Sy Reene

Looking for something that is fairly reasonably price, and covers a range typical on a bike. The 50nm max is about what I'd ever typically need I think.

While I have the sub 6nm area covered with mini torque wrenches, this is nice as it goes down to roughly 5nm.

https://www.amazon.com/ACDelco-ARM60...3796132&sr=8-2

dsbrantjr

I don't have any digital wrenches but that looks like a decent one, although 15% 1-star reviews is a little high. I like that the wrench measures in both directions, not all do, handy for bottom brackets and pedals. The accuracy is probably not great at 5 N-m (nm is nanometers, BTW), I try not to go below 20% of full scale, but as you said you have the low range covered. I'd suggest you take the battery out when not using regularly, as they can leak when discharged and can damage your instrument; some of the reviews mention its appetite for batteries..

Sy Reene

Thanks, appreciate your thoughts. Yeah, I'm a bit wary of the low end, so would likely try to compare how it is vs. my other 5 N-m tools to see how far off.

Am I correct in thinking 50 N-m high end covers most/all of the tighter stuff including bottom brackets/cranks, pedals, cassettes ?

WizardOfBoz

Most of my bike bits (4, 5, 6mm hex) have a 1/4" drive. The unit listed is a 3/8" drive. You can use an adapter, but it makes the setup a bit more difficult to use than a 1/4" drive. Too, the lowest torque specified for this unit is 3.7 ft-lbs, which is 5Nm. There are fasteners with lower torque specs that that on a bike. There is in fact, almost two different ranges. Small fasteners are about 2-13Nm. Larger bolts and thread (freehub lockrings, BBs, some chainring bolts) are in a higher range of maybe 30-60 Nm. The unit you've pointed out kind of falls in between those ranges.

For most torqueing on a bike I'd recommend a unit with a lower range and a 1/4" drive. For the higher range, a 3/8 inch drive with appropriate range. For the range of torques you can expect, check out this: https://www.bikeride.com/torque-specifications/

This unit seems to be pretty well rated: https://www.amazon.com/Summit-Tools-...ef_=ast_sto_dp

Sy Reene

Yeah, but most of the 4-6mm hex bolts I have covered with smaller torque wrenches which typically don't need more than 5-6 N-m. I was looking for something that will primarily be used for the bigger bolts (eg. 8mm pedal/10mm crank, and can drive my campy cassette lockring bit).

WizardOfBoz

Yeah, then the 3/8 is correct. So for that my take is that I can buy a VERY good (e.g. Richmont-Sturtevant or Proto) click type for much less than a new OK electronic one.

For 5 Nm, I have a dedicated Bontrager t handle. Because you loosen and tighten the small bolts a lot more than the big ones. Given today's materials, the torque is more important than when I worked in the bike shop (albeit then, the bike blacksmith was hand forging tubes out of wrought iron...). So I have both ranges (both in mechanical click type or beam type).

August West

I'm with the Wiz on this. Although ⅜" is probably workable it wouldn't be my first choice for working on my bike. I use my 1-20 N•m wrench about 5x more than I use my ⅜" wrench which I only use on cassettes and crank bolts really. Fitting a larger wrench into tighter spaces on a bike can be a challenge as well as the mentioned inaccuracies near the lowest values. If it were me I would try to find a good ¼" with lower torque values and get something like a Harbor Freight type ⅜" for the bigger stuff since I'm less concerned with being a few % off on something that gets tightened to 40 N•m.

HillRider

That seems to be an OK wrench and does cover the range needed for bottom bracket cups, crank bolts and lock rings. However, for bike use I'm partial to beam-type torque wrenches. They are less expensive for the same quality level, more rugged, pretty much can't go out of adjustment and never need batteries. They aren't as useful if you are working in hidden places where you can't see the scale but there are no hidden places on a bike.

bargainguy

I have a Topeak d-torq electronic transducer-type torque wrench. The one shown looks like a transducer as well.

Really like mine, especially for use on carbon bits. Beeps when you reach set torque, then beeps again if you exceed set torque. Pretty much foolproof in operation. Don't have to zero out between uses, which is nice.

I've used the beam type and the click type. Reading the beam type can be difficult in certain situations. The click types are better if you're a tactile person and like to have a click instead of a beep. The click types need to be zeroed out between uses, however.

Keep in mind that any torque wrench is most accurate in the middle of its range and less so at the extremes. When I was buying my d-torq, there were two models available. I chose the lesser torque model because I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in the middle of the lesser torque model's range as opposed to the greater torque model.