I just got a Ritchey torque driver. Its set at 5nm. Works for all the small stuff. Try out homedepot.com they have lots of torque wrenchs online that are way cheaper then the park tool stuff.

Yeah, I read, that my uncle's neighbor saw it happen....... A lot of fear-mongering without real proof.

I have read exactly the opposite. That HF torque wrenches perform as well as any other.

And, I'll bet you never saw or heard of a S-K, Snap On, or Craftsman tool failing, either.

With proper maintenance and storage, the HF torque wrench performs as well as any..... and accurately, too!

Wow! You are so cool! Can I hang with you IRL? :love:

That test was the result of improper storage............ and they knew it! The original proper test showed "the original test that shows the wrench varied between 69 and 70.3 lb-ft," at 70# indicated ... i would classify that as acceptable.

Read more: http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/additio...#ixzz3lYfYSFdf

There's an adage for buying tools: Buy a good tool and cry only once when you buy it, buy a cheap tool and cry every time you use it.

That said, matching the quality and cost of a tool to the required precision and intensity of use makes sense to me. No doubt that torque wrenches by Snap-On and other high quality brands are far better and far more consistent than what you can get from HF. Of course, they cost 10x as much, so they should be better!

And the risk of getting a HF wrench that is >10% out of spec also has to be much higher. But if you have a way to calibrate it every now and again, then I suspect the HF will serve you fine -- the tolerances on most bike fittings are probably really wide relative to other applications that spec a torque.

Any reason to believe the torque specs on a bike require more than +/-10% accuracy?

Steel or alloy... maybe not. Carbon, maybe yes.

a good 1/4" torque wrench will not sit on the shelf with me, so i don't mind buying a quality tool. If you're gonna use it only a few times a year, then maybe $100 is too much to sit on a shelf.

I'm fairly certain we don't need NIST traceable torque wrenches with 1% accuracy to put together a bike. Any decent manufacturer would design in plenty of safety margin. I very much doubt that tightening a bolt spec'ed to 5nm to 5.5 or 6nm is going to cause a problem. If it did you should look for a better bike.

A CDI 5nm key and a set of hex bits will perform most all of the common tasks.

Don't use it to loosen anything. That may effect the calibration.

Get a Harbor freight 1/4" and 3/8" for everything else and get religion about only storing them with the setting at minimum.

It's a bicycle, not a rocket ship. the tolerances aren't that tight.

The bike is a Trek Emonda SLR, so getting a "better" bike is not really an option.

1%, no... 10% no also.

You/I really have no idea. +50% may be perfectly acceptable. Your bike is not as delicate as you might think. Pretty sure the average bike mechanic or owner is not sending their torque wrenches in for annual calibration.

Had one of the bottle cage bolts snap. it took some time to remove the remaining piece in the down tube bung. It was torqued to spec, but the bolt was alloy and the spec was for a steel bolt. I remove the other bolt and could see that it was stretched. After contacting the manufacturer I found they recommend a much lower torque spec, unfortunately they didn't specify it anywhere on the packaging of the cage. The cage was Bontrager... aka Trek.

Just glad the bung was not damaged. I've seen a seatpost bung that was cracked from over torque. Not a cheap fix.

Agree that bolts shouldn't be overtightened but the actual force that's applied to stretching a bolt is highly variable even if you are applying torque within 1%. How much lubrication is on the bolt threads and any mating surfaces of the bolt affect how much of the torque you apply is translated to stretching the bolt vs overcoming friction.

I guess my long winded point is that the Harbour freight torque wrenches are fine and won't wreck your bike.

Dude... you torqued your water bottle cages to spec? Your. Water. Bottle. Cages.

And you expect to people to take you seriously?

The spec is way less than you'd do by hand.

They list a spec for a reason. If I did it without a torque wrench I would of snapped them immediately.

Dude.

Then you are 100% ham-fisted.

And you expect people to take you seriously?

Sorry but my hands are calibrated for 14ft-lbs and not 4.5nm.

My two fingers and thumb are calibrated to 4.5 N-m, not my hand.

I bought one of these for the more frequent little stuff, seat post, handle bars, cages, etc. Anything bigger, I'll borrow one from work.

http://g01.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1i2vuI...e-Wrench-4.jpg

Really convenient too. No need to search for the right size. Just grab and use.

Aren't listed torque spec's for carbon fiber composite frames and components maximums?

Not always, but typically, which is why you torque 'til the fastener does its job, not 'til you hit the max spec like a ham-fist.

That's ridiculous. What accuracy and precision are required? What accuracy and precision do the pricier wrenches provide? As most mechanics and many folks here will agree like Whyfi above, in bicycle work you don't tighten up to the max. spec. You tighten to the required level for the application while staying below the max. spec. Often the actual required level is only about 1/3 of the max. spec. or less. Perhaps that is different than nuclear reactors. I don't know, but it doesn't matter, does it? And then you aren't considering that the max. spec. must have a safety factor built in as well. Inexpensive torque wrenches are plenty good enough for bike work.

So for bikes, sort of or close or in the general area is good enough?

I'm used to aircooled VW engines where, the engine heats up it expands and that's when it reaches the true torque. So too tight and you snap a head stud. Too loose and you have compression loss since there's no head gasket. On intake manifolds, too loose and they tend to rattle loose and you have a vacuum leak. Too loose for a flywheel can really ruin your day.

I'd sure hate for the stem to come loose from the steerer when i'm riding.

Rightly or wrongly, I consider torque values on carbon parts to be maximums: beyond that you're likely to break it. For drive-train parts (e.g., BB and cranks) I see them as target, operational specs, much like engine parts.

The VW info really has nothing to do with what we are discussing.

I wouldn't like it either if my stem came loose. But before carbon fiber was in vogue, torque wrenches were hardly ever used on bicycles. And that didn't mean folks just cranked down on all the bolts to just short of them popping. Tight for stems, tight for bars, is all pretty easy to gauge without a torque wrench. The torque wrench really just protects carbon fiber these days. There is no reason to get anywhere near the max for stems, bars, seat posts, and saddle clamps. Now threaded BB cups and crank fixing bolts are a different story. There is a functional reason for them to be at torque spec. But even cassette lock rings don't need to be at max torque. That just strips aluminum off the threads in my experience. A good impression on the hand holding the wrench indicates it is tight enough.

Agreed.

Damaging a bung on a steel or alloy bike is much easier to fix than on a carbon bike.

[QUOTE=oldnslow2;18158080]One word:

Exactly. I have used and bought a few torque wrenches over the years and you get what you pay for. Who wants to fly on an airplane built with harbor freight torque wrenches. I have a newly opened Harbor Freight next to me and never been in there.

While I love my S/K tools and completely agree about tools being a lifetime investment (at 42 I already have some I've been using over 20 years) those are still spring-loaded micrometer wrenches you don't want to use over the whole scale or store without the tension released.

If you're going to spend that sort of money buy Stahlwille split-beam torque wrenches direct from Germany. With the strong dollar TBS-Aachen sells 730 series starting at $162 (143 Euros) and 730N for $182 (163 Euros). I paid $48 (42 Euros) for my 725B hex bit ratchet which doesn't buy a lot of quality bit sockets.

Or wait for a good used deal - on ebay I acquired my 730/2 4-20Nm wrench for $45. You can also look for VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) and Mercedes torque wrenches which are Stahlwille plus the car company's part number.

After years of lust I acquired a 730/2 4-20 Nm, 730/5 6-50 Nm / 5-36 ft-lb, and 730/10 20-100 Nm / 15-72.5 ft-lbs which all take the same 9x12mm inserts. For inserts I have a hex bit ratchet which fits where square drives and bit sockets do not, a 3/8" 6 degree ratchet, 1/2" 6 degree ratchet, and 1/4" box wrench.

Some day I'll pickup the fixed 1/4" bit holder.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=476886http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=476887

1. They're accurate over the entire scale (+/- 4% for 730 and +/- 3% for 730N on the factory calibration, but wrenches made after 2007 can be calibrated to +/- 1%).

2. Unlike other split-beam wrenches you can flip the head 180 degrees for counter-clockwise use (but must depress the insert release plunger with a small hex key or something to go back to clockwise operation)

3. On the 730 series you set torque almost instantly by holding down the lock and sliding the scale with opposite thumbs instead of cranking on the end as with a micrometer wrench. The 730N has a micrometer adjustment, except it's easy to turn since the insides aren't spring-loaded.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=476884http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=476885

4. The heads interchange. 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, hex bit, open-ended wrench, box-wrench, weld a lockring tool to a blank insert, whatever. Most are setup so torque is direct-reading.

5. There's no load on the internals except when you're torquing a bolt until it clicks so you can leave them set or loosen bolts without ill effects.

You get at most what you pay for.

Airbus and Boeing planes are assembled with Stahlwille torque wrenches.