Drove out to a shop in Boise last month and saw a mechanic using a full torque wrench on every single bolt on a bike build. Dude was torquing the derailleur bolt, cage plate bolt, even the little screw on the cable stop.

I get torquing critical stuff like crank bolts and stem bolts, obviously. But every single bolt down to the tiniest little 2nm thing? Seems like overkill to me. But he said he's never stripped a bolt or had one come loose in 10 years. On the other hand, I've never stripped a derailleur bolt using just feel, and it takes way less time. So is it worth the extra time and buying a good torque wrench that reads low enough, or are we all just guessing and getting lucky? Where do you draw the line on torquing vs going by feel?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elizabeth20d ago

2nm on a cable stop screw? That's insane. I honestly didn't even know torque wrenches went that low, most of mine start at like 10nm. Dude must have a whole drawer full of tiny little clickers just for bike parts. I feel like at that point you're spending more time switching tools than actually building the bike.

sullivan.quinn20d ago

Just use a beam style torque wrench for those tiny settings...

aaronroberts20d ago

Read a post from a bike mechanic the other day who said you can actually use a little inch-pound beam wrench for those tiny settings. He just converts the Newton meters to inch-pounds using a chart he keeps on his phone, which sounds way easier than hunting down a crazy low-range torque wrench. And he said beam wrenches don't need calibration, so you're not sending some tiny tool out for service every year, which is a hassle. The trick is to hold the wrench right at the pivot point, not the handle, so you can actually see the beam move at such a low setting. Might save you from buying a whole separate tool if you already have one of those beam types kicking around.