I finally came around on using a torque wrench for bike repairs

After snapping two bolts on my mountain bike last month in Phoenix, my buddy Dave kept insisting I needed a torque wrench instead of just going by feel. I always thought it was overkill for a hobby mechanic, but after ruining a $40 derailleur hanger I gave in and bought one. Has anyone else had a stubborn tool they avoided for way too long before it saved them money?

4 comments

4 Comments

spencer78227d ago

going by feel" - man, I gotta disagree here. Feel is how I've done all my bike stuff for like 15 years and I've never snapped a bolt. You just gotta know when it's tight enough, yknow? Torque wrenches feel like overcomplicating something that's basically just hand strength and common sense.

victorh8126d ago

Nah, but feel is worthless on rusty or greasy threads.

avery_flores1727d ago

My buddy actually snapped his crank arm bolt last year doing it by feel on a trail ride. That got me thinking about how we do this with everything now, not just bikes. People guess their tire pressure by pinching the sidewall instead of using a gauge, or they eyeball their chain stretch instead of checking with a ruler. It's like we trust our hands over tools that literally measure what we're trying to guess. I get that feel works for a lot of stuff, but it's a gamble every time you skip the simple check.

hill.margaret27d ago

See this everywhere now, people trusting their hands over a simple measurement.