Best torque wrench

[biketips666]

I don't find it surprising that few people understand what 1Nm is or hence have any idea what it feels like, and in this Internet-resourced DIY era the stern injunctions accompanying so much kit must be daunting. Sometimes accuracy is important, but frequently we only need to be roughly right, for which old-timers have a feel. So with apologies to pundits, here is an attempt at de-mystifying:-

1Nm is what you get by pulling with a 1Newton force on the end of a 1metre wrench.
1Newton is roughly the weight of a 10kg mass, acceleration due to gravity being roughly 10m/s around here.
So 1Nm is roughly what you get by hanging a 1kg weight on the end of a 0.1m (10cm) wrench.
I for one have a feel for that.

Do not confuse Nm (Newton-metre) with nm (nanometre) or n.m. (nautical mile) or sundry other abbreviations

Thank you for the explanation.

Is there a torque wrench you can recommend to the OP?

[MountainSurfer]

Very interesting discussion guys, thanks a lot.

Think I will stick to the lower end and get the lifeline one as that was one that I had previously eyed up and suggested here too. Some of the suggestions here are a little too expensive for my tastes, and having already spent too much on cycling given my skill level (all the gear no idea etc) I think I’ll go with that for now!!

[Jdsk]

1Newton is roughly the weight of a 10kg mass, acceleration due to gravity being roughly 10m/s/s around here.

Are you sure about that 10 kg?

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Think I will stick to the lower end and get the lifeline one as that was one that I had previously eyed up and suggested here too.

Good choice... NB the price varies a lot.

Jonathan

[biketips666]

1Newton is roughly the weight of a 10kg mass, acceleration due to gravity being roughly 10m/s/s around here.

Are you sure about that 10 kg?

Jonathan

Oh dear. The "feel" will need to be re-calibrated.

Turns out it's an apple. Which is handy, for something called a Newton.

"At average gravity on Earth (conventionally, g = 9.80665 m/s2), a kilogram mass exerts a force of about 9.8 newtons. An average-sized apple exerts about one newton of force, which we measure as the apple's weight."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_(unit)

[Jdsk]

Turns out it's an apple. Which is handy, for something called a Newton.

Isn't it wonderful... the best fluke in physics, and a useful mnemonic. : - )

I wonder if it's known who first spotted it...

Jonathan

[biketips666]

Turns out it's an apple. Which is handy, for something called a Newton.

Isn't it wonderful... the best fluke in physics, and a useful mnemonic. : - )

I know, I intend to check all my torque wrenches now, using only fruit.

[Jdsk]

Turns out it's an apple. Which is handy, for something called a Newton.

Isn't it wonderful... the best fluke in physics, and a useful mnemonic. : - )

I know, I intend to check all my torque wrenches now, using only fruit.

Fruit-based metrology is also widely used in human anatomy.

Jonathan

[tony_s]

1Newton is roughly the weight of a 10kg mass, acceleration due to gravity being roughly 10m/s/s around here.

Are you sure about that 10 kg?

Jonathan

Oh dear. The "feel" will need to be re-calibrated.

Turns out it's an apple. Which is handy, for something called a Newton.

"At average gravity on Earth (conventionally, g = 9.80665 m/s2), a kilogram mass exerts a force of about 9.8 newtons. An average-sized apple exerts about one newton of force, which we measure as the apple's weight."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_(unit)

Oh dear! Yes, sigh, I got it the wrong way up. Egg all over face. Too late in the evening. 1kg is worth 10-ish Newtons, i.e. 10N will accelerate 1kg to 10-ish m//s/s, or stop it falling here on Earth. You need 10 of them apples-worth of force to hold 10 of them (1kg) up. To hold up 1 you need 0.1N, -ish. 1Nm is an apple hanging on the end of a 1m wrench, or a kilo of them (=10-ish) on the end of 10cm.
My feel remains unchanged, merely the underlying justification...

And in answer to another question, no I don't have a recommendation. I was reading the thread in the hope that a consensus would emerge, but it hasn't really. I use the feel of my fingers on a short wrench.

[biketips666]

Are you sure about that 10 kg?

Jonathan

Oh dear. The "feel" will need to be re-calibrated.

Turns out it's an apple. Which is handy, for something called a Newton.

"At average gravity on Earth (conventionally, g = 9.80665 m/s2), a kilogram mass exerts a force of about 9.8 newtons. An average-sized apple exerts about one newton of force, which we measure as the apple's weight."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_(unit)

Oh dear! Yes, sigh, I got it the wrong way up. Egg all over face. Too late in the evening. 1kg is worth 10-ish Newtons, i.e. 10N will accelerate 1kg to 10-ish m//s/s, or stop it falling here on Earth. You need 10 of them apples-worth of force to hold 10 of them (1kg) up. To hold up 1 you need 0.1N, -ish. 1Nm is an apple hanging on the end of a 1m wrench, or a kilo of them (=10-ish) on the end of 10cm.
My feel remains unchanged, merely the underlying justification...

And in answer to another question, no I don't have a recommendation. I was reading the thread in the hope that a consensus would emerge, but it hasn't really. I use the feel of my fingers on a short wrench.

"by" probably better than "to".

[2_i]

A digital torque adapter took care of all my needs. Incidentally, it is with that adapter that I finally started measuring the torques. My prior mechanical torque wrench was so cumbersome in practical use that it spent its life never getting out of its box.

[Garry Booth]

Can people suggest a good torque wrench that will work on the various bits of a bike that need it.

[Jdsk]

Lots of experiences and recommendations: "Best bike torque wrench (full range of torque)":
[topics merged by moderator]

Jonathan

[Cugel]

Can people suggest a good torque wrench that will work on the various bits of a bike that need it.

Depending on the range of bike bolts & nuts you want to set exactly, it may need more than one torque wrench. Most cyclists seem to use one torque wrench only for their carbon parts, typically stems, bars and seat posts, which are generally in the range 4-6 Nm. But you might want to use one on smaller things like the very small bolts on the top of hydro brake levers or those keeping the front mech aligned by pressing on a seat tube metal frame patch. Very small bolts are easily stripped (or their housings can be).

There's also the 25, 40 and 50 Nm needs of various chainset retaining bolts and some e-bike mid motor bolts. Through axle retaining bolt recommendations can be anything from 8 Nm to 14 Nm.

Many torque wrenches suitable for bikes are 2 - 12 Mn. Some are 2 - 20 Nm. They tend to then go to 10 - 50 Nm wrenches. Those starting at 2 Nm are not so accurate at that minimum setting and 2 Nm may not be low enough for the teeny bolts, so you might also want one that goes 1 - 3 Nm or even 0.3 - 1 Nm!

It gets expensive.

Personally I like Wera torque wrenches (or nearly any of their tools) but there's plenty of others of sufficient quality for less money - and some for more.

[Brucey]

it took me a very long time to realise this, but if you have the right extensions,and you know how to use them, you only need one torque wrench. It should of course be of the 'bendy-beam' variety; because nothing else is to be trusted following a period of storage. See

search.php?keywords=torque+wrench&terms ... mit=Search

for more of my thoughts on this topic.