Torque wrench recommendation

[ultraman6970]

"WHen a peanut butter wrench puts an imprint in my hand" type of stuff???

Sure somebody does... I did that with squared tapper and track wheels when racing tho... hmm... lost my peanut butter campy wrench like 30 years ago anyways

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Ya had to ask...’when the peanut butter wrench puts an imprint in my hand’, ‘torque wrench. Poor idea, imho, when cranking on that $lot$ bike part.

[93KgBike]

Originally Posted by benb

The Effetto Mariposa one seems overpriced to me... crazy it has finish problems.

I agree it seems overpriced.

But I bought one anyway, a red one. The company has a pretty consistent reputation, as does the wrench.

While it is true that the bits don't look great (for me, 3 well-used years later), the wrench itself remains as beautiful as the day I got it.

The build on the Effetto Mariposa is top notch. The form factor and hand-feel are perfect (for my xl big hands), and it is small enough and light enough for my tool bag on trips.

But the roll it comes in is cheap, when for the price it should be NICE cordura, and the bits are cheaply anodized (lots of pitting on mine), but hard enough to remain straight.

Effetto is vulnerable on price point, for certain. Silca and Ritchey. both make a pocket version.

But It's confidence inspiring to use a bench-quality torque wrench every time. Overall I am glad to have bought it.

[jemoryl]

While we are discussing torque wrenches, has anyone used one of these?

http://www.birzman.com/products_2.ph...&cID=29&Key=42

Won't replace a proper torque wrench, but a nice idea.

I have a couple beam style wrenches, one older Craftsman I bought to work on cars and the other a made in USA low range one that I picked up off eBay for $25. Less convenient than the click style, but still OK.

[El Chaba]

Another vote for the Effetto Mariposa. Mine has been great for more than 5 years now...It's a quality tool. Good bike parts are far too valuable-and their failure far too dangerous- to entrust to ANYTHING from Harbor Freight. To quote the President of Var, "You have to be rich to afford cheap tools"....

[benb]

Mostly my problem with the EM $289 wrench is it tops out at 16Nm.

So if you really want to be covered to they sell you a second, bigger on for an additional $289?

Some of the bigger items are nice to have properly torqued to prevent odd creaking and groans and noises or stuff coming loose. There are a bunch of cassette, crank, headset, BB, etc.. parts that have specified torque values greater than 16Nm. For $289 you should have those covered. There’s plenty of good tools that cover the whole range that don’t cost $289.

I’ve actually had more trouble with those large parts from them not being torqued correctly than small parts, mostly in the time period when I was letting shops do most of the work. Creaking BBs, creaking cassettes, and a crank coming loose in a race! I’ve broken 3 small bolts not using a torque wrench, none of those had serious consequences. (2 seat binders and a cleat bolt)

[lhuerta]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Ya had to ask...’when the peanut butter wrench puts an imprint in my hand’, ‘torque wrench. Poor idea, imho, when cranking on that $lot$ bike part.

Yeah....I use that method to check how well my hamburger patties are cooked, but never for the bits on my carbon parts.

[joosttx]

Effetto Mariposa. I have the second tiered one for many years (5-7 year). It has worked very well. The bits are not of the same quality as the tool itself so I use PB Swiss bits. I have not noticed any of the finish issues mentioned above nor had the desire to buy another torque wrench after all these years.

[m_sasso]

BTD has these on a "Daily Special" almost every week, not today, but look for it next week, get on the mailing list or web site, plenty usable.

[foo_fighter]

anyone use a digital adapter?

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Ya had to ask...’when the peanut butter wrench puts an imprint in my hand’, ‘torque wrench. Poor idea, imho, when cranking on that $lot$ bike part.

Have to agree with you here. Have a friend that worked in a bike shop and broke a carbon steerer. Absolutely refused to believe he did anything wrong since he used a torque wrench. I told him to never use it on carbon and the night went downhill from there. We both have engineering degrees too

[benb]

I'm really curious how much torque it takes to break a carbon steer tube.

I destroyed a CF frame 5 years ago hitting it into a low hanging garage.

Steer Tube was probably close to 100x the thickness/strength of some parts of the frame. It was completely unscathed from the impact.

Meanwhile AFAICT there is nothing you ever torque more than 5Nm on a carbon steer tube.

So what's the spread between 5Nm and cracking 3-4mm thick solid carbon?

I don't think the torque wrench could possibly be responsible for that breakage. Even if the wrench was broken the effort should have been off the scale compared to what is reasonable for torquing a stem since the normal effort would be something you would do with a teeny little Allen wrench that would bend in your hand and you'd probably be torquing away with a big torque wrench as if you were tightening a lug nut on a car.

[glepore]

You can leave an impression. Breaking usually requires a combination of a too short steerer and a poor compression plug and too much torque. Stem designers have become a little more aware as well.

[benb]

Yah seems like a lot of factors involved.

[SuperColnago]

Originally Posted by mt2u77

Do NOT, repeat, do not use a cheap "click-style" torque wrench (a.k.a. Harbor Freight) if you're wrenching on valuable, sensitive stuff. I wouldn't even use a nice click type like the Park. The problem is they rely on the engagement of a spring mechanism to work. If the spring gets jammed, it will work just like a regular wrench-- only you won't know it until you've over-torqued your part. Even if it's working properly, it doesn't give you any feedback until the click. I cracked a poorly designed Cervelo seat tube because of this and learned my lesson.

The best designs are the dial type such as this one from CDI: https://www.protorquetools.com/cdi-1...torque-wrench/
The reason they're best is that you can see the torque curve building up, so if you're wrenching on an unknown part and you notice the torque curve starting to flatten, you can stop before damaging the part.

If that's out of budget I'd recommend the simple, cheap deflection beam style for home use. There is very little that can go wrong with a beam as long as you don't take a torch to it, and it does give you the ability to sense the torque curve. That's worth a lot if you're not calibrating your tools on the regular.

Good point re click style without release clutch thanks.

[SuperColnago]

Originally Posted by m_sasso

BTD has these on a "Daily Special" almost every week, not today, but look for it next week, get on the mailing list or web site, plenty usable.

Nice. It’s made by the same wrench OEM as the Park OP recommended...
https://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/...ouptest-46517/