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#1
03-23-2018, 06:58 AM
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Torque wrench recommendation
After years of bike shop servicing I’m going back to wrenching most things myself. Part of the reason is lack of Campagnolo presence at most LBS (not all of them), but Campy is rare here...... as well as fancy braided carbon seat rails, etc....
Paranoid on proper torques for a Moots, Spectrum, C50, and steel Merckx/Colnago. Haven’t checked other threads yet, what is a quality torque wrench you wrenches can recommend? May be willing to invest up to $175. What torque range do I need? Thanks! 
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#2
03-23-2018, 07:18 AM
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For the amount of coin the Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza costs, I'm surprised by the amount of surface rust on my bits. Meanwhile, my Ritchey Torquekey which I actually *do* carry around in my pocket occasionally is completely rust free and still snapping away. Go figure.
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#3
03-23-2018, 07:22 AM
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Quote:
https://www.parktool.com/product/rat...Torque%20Tools For lower torque. This http://www.sears.com/craftsman-3-8-i...FUeOaQodGKsFfQ For the crank bolt...
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo
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#4
03-23-2018, 07:43 AM
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I use both of these from Harbor Freight. 1/2 for Campy crank bolt. Some serious torque on that bad boy.
https://www.harborfreight.com/1-2-ha...rench-239.html Smaller one for stem bolts, seat binder etc. https://www.harborfreight.com/38-in-...nch-61276.html
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#5
03-23-2018, 08:25 AM
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Thank you all.
Thanks forumites.
Confirmed I need 2 ranges, already have the large sears wrench, need the lower range, between Park and Effeto Mariposa... Cheers!
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#6
03-23-2018, 08:33 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo
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#7
03-23-2018, 09:01 AM
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Quote:
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#9
03-23-2018, 10:28 AM
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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.
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#10
03-23-2018, 10:32 AM
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Ultra uses the thumb-index technique for small bolts... between you and me if you have carbon bikes and you are using carbon paste in almost everything, the need of a torque wrench is minimal to null if you use the "thumb-index" technique.
The other detail is that almost everything in cycling uses 5 to 8 whatever the unit is torque, which in my opinion and shared for other forumites is way too much torque for parts specially if you use carbon paste. For large stuff like for example UT cups, just put teflon tape, a lot of grease and tight the heck out of them, done. The issue is that many home mechanics tend to tight the stuff using they whole hand and the wrist, you can't do that with carbon parts and small stuff like stem bolts for example. Hope this helps.
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#12
03-23-2018, 10:49 AM
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Clickers (good ones, and not astronomically expensive) are good enough for automotive assembly in factories... used thousands and thousands of time.
For shade tree mechanic stuff most of it is going to be good enough. You have way way way more of a chance of damaging an expensive carbon part because you are a noob at torque wrenches and misuse the wrench. E.x. even if you buy the most expensive snap-on wrench if you don't know how to "feel" the click and you're wrenching with loud music on it will easily allow you to keep retorquing or keep torquing after it has "clicked" and you'll then over torque the bolt and hurt something. Most of this bike stuff is designed so you break the bolt before the parts though. You don't need to overthink which one you buy you just need to actually learn how to use the thing. Given cyclist budgets probably no need to scrimp and get a harbor freight one but you don't need to go crazy either. The Effetto Mariposa one seems overpriced to me... crazy it has finish problems. I have 2 Craftsman ones that together cost about 1/2 of the price of the Effeto Mariposa one.. my Craftsman ones are ~15 years old and have zero noticeable wear or corrosion on any of the parts and I've got enough range with them to go from the smallest bike parts up to just about everything on a car. The $289 Effetto Mariposa Giustaforza is going to let you do your small parts but it won't let your torque a cassette lock ring or something. You'd have to buy a 2nd larger wrench for that. A lot of shops are using and/or giving out small pre-set wrenches. E.x. I got a free Bontrager one that is fixed at 5N*m. Lots of high end Treks are designed so that pre-set wrench is enough to be used to torque all of the small parts on the bike that are critical. E.x. the stem bolts and the seat mast binders. So there you go and you have something potentially totally free which will get the job done. I know the other high end shop near me doesn't use adjustable wrenches, they've got an array of fixed value clicker style wrenches and the mechanic grabs the wrench for the desired torque value from the rack.
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#13
03-23-2018, 10:50 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Chisholm's Custom Wheels Qui Si Parla Campagnolo
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#14
03-23-2018, 11:14 AM
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I have one of the Bontrager 5nm ones, tossed in my go bag. Its nice.
For bigger stuff, I have an older Craftsman 3/8 clicker that been fine for 15 years, never calibrated but its never been a problem. Purists would scoff. For mid/light stuff I use the Harbor freight 1/4 clicker and keep a 3/8 adaptor in the box. 20 bucks, accurate enough.
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#15
03-23-2018, 11:29 AM
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Quote:
Forgot this, obviously you tight the thing just enough 1st... and you use the two fingers to give the thing the last touches... till it stop turning or you feel is good enough, with two fingers you can't overtorque, worse case scenario it will be tad lose, but you have more of a feeling sense using two fingers, you get used to it. Last bolt I busted up was when i was 14 y/o... shimano caliper cable thingy, learn my lesson right there 
Last edited by ultraman6970; 03-23-2018 at 11:36 AM.
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