Originally Posted by
jimmuller
Back in the old days there were no torque specs for crank arms, or if there were they never filtered down to us proles. Whether the taper should be greased or not was never discussed either. You torqued it until reasonably snug to a calibrated hand, rode some then remembered to tighten it again, always being careful not to over-tighten though that was never discussed either. I never had a crank come loose back then.
Originally Posted by
jimmuller
I dunno about that. Circa 1980 at my LBS we had a torque wrench and greased or not was discussed also. Can't speak to before that...
When I started working on bicycles in the late 1960s none of the bicycle repair books or magazine articles mentioned torque values or lubricating the spindle taper. The reference material used subjective phrases, such as, "tighten firmly" and most recommended to re-tighten after a period varying from 25-100 miles.This still held true when I started working at the LBS in the early 1970s. The shop talk of the era was that Campagnolo's rather short "peanut butter" wrench was designed to provide the proper torque,without being over tightened (unless the mechanic was a "gorilla"). I don't recall recommended torque values appearing until circa 1980. I remember some references, such as Sutherland's, specifically mentioning that the spindle taper must be free of oil and grease.