Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi there,
There is an issue with role permissions that is being worked on at the moment.
If you are having trouble with access or permissions on regional forums please post here to get access: https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058365403/you-do-not-have-permission-for-that#latest

Torque wrench or not

  • 13-07-2012 9:56pm
    #1
    Muckers
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 504 ✭✭✭


    Do you use a torque wrench to tighten cranks, pedals etc or do you just tighten them by hand like me? Do they really make a difference? I haven't snapped a bolt yet due to over tightening and likewise my pedals etc haven't fallen off either. Any comments.


Comments

  • #2
    el Bastardo
    Closed Accounts Posts: 573 ✭✭✭el Bastardo


    Muckers wrote: »
    Do you use a torque wrench to tighten cranks, pedals etc or do you just tighten them by hand like me? Do they really make a difference? I haven't snapped a bolt yet due to over tightening and likewise my pedals etc haven't fallen off either. Any comments.

    I bent a frame when I overtightened a FD, so yeah they can be useful (but not strictly necessary once you know the 'feel' of the correct NM for a particular component). I own two and sometimes use them, sometimes not. IMO, shearing a bolt isn't the problem so much as something snapping or falling off after a few weeks or so due to being too tight/loose.

    Not needed for pedals - they're more or less self-tightening.


  • #3
    Zen0
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 471 ✭✭Zen0


    I stripped the threads off light bar ends years ago by over tightening. I tend to use a torque wrench for anything expensive which has low torque settings, stem, bars, brakes, derailleurs, bottle fittings in frames etc. I'd be less inclined to use one on pedals. It's a bit of a pain, but compare that to how you would feel if you stripped the threads off the bottle cage mount in your expensive frame.


  • #4
    Mycroft H
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 9,313 ✭✭✭Mycroft H


    Yes on anything carbon or alu.

    I've a Snap-On 1/4" (its calibrated in in/lbs though :( ) and its the business. It can go from 4nm to 22nm, which is right in the range for bike jobs. Very handy for little jobs such as stems, seat posts or anything carbon. Only problem with the Snap On ones is that they are super pricey. (freebie for mise :D)


  • #5
    route66
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,012 ✭✭✭route66


    Muckers wrote: »
    Do you use a torque wrench to tighten cranks, pedals etc or do you just tighten them by hand like me? Do they really make a difference? I haven't snapped a bolt yet due to over tightening and likewise my pedals etc haven't fallen off either. Any comments.

    I normally don't. Except for once when I replaced the casette on my Focus. All went well and I got the new casette properly installed. I was very happy and felt quite chuffed. Until I remembered my unused Lidl torque wrench. Off the lockring came and I re-torqued it with said Lidl device. Despite having the torque setting correct (really), I snapped a piece of the rim off the freehub after tightning to what Mr Lidl felt was the correct torque. Of course, I didn't discover this until I later went for a cycle when I noticed the gear indexing was funny because the casette was moving on the freehub - unemcumbered by the full circumfererce of the lockring pressing against the freehub rim...

    I thought long and hard about my next step. I needed some professionals to sort it out - but how could I tell the lads in my LBS what happened. Maybe a "friend" did it? In the end I sang like a canary and asked them to repair my mistakes. Which they did for a modest fee.

    Moral of the story. Don't use a torque wrench. Don't fix it if its not broken. Don't buy rubbish tools. If your casette doesn't offer low enough gearing, just grow a pair and live with it; do not replace it under any circumstances. Trust your instincts...

    Anyone want to buy a - nearly unused - torque wrench ;-)


  • #6
    langdang
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,857 ✭✭✭langdang


    I didnt think there was much on abike that would take the minimum torque of a lidl wrench. Hope they're not all that bad or my car's rear diff is in trouble! The diff moved slightly just before the click and that was nearly at the min torque. The ratchet in them is poor for confined spaces, but they do the job.

    I don't own anything carbon, but would use a wrench with a proper range for carbon. The only time I used one otherwise it was because a crankset was giving trouble - turns out lbs made a hames of it and no torque was gonna fix it. I do everything except wheel truing and headset pressing myself since.


  • Advertisement
  • #7
    Donelson
    Closed Accounts Posts: 456 ✭✭Donelson


    I have never used a torque wrench on my bike, but after spending the last two months looking at fastener design in work I'm definitely going to start! Just for the record (boring) you require 70% of the bolt's proof stress in pretension to insure an effective fastening of a bolt, and tightening a nut onto a bolt is different from tighten a bolt onto a nut!


Advertisement