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Help Torque Wrench, necessity or...

luka

Maximum Pace
Jan 13, 2015
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I'd like to inquire what are people's experiences with torque wrenches here?

As I'm doing more and more of my own maintenance I often find it would be useful to have one around. I tried to use the fact that my frame maker was recalling some forks as an excuse to get the fork and headset examined (and replaced with a properly tightened torque) at the LBS, only for them to tell me that they DON'T HAVE A TORQUE WRENCH at the moment... :eek: Still charged me 1,000 yen for the 5 min job though :mad:

This one seems decent and would cover most of my needs (pedals, headset, seat clamp, cranks etc).

Any opinions, recommendations, advice?
 
I have one. Hardly use it. Most of the time I tighten things 'a grunt and a bit'. It's only a bicycle, not a jet engine. On the other hand, I don't have an uber-expensive carbon bike.
 
I managed without one for many years! And I learned the hard way about torque limits on small bolts :cry:
These days I have a lot more carbon parts and so I ended up buying one. I still go more by feel than the numbers for most bolts, but the torque wrench is a good check that I am not accidentally over-torquing something, and for bolts that have a tendency to loosen I can now threadlock them and torque them to the max spec.

Bear in mind that most torque specs are maximum and if the bolt feels tight below this, it probably is.
 
Ditch them, and go to a new bike shop.
Yeah, I was pretty disappointed that time. Still, it's the only LBS within reasonable distance so I'll keep it as an option, but start looking elsewhere too.

stop letting people take your money for doing bugger all.
hahah true that. They helped me once previously for no charge, the same guy actually. So I had a feeling he was just making sure to let me know that I can't expect to keep coming for troubleshooting without any yen to back it up. We're even now, sorta...

Also, I think the heaviest torque required on my bike seems to be the crank-set (12-14N). I just imagine the maintenance and seek-and-destroy of clicks/creaks much easier having one of these on my side.
 
more often an assembly / lubrication / wear issue
That's right. I want to re-grease several points to kill a persistent creak, but ideally THEN want to tighten it back to correct torque. Also just periodically checking headset, crankset etc for any loosening seems like it'd be that much easier and more precise with one of these... So come tomorrow and beginning of a new month I think I just may get this, or something close to it from local sellers if the shipping etc makes it more reasonable. I need to wait for the next month to start as the credit card has been hit hard this month as it is... Which is just 1.5 hours later anyway!
 
Well, it comes from pedaling, rather than from wheel hubs or headset. So it's something in the drivetrain, but I'm pretty sure it's not at the back (rear mech or wheel). It's only on when accelerating or climbing, not when a constant tempo is kept. And I am also pretty sure it only comes from the left side. So the 1st thing I wanted to do was to re-grease the pedals and tighten the crank arm and crankset bolts. I hope this does it as I really don't wanna dig deep for the BB or take the whole crankset apart... Any suggestions?
 
That's right. Ultegra 68 series. Sorry for amateurish lack of precision in expressing my symptoms :alien: :D
 
Speaking of symptoms, I thought you were literally on your deathbed with a killer headache and a surprise-me bounty hunter fighting over who'll get to you first
 
I have all carbon bikes, and use a torque wrench mostly on the crankset bolt, and sometimes on the seatpost clamp or the stem--nothing else--a useful tool to have, but not absolutely necessary.

Regarding the creaking noise, where you think it is coming from and where it actually is coming from can be deceptive. Folks have switched skewers and gotten rid of their noise, others have reinstalled the BB/crankset (doubt it is the pedals). I have found in the couple of cases that I have had this kind of noise, it has actually resulted from the rear cassette lock ring not being tightened down enough--this is at least one thing I would always check, and since it is pretty easy, would do that before reinstalling the crankset. Good luck.
 
rear cassette lock ring not being tightened down enough
Thanks for the tip. Probably wouldn't think of that on my own. I'll do one thing at a time, to definitely see what was it.

- it only occurs under increasing load, rather than just spinning along in a relatively easy gear?
yes

- it only occurs when you put force down onto the left pedal/crank?
I think so, though I am only 95% sure.
 
OK, well first of all do the obvious stuff.

-take off the pedals, degrease, put anti seize assembly paste on the threads and put back on.

- take off cranks, disassemble, degrease, grease with assembly grease like Finish Line or Bike Grease 2000 and reassemble

Test between these two things. If you do them all at once and don't test individually and it fixes it, you will not know the root cause for future reference.

If this does not fix it, move on to other quick jobs, such as taking the stem off, degreasing inside, taking out the headset bearings, cleaning them and the seats in the headtube then reassembling with grease.

If it is still there, then it is time to look at the BB. Shimano BBs are very easy. Just take out, clean all interface surfaces and put back with grease.

You should also swap the front wheel to eliminate that. If you have a cheap Chinese front hub more than 30 seconds old, there is a distinct chance the bearing seats have shown their true colours and the bearings have started orbiting and shifting.

Swap the QR levers too, as pointed out.
 
OK, any recommendations of anti sieze and grease? I have Loctite medium which I only use on my cleat bolts (and am considering using also on the steam bolts if that's ok). For other stuff I just put Shimano Premium grease even tough I'm not sure what is it's specialty. Can I make it with these two or do I need something else also? BTW, so far I have only ever put grease on pedals, never Loctite.
 
Where does Loctite get mentioned? Nowhere.

Anti-seize is that dark reddy brown metallic stuff. Finish Line do it in little sachets or a big pot with a brush. Get a small sachet.

It is used when two metal parts go together which will not be moving against each other and are of different metals. Hence, anti-seize.

Shimano grease is good and fine for all lube assembly requirements. Don't use it inside your freebody ratchet, but other than that it is perfect.
 
Anti-seize is that dark reddy brown metallic stuff. Finish Line do it in little sachets or a big pot with a brush. Get a small sachet.
Thanks for the tip. So basically no grease on the pedals, only anti sieze stuff?
 
Max 14nm will cover most of the bike. The only really high torque ones are bottom bracket (less so now with everyone doing pressfit) and casette lockrings which range 29-49nm.
 
Anti seize is the correct choice, yes. You can get away with grease, but use the correct thing for the job to eliminate potential issues.

This should not be used on carbon, understand. Only on static metal interfaces.
 
This should not be used on carbon, understand. Only on static metal interfaces.
So basically only on the thread of the pedals-into-the-crank-arms bolts? This acts as both the lubricant and anti-sieze?
 
The threads in the screw in shimano BB cups too.

Anti seize is anti seize. Lubricant is lubricant. Not the same thing. Lubricant reduces friction in a moving system. The areas where anti seize are applied are not moving parts.
 
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