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Right, already being pestered for ideas for Christmas presents, seems like the time to finally get a torque wrench, as I'm prone to overtightening things. Probably looking at "does the job" level price wise, as opposed to "the best a man can get"
What should be going on my list?
I got this lifeline one recently, seems perfectly good enough to me.
Is it purely for pushbike use?
Lifeline at Wiggle for £38. Pretty sure it’s the same as I’ve got and its not missed a beat for me.
I have a Park TW5.2 which goes upto 14Nm.
Also have an old unbranded wrench for anything above that.
Park TW6.2 goes from 10-60Nm.
If you wanted something German...Wera have a range of bike tools but I suspect you would need to empty the piggy bank.
I went for this one:
https://www.probiketool.com/uk/product/torque-wrench-set/
2-20Nm. It's a bit more money but it's a good bit of kit. Seems to me there's the £40 odd ones, then nearly everything else is >£100, so this sits in between. Also works on left hand threads if that makes a difference.
Norbar. They only make torque wrenches and they’re a proper quality product.
https://www.toolstop.co.uk/norbar-13830-tti-20-torque-wrench-1-4-sq-dr-4-20-p80051/
Solely for bike use. Was thinking of the Lifeline/Jobsworth ones, though ProBikeTool keep filling my FB feed, wasn't sure if they were worth the extra.
I've got one of the <£40 ones and recently overtightened a Carbon handlebar trusting it would work - it didn't. So I am also interested but planning to spend more this time so that it does what it is meant to.
Norbar seem regularly recommended. Are they generally better regarded than Wera alternatives like this:
Norbar calibrate all of our master calibration transducers. I work for a company that manufactures torque limiting machines.
Norbar are good!
Norbar are the ‘best a man can get’ ones but only twice the price of, ‘something that clicks’.
I am however biased cos my mate works for them, they make them in my town, and my other mate got one and the calibration certificate was dated the day before he bought it, and it is flipping awesome.
It is accurate to tenths of a nm.
I mean, who doesn’t want that, except me cos my mate has one.
OK, I'm convinced 🙂
What about a deflection torque wrench? They seem a bit more 'obvious'. Any feedback good or bad?
I've got a BBB one and I suppose it's ok. It doesn't really click when it reaches the torque amount, especially at low nm. You have to watch it to see when the handle moves. Can be easy to miss. One that clicks would be much better
What about a deflection torque wrench? They seem a bit more ‘obvious’. Any feedback good or bad?
I've got a deflection one, as well as various clicky ones. For general tightening things up on a bike until they're about right, it's fine.
Rather than good enough( alarm bells) or best a man can get, I opted for the higher cost but not ridiculous, figuring that would be safer. About £120
Effetto Giustaforza II
Simple, small, doesnt look cheaply made or generic. I need to have confidence in the tools that keep me safe.
The deflection is too hit or miss and its the position of your wrist of all things can throw the reading off. I was told to avoid.
I got one of the torque wrenches from wiggle, the lifeline pro one maybe. Combination of incorrectly marked torque setting on SC behalf and the fact it stopped clicking after maybe three uses caused one of the pivot bolts to snap in my freshly painted SC Bronson frame (yes a one off as plenty of others have it with no issues) but I have a norbar now and it's a quality tool that will last years and pay for itself.
There you go. Put this on your xmas list and see what happens.
Stahlwille 713R
Do you not need two for bicycle use? One for stem bolts etc & one for crank bolts etc, or do some of the more expensive ones span the whole range accurately enough to do both?
I've got a traditional one, my wrist.
I've got two of the Ritchey 5Nm ones that are great for travelling and perfect for stems, bars and rotor bolts.
Two of the Park beam deflection type which work well when used properly but possibly irrelevant as I believe they're discontinued. Point being, there's nothing wrong with a good beam deflection type of you're watching the scale and holding it in the right spot.
Also have the Topeak digital 1-20Nm device which is a pleasure to use.
They probably use a norbar tool to calibrate all the others, those that are calibrated of course.
Do you not need two for bicycle use? One for stem bolts etc & one for crank bolts etc, or do some of the more expensive ones span the whole range accurately enough to do both?
In theory 'spring' type torque wrenches are most accurate in the middle of the rated range. A 10 to 50 Nm will be spot on around 30 Nm. If you want to get anal then you will need a 0 to 10 Nm wrench for the low end stuff and perhaps a 20 to 60 as well. Crank bolts on my Bike are 50 Nm.
You can't have too many torque wrenches:
What they said about wrenches....
5-25 , 20-100 and 80-200 tengs and I'm eying up a wera 0-5
I also have a beam deflection one as I have had a couple of cars where the tension on the timing belt is set by a torque value - you can't set that with a spring type
Norbar here too. Still got my 80s one, bought it for 2 stroke cylinder heads, so bought a little one when I bought a mtb.
It is accurate to tenths of a nm
I wouldn't hold too much stock in their std calibration certificates. If it would have been UKAS calibrated the measurement uncertainties around Torque Calibration are so great they rarely give you a statement of conformity.
Norbar are very good torque wrenches, but there are other brands out there of equal quality, Gedore (used to be Torqeleader / MHH Engineering), Stahlwille (bought several of their test benches since the ISO std updtaed) Britool etc.
In my previous job I worked for a large calibration company, I set up and managed around half a dozen 17025 calibration labs around the world for the aerospace industry, managing the calibration of thousands of torque wrenches. I've also stopped buying Norbar wrenches for my current employer as I think they're over priced and not as good as they used to be.
Get what you can afford, look after it (wind it off after each use) Don't bother trying to use it below 20% of it's range even if it has a set point. If you drop it, don't worry too much, if you throw it across your garage, get it recalibrated.
Was just coming to say I have a Torqueleader (Gedore) dial wrench, 0-5Nm IIRC, absolute pleasure to use. Plus a Teng 20-100 and Norbar 60-300. Yes, there's a gap there.
I prefer the Norbar locking system but in practice both that and the Teng work fine. The 300 is perfect for wailing on ridiculously torqued caliper carriers and doing wheel nuts.
I got my Torqueleader for some ridiculous price off Gumtree, like 35 quid or something!
I’ve also stopped buying Norbar wrenches for my current employer as I think they’re over priced and not as good as they used to be.
Since Snap-On bought them?
There are still some good deals on Norbar. Zoro (part of Cromwell) will often send out a 20% off voucher if you sign up for their emails.
Most cheap torque wrenches are junk
Get a decent one or accept you need to learn to spanner properly and will make some mistakes.
I have one of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00V4CQEGW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EwXMFbVBTQW9C
Also have an 8-60nm Norbar.
I use a Stahlwille 730N/2. Its a decent torque wrench.
But a torque wrench is only as good as its calibration. A £1000 pound wrench is no better than a £10 wrench if its not calibrated.
samuelr
But a torque wrench is only as good as its calibration. A £1000 pound wrench is no better than a £10 wrench if its not calibrated.
It really isn't, I've seen cheap wrenches not hold their calibration on the same day they were calibrated in several R&R studies.
OP, get what you can afford, one guy mentioned a 20% discount from one vendor if you sign up to their marketing emails. Decide on the range you want to cover and go for it.
*Quality Hat* If you wee a wrench which covers your range make sure your lowest required torque is greater than 20% of the full range. Don't buy a 2-12Nm wrench wanting to use it at 2Nm as the lowest calibrated set point will only be 2.4Nm. (if it's made to ISO 6789:2017) *Quality Hat* If it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother you. 🙂
Don't expect calibration to be cheap either (I've done it for several people on here over the years, wish I still could as I used to get lots of cake). You may find Fred in a shed calibrating them, that's great, but they're harder to find these days. Swallowed up by the bigger companies chasing their contracts.
Considering the torque ratings I see quoted on SRAM/Shimano stuff gives about a 2Nm range, I went for a Jobsworth, that said I just wanted a sanity check click because I over-tighten EVERYTHING.
It's actually been really useful, my bike is plusher because I haven't tightened all the linkages to several million Nm
What’s the going rate for a calibration? I’ve a teng one but it must be getting on for 10 years old and could probably do with a calibration.
Cheers
I pay £40-£70 depending on the range etc. but I do spend £1m per year on calibration.
Cheers Lee. That's a lot of calibrating! I probably won't have as much leverage with just the one to do.. so maybe the top end of that scale
I’ve used the lifeline on for about two years on many carbon things. Nothing has broke or slipped so I’m assuming it is reasonably accurate.
I take it everybody knows to set the wrench back to zero after use and not to leave it at whatever torque setting you were using.
Norbar 13830 4-20nm on eBay from FFX for £69 once you apply the discount code PURCHASE20. Might be others on there too
It would cover my bike needs, only down side is the range is from 4nm, which is probably the lowest I'd need. Is it going to be accurate enough for bike purposes at 4nm?
Black Friday Update
Zoro have the the Norbar 13830 for £66.59 if you apply the code BLACKFRIDAY10