do the half sizes even go up?

Help, struggling.

Comments

  • hpaul
    hpaul Posts: 114
    Hi, I bought a set of wera ones, have 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10. I've never needed any of the others your talking about. Do a good bit of my own mechanic work.

    They are pretty decent and were not that cheap.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 27,415
    Depends on source country. I think some Garmin screws may be imperial as a 3mm hex is loose. Anything American is suspect.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • me-109
    me-109 Posts: 1,915
    Some SRAM stuff like front mech screws are 2.5mm, but I don't know of anything else on a bike that is half sizes. Sometimes it's just cheap tools that aren't that well sized. Never had a problem with Halfords sockets though and use their 3/8" hex sockets regularly.
  • bonk_king
    bonk_king Posts: 277
    Well guys, I've finally got to the bottom of this little problem regarding my odd sizes of hex nuts on my bike, and I might as well come straight out with it, and make myself look a complete twunt!

    I've got both imperial and metric sets of hex keys, and none of them fitted some of the bolts on my bike. I put it down to that they must be half sizes...but no....on closer inspection, this time with my glasses on, I now realise that some of the bolts on my bike are torx bolts!!!! Yeah, I know. In my defence my eyes are shot at, lol.

    So now, going around the bike once more, with my glasses on, I can report back that I have a full accompaniment of bits, both hex and torx, which fit all the various bolts on my bike perfectly.

    This is the bit where you all say, "oh don't worry, we've all made that mistake". What an idiot, lol....and a blind idiot at that!
  • trevor.hall12
    trevor.hall12 Posts: 493
    Oh don't worry ,we've all made that mistake before.
  • bonk_king
    bonk_king Posts: 277
    trevor.hall12 said:

    Oh don't worry ,we've all made that mistake before.

    Lol, you're too kind sir.
  • veronese68
    veronese68 Posts: 27,853
    Glad you sorted it, did look at a couple of my sets today and wondered what you had.
    Obviously I've never made a silly mistake so have no idea how you managed that
    Kinesis Pro6
    Marin Nail Trail
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  • bonk_king
    bonk_king Posts: 277
    Does anyone have a reasonable explanation why manufacturers put both hex and torx bolts on their bikes?

    To me they both serve exactly the same purpose and are equally good at the jobs they do.

    So why not use one or the other throughout the build, instead of mixing them, seems odd.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,716
    bonk_king said:

    Does anyone have a reasonable explanation why manufacturers put both hex and torx bolts on their bikes?

    To me they both serve exactly the same purpose and are equally good at the jobs they do.

    So why not use one or the other throughout the build, instead of mixing them, seems odd.

    Torx is better on screws with shallow heads such as disc rotor screws as it's less prone to rounding out. SRAM use them on caliper screws for the same reason, they use relatively shallow Torx heads. Frankly Torx is superior to hex, but I assume it costs slightly more than hex.

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