biketampa

Andrew R Stewart 

Yes. Andy (and answered the question)

RobotGuy

Iride01 

I like them both and own small and big of both. One of the breaking torques, what I guess you call ratcheting, doesn't have much of a noticeable break when you reach the set torque. But I put that down to differences in brands, as it's a cheap Harbor Freight and the other breaking is a much older Craftsman. Or by ratcheting, were you talking about those funny digital torque wrenches???? I've never used one and don't see the point.

I think most swear by the beams being more accurate, but I doubt it's much. However in the long term, how will you know if the breaking ones aren't out of wack if you don't have any other to compare to, or have it checked by someone. Also, with the beams being a solid rod, I'd think unless you regularly pull max torque, then there is less chance for them to loose their accuracy. If the pointer is off when unloaded, you can just bend the pointer back to zero. But, how much accuracy do you really need? If you are paid for the work you do with it, then yes. For yourself on a bike or car, not so much IMO. For yourself on an aircraft... yes!

I use my breaking torques much more as I don't have to try to get my eyes in the correct position to see the readout while I'm trying to torque things down. For tightening head bolts on an engine, I might specifically pull out the big beam torque wrench. Otherwise they are used much less than the others unless I find one of them first when I've got things scattered all over. I'm still not convinced they are needed on a bike, unless of course you are working on someone else's for money.

Andrew R Stewart is usually pretty verbose, but I admit, he did answer the question as you posed it. I did a lot of supposing as to what you meant.

biketampa

RobotGuy

Ball Bearing

I have both types. The ratcheting Snap On I have works clock wise and counter clock wise - great for bottom bracket cups. The beam type are perfect for just about everything else. My beam wrenches are Warren & Brown that have a spring loaded pin that pops out and makes a click noise when the torque value is reached. The little one goes from 1 to 25 Nm.

phughes

Buy a good torque wrench, the breaking type, in the correct range for your application. Cheap ones are a waste of money. I have a beam type too, and have had it for almost 40 years now. Yes it works, but for many applications it is too long to be useful, and you sometimes cannot get into a position to read it. I have a number of torque wrenches in different torque ranges. I even have a T-handle that is set to 5Nm that accepts different bits. It is great for stems and seat post clamps. You don't have to go crazy, but I would steer away from Harbor Freight. I do have one in inch/pounds, I bought it when I had no other choice one night. It is not good at all, but it worked in a pinch. I would not trust one in a higher torque range, and I do not like, or use this one anymore.

I have a couple Kolbalt which are very nice. You can get them at Lowes. I was skeptical, but when it got more difficult for me to get Snap-On, and Sears went out making Craftsman a non-starter, I tried Kolbalt and really like them. I actually like them more than Craftsman, and close to Snap-On.

ThermionicScott 

Love my beam type wrench. It's great to be able to see the torque approach your target value instead of waiting for some kind of click or snap. I've never had any trouble using it on a bike, not sure why there would be.

Andrew R Stewart 

Because not everyone can handle tools well. Andy

RobotGuy

bargainguy

I've used dial, beam and electronic transducer torque wrenches. I prefer the transducer, for a bunch of reasons - no need to zero out when putting it away, beeps when set torque is reached, then beeps again if you exceed your set torque. Pretty foolproof in operation. It's also quite accurate and as far as I can tell, doesn't need to be recalibrated regularly.

The model I have is the Topeak d-torq, cost me around $150 way back when, but I find it invaluable and it gets daily use.

easyupbug 

Calibration is important especially with cheap wrenches (plenty DIY instructions on the web). My neighbor broke a bolt with a Harbor Freight click wrench and we found it way off. Store manager told him to come back after the parking lot sale and trade it out as all the one currently on the shelf had the same problem and a new batch would be out after the sale. In fairness the new wrench was spot on and remains so, he is careful to reset to zero after use.

3alarmer

...

rydabent

The beam type if never mishandled or dropped never goes out of calibration.

SkyDog75

Beam-type wrenches are my preference, so long as I can view the scale head-on. They're simple, intuitive, comparatively inexpensive, work both directions, don't need batteries, don't have to be zeroed when you put them away, and they don't need to be sent out for calibration. The biggest caveats are that you can't use one in some tight spots or in instances where you can't view the scale squarely.

I haven't used one, but electronic wrenches seem to incorporate lots of good ideas. Some of them use strain gauges like you'd find in a digital scale, and those seem to maintain their accuracy well. The audible alerts when you reach your torque range or exceed it seem like they'd be really useful. The ability to hold peak value on the display fixes one of the shortfalls of a traditional beam-style wrench. You'd be able to use it in a blind spot, pull the wrench out, and see what your torque value is/was.

fietsbob

If in Doubt, the Professional level Stuff From Snap On etc.
can go back for re calibration .. its a service they offer.

pdlamb

Beam type works well on bottom brackets and cranks. You can check how close you are getting as you mutter under your breath about just how much torque you're suppose to use on those darn things.

Of course, that's mostly what I use a torque wrench on.

Rubato

I have looked at several "click" type wrenches and the projected accuracy tightening counterclockwise is as low as 40%.....

ExpertTools

I vote for neither. Go digital.

Since I do a lot of work on my family cars, I have Snap-on digital torque wrenches in every size, and they are great. These are coming down in price these days, and are plentiful on eBay, (just get any used torque wrench calibrated, unless you're pretty sure it never came out of the box). CDI makes torque wrenches for Snap-on, so you can often find these at a lower price point. The only other torque wrench I have that's NOT digital, (there really is not any substitute,) is a dial type 1/4" inch pound torque wrench with follow up needle for measuring pinion bearing pre-load on differentials. That one, and the 1/2" drive digital are the only ones that I don't use on my bikes. I still would like to add a 3/4" drive torque wrench to my arsenal of tools, (for wheel bearings); for now I'm using torque+angle work-arrounds.

Marcus_Ti

Damn...that is a couple house payments. So jelly.

Keep thinking about getting the Topeak digital torque wrench...keep not hitting buy.

ExpertTools

Well, I bought them all used. But yeah, they were pretty costly when new. All the digital ones I have get very frequent use on my cars, so worth the money for me.

robertorolfo

Lots of talk about resetting click wrenches back to zero when not in use, but I actually reset mine slightly below zero. Because, you know, it's like zero but better!

Am I killing my wrenches? Am I riding and driving around on piles of mistorqued bolts?

sdmc530

I got a clicker type, park tool version. Its great. I wouldn't get a beam version just because I am not smart enough to run it lol

Crankycrank

Torque wrench care and use. https://www1.snapon.com/display/231/...ueWrench08.pdf and.... https://www.norbar.com/en-gb/News-Ev...-torque-wrench