Why would two allen key sets be different?

bungle73
bungle73 Posts: 758
edited January 2018 in Workshop
I just bought a torque wrench, and I was just doing some bolts up on my bike. I was staring them off with an allen key from a set that I've had for years, and then swapping to the torque wrench to finish them off. There's something weird about them though. When I went to select the bits for the torque wrench, I selected what was supposed to be the same size as the allen key I was using,but it wasn't. It was one size different, even though they were supposed to be the same. Odd.

Comments

  • What number was it?
  • haydenm
    haydenm Posts: 2,997
    I once bought a set of silverline allen keys and barely any of them fit, really terrible tolerances and the sticker on the holder was stuck on upside down. Could it be a quality control issue?
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    Buy cheap buy twice.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • milemuncher1
    milemuncher1 Posts: 1,472
    Imperial versus metric?
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,538
    This is the comprehensive set that I have, as recommended by someone on here - works a treat combined with a quality Sealey wrench - and that is only £30 - £45 the pair, for a bells and whistles setup, versus the apparent 'bike specific' ones you get for the same or more cash.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-33323-TX-Star-Hexagon-Mechanics/dp/B00HNU6JVE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1516722747&sr=8-2&keywords=draper+bit+set
    61rLKRNh6PL._SL1024_.jpg
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • Daniel B wrote:
    This is the comprehensive set that I have, as recommended by someone on here - works a treat combined with a quality Sealey wrench - and that is only £30 - £45 the pair, for a bells and whistles setup, versus the apparent 'bike specific' ones you get for the same or more cash.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-33323-TX-Star-Hexagon-Mechanics/dp/B00HNU6JVE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1516722747&sr=8-2&keywords=draper+bit+set
    61rLKRNh6PL._SL1024_.jpg

    There's no yellow in that? :wink:
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,538
    edited January 2018
    Daniel B wrote:
    This is the comprehensive set that I have, as recommended by someone on here - works a treat combined with a quality Sealey wrench - and that is only £30 - £45 the pair, for a bells and whistles setup, versus the apparent 'bike specific' ones you get for the same or more cash.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-33323-TX-Star-Hexagon-Mechanics/dp/B00HNU6JVE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1516722747&sr=8-2&keywords=draper+bit+set

    There's no yellow in that? :wink:

    :D I don't know WHAT you mean :lol:

    It's functional though, so the normal rules are not applied so stringently, and works a treat with this badger:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sealey-8-inch-2-24nm-1-47-17-70lb-ft-Micrometer/dp/B000RO1ZCG/ref=sr_1_2?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1516723267&sr=1-2&keywords=sealey+torque+wrench
    315149Kss5L.jpg

    Nuts how cheap they both are - that's actually £40 the pair - when I bought them some 3 years (ish) ago, they were £30 and £20.

    Versus this (Just picked one at random off of Wiggle) for £56, down from £70 apparently, and a range of 3-15nm, versus 2-24 on the sealey, and a pretty limited range of bits.

    X-Tools-Pro-Torque-Wrench-and-Bit-Set-Workshop-Tools-2016-XTLSPROTRQWRNCHANDBITSET.jpg?w=430&h=430&a=7
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • bungle73
    bungle73 Posts: 758
    What number was it?
    One was a 3 mm that turned into a 4, and the other a 4 that turned into a 5.
  • bungle73
    bungle73 Posts: 758
    Buy cheap buy twice.

    Surely a size is a size?
  • lesfirth
    lesfirth Posts: 1,382
    Imperial versus metric?

    As Milemuncher says,The set you have had for ages is probably imperial sizes . Like 3/32 of an inch etc.
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Bungle73 wrote:
    What number was it?
    One was a 3 mm that turned into a 4, and the other a 4 that turned into a 5.

    Something wrong with your original set by the sound of it. I can't think of any bolt on a typical 'modern' bike that would need a 3mm hex.
  • bungle73
    bungle73 Posts: 758
    lesfirth wrote:
    Imperial versus metric?

    As Milemuncher says,The set you have had for ages is probably imperial sizes . Like 3/32 of an inch etc.

    But they're in millimetres. And I doubt any mainstream store would have been selling imperial sized allen keys for probably about 30 or 40 years.
  • bungle73
    bungle73 Posts: 758
    Imposter wrote:
    Bungle73 wrote:
    What number was it?
    One was a 3 mm that turned into a 4, and the other a 4 that turned into a 5.

    Something wrong with your original set by the sound of it. I can't think of any bolt on a typical 'modern' bike that would need a 3mm hex.

    Seems like it. It was from Halfords about 20 years ago.
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Clearly you've worn down the old set over the years....
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,538
    cougie wrote:
    Clearly you've worn down the old set over the years....

    lol, VERY evenly!
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Imposter wrote:
    Bungle73 wrote:
    What number was it?
    One was a 3 mm that turned into a 4, and the other a 4 that turned into a 5.

    Something wrong with your original set by the sound of it. I can't think of any bolt on a typical 'modern' bike that would need a 3mm hex.

    I had some bottle cage screws which required a 3mm allen key in an improbably shallow head. Madness. Or maybe they came with the frameset and were just to stop the rain getting in. Either way when I attached the cages I replaced them with some chunkier ones even I couldn't bugger up after 10 years of winter riding and gallons of spilled drink.
  • daniel_b
    daniel_b Posts: 11,538
    keef66 wrote:
    Imposter wrote:
    Bungle73 wrote:
    What number was it?
    One was a 3 mm that turned into a 4, and the other a 4 that turned into a 5.

    Something wrong with your original set by the sound of it. I can't think of any bolt on a typical 'modern' bike that would need a 3mm hex.

    I had some bottle cage screws which required a 3mm allen key in an improbably shallow head. Madness. Or maybe they came with the frameset and were just to stop the rain getting in. Either way when I attached the cages I replaced them with some chunkier ones even I couldn't bugger up after 10 years of winter riding and gallons of spilled drink.

    Good call same here, and also seen some on the brake pad ajustments - ie the springs that moves the pads away\closer to the rim, and also on Hayes MTB brake levers too, to secure them on the handlebars.
    Felt F70 05 (Turbo)
    Marin Palisades Trail 91 and 06
    Scott CR1 SL 12
    Cannondale Synapse Adventure 15 & 16 Di2
    Scott Foil 18
  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    Yeah, ancillary bolts could be 3mm, like bottle cage screws and/or brake pad retainers - maybe. But nothing like that needs a torque wrench on it anyway...
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    Bungle73 wrote:
    Buy cheap buy twice.

    Surely a size is a size?

    A size is a size, an Allen key is not always an Allen key.
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,551
    Imposter wrote:
    Yeah, ancillary bolts could be 3mm, like bottle cage screws and/or brake pad retainers - maybe. But nothing like that needs a torque wrench on it anyway...
    Thomson X2 stem faceplate bolts are 3 mm Hex, and I think I've had a Ritchey C260 stem that was the same. Stupidly small in that application I reckon.
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • bungle73
    bungle73 Posts: 758
    It was the bolts on my stem, and the bolts on some new cranks.