What torque wrench for Campy Ultra Torque?

chakattack

Going to put a torque wrench on my letter to Santa.

I need a decent torque wrench that goes to 42 n.m for use with Campagnolo Ultra Torque cranks.

Are the cheap beam style wrenches ok for this job or should I go for the more expensive click style?

Any recommendations?

Thanks

Chips Lovell

I use the beam style (Park one) on Campag Cranks. Does the job.

Quigs Snr

This post has made me feel guilty about not owning a torque wrench still. I am putting together a P3C at the moment and should really get one. Any recommendations for a wrench that will not break the bank.

I hear the BBB one is crap.

TheBlaaMan

Most (all?) beam type are fairly rubbish and not at all accurate. You need to budget for €80 or so for a good one:(. I've two, and the lower/smaller one is like this from Halfords. http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_11101_catalogId_15551_productId_180255_langId_-1_categoryId_212616 - Surprisingly well put together and this one has a good reputation

Lumen

A crap torque wrench is arguably worse than nothing, since you have very little feel.

I have a Norbar for the SRAM cranks, and a BBB one for the everything else.

I don't find the BBB one bad, but after reading all the slagging they get I just set it really low and/or tighten by hand aiming for kinda tight in Sheldon units.

doozerie

TheBlaaMan wrote:

Most (all?) beam type are fairly rubbish and not at all accurate.

Do you have a reason for saying that?

niceonetom

Damn, I didn't know that the BBB one wasn't any good. I just got one... there was probably a window of about a week between when I was worried that I'd die for lack of use of a torque wrench and when I was worried I'd die because I'd used one the internet tells me rubbish. Ah well.

DirkVoodoo

Beam types are great! They are only useless when you need to see the gauge, like having your arm wedged under an engine. Also, people like high tech things that click.

I would take a beam over a clicking type any day, for bike stuff.

chakattack

Thanks everyone.

Dirk any technical reason why you think the beam style is better? Stays calibrated as it's just deflection of a metal beam?

Or just value for money?

doozerie

My understanding of beam-type is that they have several advantages: accurate; you can see when you are getting close to the desired torque, which can be advantageous; they are easy to recalibrate yourself; they work clockwise and counter-clockwise; cheaper (though not always). Click-type have their advantages too, of course, a big one being that you don't have to watch the gauge so you can focus entirely on what you are doing but some of their disadvantages are the exact opposites of some of the advantages of the beam-type.

I have one of each, but my click-type gets used far more often as it happens to cover the right (lower) range for most of the more frequently adjusted parts of the bike. One suggestion that I've seen, which makes sense to me but may be seen as overkill by many, is to test your click-type wrench on a fixed bolt (or in a vice) once you've set the torque but before you apply it to your bike - if it is malfunctioning (i.e. not clicking to indicate you've reached the set torque) this will show that fact up before you damage something on your bike by overtightening it. That's not necessary with beam-type as long as it is calibrated before you start.

DirkVoodoo

chakattack wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

Dirk any technical reason why you think the beam style is better? Stays calibrated as it's just deflection of a metal beam?

Or just value for money?

Technical reasons? Well, they all do the same thing...but like you say there is less to go wrong. Calibration isn't some expensive process of sending it off to some engineering company, you just bend the needle back to zero