“I never gave a damn about the (Newton) meter man until I was the one who had to read the (Newton) meters, man.” -Mike Watt, paraphrased.
Maybe I have reached peak bike nerd as defined by moments of joy elicited from items most otiose to anyone else. This is beyond even bike components which obviously no one cares about including most worldwide who have ever even pedaled a bike. No, this is about the details that few will ever notice let alone consider.
Many years ago, there was a book entitled, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” that seemed to be on the desk or bookshelf in any office I ever entered. I think I may have read it or at least skimmed it to get the gist. Sure, do not let all the little stuff bother you. However, I immediately thought it was bullshit. Considering my high D personality this is of no shock. My contention was that it was in fact not sweating the small stuff that led to big problems. Small cracks in the foundation eventually make the building collapse. Loose fixtures wear out prematurely. Relationship stressors, even small ones can spell doom if not addressed. Vigilance, man.
I still perform a drop test on my bikes often where I pick the bike up approximately a foot in the air and drop it to land on both tires. I look and listen for anything loose or moving in a way it should not. It is a simple preventative measure that can save me from having something come apart on a ride. I cannot speak for others, but I have had everything that could break or fall apart on a bike do so. As such, just making sure everything was tight seemed the bare minimum.
Until very recently, I generally snugged bolts down and called it good. Except at work. I have employed torque wrenches for decades at work to secure implant abutments in place due to their very narrow tolerances. Having one of those tiny bolts coming loose or worse breaking is not great. No one wants costly failures that could have been prevented. Details, man. There are all sorts of torque wrenches available for dental implant use, digital to analog, dial to beam. Most of the implants I restore are manufactured by Straumann the largest dental implant company in the world. Their beam torque wrench remains the most accurate and the simplest to use. It almost seems too simple, but that is fine as dentistry is complicated enough.
Torque wrenches have become ubiquitous in the armamentariums of professional race team mechanics. I’d venture to say much of this has to do with most bikes being carbon and over-tightening bolts in these scenarios leads to catastrophic failure. One tiny crack can cause a frame, wheel, handlebar or whatever to detonate without warning. I however was not a race mechanic nor even entering too many races anymore so no big deal, right? Incorrect. As noted above, I’ve broken everything and knew I needed to be more diligent. I want to say that trying to replicate even lower torque values by hand was difficult enough that I took notice and higher values were near impossible. I had to make the move and get my own wrenches and learn how to use them and then use them. I have a dial wrench for lower values that works fine, but it maxes out at fourteen Nm. Pivot bolts, axles and bottom brackets are notably higher. So, I decided to find a higher value torque wrench.
Enter the Park Beam-Type Torque Wrench 0-60 Nm or just the TW 2.2. Park makes every kind of tool for every bicycle repair job you can think of and many you cannot. There are many bike tool manufacturers, but Park’s reputation is exemplary. I am not necessarily a Park fan boy, but the TW 2.2 may be changing that. The writing on the gauge is easy to discern and does not require me reaching for readers. Furthermore, at more than a foot and half long it has all the leverage you need to get to those higher torque numbers. The rubber handle provides plenty of purchase and its movement is eerily if not beautifully smooth. The 3/8” drive naturally fits Park’s own sockets but a zillion and one others as well like anything easily sourced from whatever hardware conglomerate you like. Additionally, most bottom bracket drives fit right on as well.
I’ve recently put it to use for appropriate tightening of pivots, axles and bottom brackets following tear down and clean-up efforts. Having those points remain silent is priceless, but regardless the TW 2.2 is a very reasonable price as I find new places to use it on the regular for peace of mind. Having everything running smoothly is incredibly pleasing and the TW 2.2 has been a welcome addition in this pursuit. I haven’t memorized all the assorted torque values yet*, so maybe there is still hope for me before I become a hopeless card-carrying bike nerd. Probably not.
*I keep links to torque tables from the manufacturers I use. #bikenerd