Originally Posted by
77Eric
You might want to consider a single value wrench. I have one, I think it is made by Ritchey. 4 N-m which seems to be the only value I really need. Small enough that I don’t mind bringing it along on some rides. Forget what it cost but I think around $15? Of course I have a regular torque wrench as well but I only need it if I need to do a torx (?) bolt but I replaced those with hex bolts.
That 4 N-m (35 in-pounds) single value wrench is fine for handle bar and stem bolts and similar use but inadequate for a lot of other components like HTII crank arm clamp bolts (100 in-pounds/111.5 N-m) or square taper crank arms or cassette lock rings (350 in-pounds/40 N-m). A pair of decent make beam wrenches in 1/4"-square drive and 1/2"-square drive will cover all bike needs at reasonable cost and with good accuracy.
Beam wrenches are fine for bike use since you can always see the torque scale. "Clickers" and "Buzzers" are very useful for automobile and similar work where the wrench may be out of sight but bikes never hide them.