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Old 05-23-13 | 02:12 AM
  #8  
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DannoXYZ
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Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Mesa, AZ

Bikes: Moots RCS, tandem, beach-cruiser, MTB, Specialized-Allez road-bike, custom track-bike

After you zero the indicator needle, it's usually a good idea to check the calibration.


  1. Clamp square-drive in vise with wrench-arm perfectly horizontal, might need to use some V-blocks if your wrench's square-drive is 45-degrees off
  2. using a strong rope/cable, hang a weight of around 25% of wrench's max capacity from handle (use precision scale to measure this weight, such as calibrated scale at the Post Office or UPS office. Bathroom scale isn't accurate enough).
  3. length = measure distance from centre of square-drive to hanging-cable in inches
  4. calculated torque = weight * (length /12)
  5. read off torque indicated by wrench, how closely does it match calculated torque value in previous step?

Check this Park Tool - Torque specifications page for a list of common torque-settings on bikes. The highest torque you'll typically use is around 30 lb*ft for the crankarm-bolts and cassette-lockring.

Your wrench is way too big and inaccurate for the ranges used on bikes. Heck, it's a bit much for cars unless you regularly install cylinder-heads. You may want to get something in the 0-400 in*lb range (0-33 lb*ft) to work on bikes with higher resolution and accuracy.
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