Originally Posted by
pdlamb
You miss my point; I'm not claiming to be a reformed airline baggage handler or inexperienced.
I've been told that if you just cinch the seatpost binder down to where you can't move the saddle laterally, that's tight enough. I've also done that and wondered why things felt so wonky a few miles into a bumpy ride: answer was the binder bolt wasn't tight enough. As a clyde, there's a fairly narrow range of binder bolt torques that will keep the saddle where I need it, and Oops! Too tight!
I've built up my travel bike 3-4 dozen times, and most of those were unremarkable. I'll normally get everything snug, and then go over the entire bike once more to make sure, for example, the bars don't flop down the first time I hit the brakes. (Yes, been there, done that.) Imagine putting a substantial fraction of your body weight onto a short allen wrench to snug up the crank, then make sure your stem is tight. It's pretty easy to see how that 5 Nm torque tight-enough sense gets skewed enough to strip the stem. Kind of like how it's easier to get a speeding ticket after you've been driving 4 hours on an interstate and then get off and go through a school zone!
So my intended point is that using a torque wrench is an easy and inexpensive way to prevent expensive errors caused by mis-estimating the force you're putting into a bolt, or even momentary inattention.
I think you've missed my point too.
Mostly I'm just saying that it's a personal choice whether to use one or not. And also when to use one or not. We all have varying levels of experience with a wrench and how it feels when tightening nuts or bolts in various materials or even thread pitch and such.
And I mostly object to those that say you must use or should never use a torque wrench. There are times when they are useful and that will be different for many individuals. And unless the person asking about torque wrenches says that they are a total klutz tightening things, then I'd never say they must buy a torque wrench.
For many, there is nothing wrong with doing what I suggested in my first reply to this thread. #5 I think.
We might actually share somewhat the same views, however my bias lies toward not spending for a torque wrench unless also useful for other things besides the bicycle. Where as your bias seems to be toward getting a torque wrench for use. Both perfectly good ways to go depending on things we both don't know about the OP or any other person.