How are those little Torque Keys?

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Catagory6
Posts: 612
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:36 am

by Catagory6

i have a beam-style torque wrench for the heavy-duty stuff, and a 4nm torque key for the small stuff.
just wondering how trust worthy that little key is?
does it lose accuracy, like a click-style can if dropped, or with age?
i was just tightening up some stem bolts, and it just seemed like it was much higher torque before it clicked, than in the past.

mattr
Posts: 4671
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:43 pm
Location: The Grim North.

by mattr

Not very. The click is a very simple mechanism that will be affected by use or extremes of temperature. Probably not so much by dropping though.
If it's plastic it might be affected by solvents, grease, oil etc.
You can get small beam wrenches for not much. Like this. https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/rad ... its-459400

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nickf
Posts: 1428
Joined: Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:34 pm

by nickf

The standard 5nm click style ones seem to be ok as long as the part requires 5nm. Anything less I feel they lose some accuracy. I use a Park TW-5 for my extralite and MCFK parts and never had a problem. The preset ones seem to always turn the bolt ever so slightly after it clicks, not enough control and a short travel "click" makes it easy to over do it. That's my experience anyways.

Vagabond
Posts: 367
Joined: Tue Aug 30, 2011 2:08 am
Location: Washington State and the Colorado Front Range.

by Vagabond

I spend a lot of money on my frames. It would be silly to crack something for want of a quality tool that only costs a fractuon of the frame. I have Nice torque wrenches. I wouldn’t trust one of those cheap wrenches after a couple of years use.
Colnago e Campagnolo

Catagory6
Posts: 612
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2017 2:36 am

by Catagory6

i just tested the 4nm key against my new beam-style 7nm torque wrench, and it showed to be just about the same.

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PinaRene
Posts: 856
Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:08 pm

by PinaRene

If you want something reliable than you should buy the Proxxon or something similar. These torque screwdrivers are from 0.2 - 5.0Nm and they are tested, at least most of them. I use it for seatpost clamps - stems - hanger bolts that must be set on 2 - 4NM and it works great. Seatpost on my steel bike is on 2.8Nm and stem on carbon steerer is on 3.0Nm and that is well enough with some carbon paste.

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