I need a torque wrench that is based on inch pounds to tighten my carbon seatpost to carbon frame. I found two at Performance, is one better, which one should I buy? Thank you. The first one is $3 more

They're both "Beam type" and should be roughly the same as far as accuracy. I don't know how that style gets calibrated. I use a Sears torque wrench, called a "Breakover type". Rather than reading off a scale, you set the desired torque on a scale on the shaft of the wrench. As you tighten the fastener, the wrench "Breaks over" at the head. It feels like you broke the wrench, but it's actually just telling you to let up, that the desired torque has been reached. Harder to describe than actually use. I've always felt the beam type would be less accurate.

if u dont mind me asking, how much do they cost?

Over here? I couldn't find one. I think mine was about US$50 or so, plus shipping. It's a bit bigger than a regular socket driver, so it wasn't cheap to ship. The one that the guy who built my fork suggested was about US$300. I looked on ebay for a while, but never found one affordable. They're not cheap, but our tandem's all titanium, with disc brakes, and I figure the abuse and speeds that it sees, with my wife on the back, I can't afford to take any chances. And it's nice to know everything is torqued properly.

Interestingly enough, you bend the pointer bar until it ends up at zero. Seems a bit crude given the device, but that is it.

I must say that I am very heartened at all the talk about torque wrenches. A couple of years ago, just mentioning one drew howls of dismay and poo-poos from the old school guys. I guess growing up working on sports and racing cars - 50s and 60s vintage - was an advantage after all.

Cheers...Gary

In that case, it's probably a good buy. I use the "Missus" rule whenever I work on my bikes, or make any changes. Would I let the missus ride it? So now disc brakes, bars, stems, etc, all get torqued to proper specs. For what it's worth, I have never broken a part on a mountain bike, but I've seen more than my share of stripped threads, pre-torque wrench days.

Price of the top one is $34 bottom is $31

If those are pics of the actual wrenches you're thinking of buying, the top one looks to be the higher range wrench(3/8" drive for cranks, mostly). For your seatpost the bottom one(TW-2, 1/4" drive) should be fine if that's all you want it for. I have the Park TW-1 and 2. I don't use them much, but it's nice to have them when I need 'em. Both prices are really good. I paid ~$10 more than that for mine.

Beam torque wrenches are very simple and reliable tools. As long as the pointer points to zero before you use it, you are good to go. Downside to them is that they require care when using since you must watch the pointer while tightening the bolt. So long as one can master this task, they are a good solution.

Click type torque wrenches generally cost more money and don't require as much skill to use. Downside to them, other than cost, is that they have more of a tendance to go out of calibration and no indication that they need to be calibrated.

I have a beam type torque wrench that's almost 20 years old that's still usable. I'm not sure I'd want to use a click torque wrench that old that hasn't been calibrated.

Thanks for the great advise, I think I will go with the top one.

The problem with the 600 pounder, is the resolution is very low, 50 and 100 foot pounds are millimeters apart on the scale. Say if you need something at 68, you can only try to get it somewhere between 50 and 100.

I can't read the scales, but the handles give me the impression that the top wrench is designed for larger torque values and is calibrated in ft-lbs. The lower wrench appears to be for smaller torque and calibrated in in-lbs.

If so, the lower wrench would be a better choice for most bicycle use. Most fasteners on a bike take small amounts of torque and the specifications are in in-lbs. A smaller torque wrench lets you use those specs without converting to ft-lbs by dividing the in-lb spec by 12 (VERY important!).

The upper wrench looks more like the type used for automotive work where fasteners are torqued to 35-50 ft-lbs (equivalent pulling with 50 lbs of force on a one foot long wrench). Although you can use this wrench for the smaller bicycle torque specs, it may be hard to read the pointer with any accuracy because it's not going to move very far for the required torque. However, if you are buying the wrench primarily for torquing bottom brackets, it may be the right one for you. There is a place for each.

I think I have the top wrench. The handle and gauge design are the same as mine. I purchased mine from Sears for $30. I understand the Park version is also very similar except that it has a smaller range (The Sears wrench was designed for automotive tolerances, but can be used of the bike also).

I have only had it for about a month. I purchased it to install my new carbon cranks. It reads in ft-lbs, but can be easily converted to inch-lbs by multiplying by 12. I put a piece of masking tape at the point on the scale I want to reach. That way I don't have to "read the gauge".

If it is the same as mine, the beam should remain fixed at zero unless abused. If abused, you can always reorient it to zero by hand according to the instructions.

Hope this helps.

General rules of thumb for torque wrenches:

The right sized torque wrench is the one where your torque value falls towards the middle of the scale, do not use the top or bottom 20% of the scale.

"snap action" or "break over" torque wrenches are mush more accurate than the beam or dial indicator type.

To maintain the accuracy of a snap action torque wrench always return to the lowest setting after use.

Support the head with your thumb or palm of your free hand as you pull, not push, the torque wrench. Do not wrap your free hand around the head as you will have a tendency to apply force.

Your pulling hand must be centered on the grip and pull perpendicular to the handle.

Force must be supplied slowly and steadily... There is a specification that calls out the number of inches/second of handle travel for handles of x lenght... Don't remember/don't care... Slow and steady works fine.

Nobody "needs" a torque wrench to work on a bicycle, but if you want one, here's the best:

Sheldon "Don't Need No Steenkin' Torque Wrench" Brown

Sheldon- dare I ask you how many fasteners you stripped before not needing a torque wrench anymore?

Don't you need a torque wrench when installing cranks...?

No.

All you need is a standard allen wrench and a nose. The short length of the allen wrench is what makes it work. You just grab the allen wrench and start torqueing down. When your nose starts to bleed, that's the perfect amount of torque.

PS. Get your nose calibrated every two years.

Who keeps score? Stripping/breaking a few fasteners is an essential part of the education of a good mechanic, how else can you learn?

I've been working on bikes since the late 1950s, very rarely strip anything now.

Sheldon "Don't Forget To Lube The Threads" Brown

Well in that case. I was worried after hearing all these stories about people overtorquing their cranks and damaging both the BB and the cranks.

That doesn't happen. If you're strong enough to over-tighten a crank bolt, the bolt will break. You've gotta be a real gorilla to succeed in doing this.

100 cranks are damaged by under-tightening for every one that's damaged by over-tightening.

This is much less of an issue than it used to be, since we no longer need to remove cranks for routine maintenance, thanks to cartridge bearing bottom brackets.

Back in the day, it could be an issue for a crank that had been removed/reinstalled a very large number of times.

Sheldon "That's A Non-Issue" Brown