Torque wrenches

Ken Writes:

Beam torque wrenches are $20 at Sears. They are perhaps not as accurate as
the clicker type, but they are fine for bikes.

The "clicker type" torque wrenches go out of calibration easily. They are
seldom accurate unless recently calibrated because of spring pressure changes.
They operate by overcoming spring pressure in their mechanism. You should
always store your clicker type wrench set at the lowest torque setting. I
prefer either the beam type torque wrench which are simple to calibrate (just
center the needle) or the dial type torque wrenches (which have an internal
beam).

Hi,

I'm not certain why beam wrenches were frowned upon, they just were. I was
particularly asking about the Park beam wrenches.

As I've said, this is all new to me and I lack confidence so feel the need
to be sure I'm starting off on the right foot; I feel that a torque wrench
would help with this. I don't have a problem using a beam wrench but have
always tended to take the LBS's advice, I'd be more than happy to hear
other's views.

Thanks,
Paul

Paul:

I'll add my 2cents. The beam wrench is better than the clicker in 99%
of circumstances - 100% of circumstances when working on a bike. Why?
As mentioned before, calibration is easy. You bend the beam until it
reads 0 with no torque applied. It works on both left & right threads
also, which certainly helps. I would highly recommend you start with a
3/8" beam torque wrench. Craftsman is good, but I think you could do
just as well with a wrench from Parts Plus, Auto Zone, whatever. Also
get a 1/2" torque wrench if you have spare money. It'll come in handy
every once in awhile, especially if you work on your own bikes.

Here are the only advantages I see for clickers:

1) They work in places where you can't necessary see the display. For
example, working underneath your car inside the engine compartment.
Here you just set it and go until it clicks.
2) If you do a LOT of torque wrench work, it gets old looking at the
display. It's the same advantage for a different reason. You set the
torque and go. Example: changing tires at the end of winter.

I purchased a couple clickers at a "Cheap Tool Sale". I didn't know if
I could trust them so I've compared them a few times against my beams.
So far so good, and they cost me a grand total of $22 for both a 1/2"
and a 3/8" torque wrench. I still don't trust them as much (and I'm
sure their lifetime will be limited) but they make my life easier so I
just periodically do a comparison against the beam.

BTW, I use only the beam wrenches on my bikes.

MOO,
Matt


Paul Davis wrote:
Hi,

I'm not certain why beam wrenches were frowned upon, they just were. I was
particularly asking about the Park beam wrenches.

As I've said, this is all new to me and I lack confidence so feel the need
to be sure I'm starting off on the right foot; I feel that a torque wrench
would help with this. I don't have a problem using a beam wrench but have
always tended to take the LBS's advice, I'd be more than happy to hear
other's views.

Thanks,
Paul

In article ,
"Paul Davis" wrote:

I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of maintainence. I'm
keen to start learning though and am beginning to collect together various
tools. I already have a fairly cheap Draper torque wrench with a range of
20-80Nm which should make it usable for crank arms (40-50Nm) although
apparently cheap torque wrenches go out of calibration quickly and are
inaccurate towards the ends of their range. Another problem with it is that
it will only measure torque on right hand threads which isn't very helpful
for bottom brackets.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence and what sort of
damage can one do without one? I understand that having the correct torque
for crank arms is pretty important.

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner (the local bike
shop has warned me off of beam type torque wrenches)?

I apologise if this is a basic question but as I say, I'm new the the
mechanics side of cycling and therefore lacking somewhat in the confidence
department.

Thanks for any thoughts,
With Kind Regards,
Paul.



Go to Sheldon Brown¹s site:

http:/www.sheldonbrown.com/html

He used to have a great universal torque wrench scaled from

loosey goosey to stripped!...

HAND

--
³Freedom Is a Light for Which Many Have Died in Darkness³

- Tomb of the unknown - American Revolution

Paul- Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner (the local
bike
shop has warned me off of beam type torque wrenches)? BRBR

Think they have it backwards. The beam type is very reliable and easy to use.
Go to Sears...

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Bruce- The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque wrench because they

have calibrated hands. They know what torque to apply to each size and
type of fastener from years of experience. BRBR

What absolute crappola...Is it in the morning or the afternoon after their
hands get tired? Is it before or after they eat.. Calibrated hands-geeez

Any decent wrench that doesn't use this easy to find and use $20 tool needs to
put his ego away and do it right.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

"Paul Davis" wrote in message
...
I'm a keen cyclist but very much the beginner in terms of maintainence.

How essential are torque wrenches for home maintainence and what sort of
damage can one do without one?

They're not essential at all. I can't think of a really torque-sensitive
fitting on a bike.

I understand that having the correct torque
for crank arms is pretty important.

It's not, within reason.

Putting a bike together is easy, taking one apart can be a challenge,
especially if it's more than a few years old.

So (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) says:

Bruce- The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque wrench because they

have calibrated hands. They know what torque to apply to each size and
type of fastener from years of experience. BRBR

What absolute crappola...Is it in the morning or the afternoon after their
hands get tired? Is it before or after they eat.. Calibrated hands-geeez

Any decent wrench that doesn't use this easy to find and use $20 tool needs to
put his ego away and do it right.


You're full of ****.

"Bruce Graham" wrote in message .
.. . . .
The experts at the LBS rarely if ever use a torque wrench because they
have calibrated hands. They know what torque to apply to each size and
type of fastener from years of experience. Myself, I don't have that
experience so I use a torque wrench on any critical fastener (especially
aluminium threads).

Bruce Graham

Yup. The experts at my LBS managed to tighten the cassette lockring on
my bike such that the little cogs were slipping around about 15 miles
into a 40-mile ride.


--Jens

On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 19:05:27 +0000 (UTC), "Paul Davis"
wrote:

Could anyone recommend a good torque wrench for a beginner (the local bike
shop has warned me off of beam type torque wrenches)?

I just found the following, which I posted in 2002, via google groups:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember reading an article in "Machine Design" many, many years ago
about P.A. Sturtevant, who developed his brand of beam type torque
wrenches in the '30s. There was a government spec for torque wrenches
for the military that included the requirement that the wrench be
capable of being dropped from work-bench height and still retain its
calibration. Sturtevant took fifty of his beam type wrenches up in a
Cessna and dropped them onto a runway. All remained in calibration. I
don't recall if he won the contract or not.

BTW, these are still being manufactured by S/R (Sturtevant Richmont).

Also, there's an interesting article on torque wrenches at:

http://www.geocities.com/motorcity/d.../torqwren.html


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