Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,786
Likes: 749
From: Winslow, AR
Bikes: '83 univega gran turismo x2, '85 schwinn super le tour,'89 miyata triple cross, '91 GT tequesta, '90 yokota grizzly peak, '94 GT backwoods, '95'ish scott tampico, '98 bonty privateer, '93 mongoose crossway 625, '98 parkpre ariel, 2k'ish giant fcr3
lots of great suggestions and support. i'd just add my 2 cents, if you want a torque wrench, go to or order one from harbor freight with a 1/4 inch drive that measures in inch pounds. they're not very expensive and easy enough to use with most any task on a bike requiring care on tightening. eventually you'll get the feel for how to tighten things, and the clicker wrench will help with that. bar types are probably better for getting the feel, but as someone pointed out if you're tightening something sometimes the wrench can be at an odd angle to read easily.
just remember a rule of thumb, the smaller the fastener/bolt/screw and finer the threads, the less torque it takes and the easier it is to stress the threads. things like crank bolts, pedals, seat post clamps, threaded headsets, brake calipers, etc all have bigger thread and fasteners because they need more torque to stay in place. oh, and while your getting a torque wrench, be sure to get a metric socket set ...hopefully one with some added allen head drivers