kais67•11d ago

Hot take: the guy at the hardware store who told me to use a torque wrench on my bike's crank bolts was right

I always just hand tightened them and called it good. Then last month I was riding down Central near San Mateo and my pedal arm literally fell off while I was going pretty fast. Almost ate it in front of a bus. He said I'd strip the threads eventually and I laughed. Now I'm sitting here with a stripped crank and a $60 repair bill. Has anyone else had a bike shop guy give you advice that ended up costing you later when you ignored it?

2 comments

2 Comments

derek_ramirez11d ago

Your pedal arm fell off while going fast" - that's basically exactly what happened to my buddy Mark. He had this old Schwinn he was fixing up and the dude at the bike co-op told him to use a torque wrench on the bottom bracket. Mark just cranked it on with a regular wrench. Two weeks later he's going up a steep hill and the whole crank arm just spins loose. Pedal almost hit the ground. He had to walk three miles home pushing that thing. Cost him like $80 for a new crank and a shop visit because he stripped the aluminum threads completely.

aaron70811d ago

oh man, I used to be one of those people who thought torque wrenches were just for pros or people with too much money for tools. I figured, you know, "tight" is tight enough, right? But hearing about Mark's crank arm basically giving up on a hill is exactly the kind of thing that changed my mind. I mean, that's not just a loose bolt, that's the whole pedal assembly falling apart at speed. Stripping the aluminum threads sounds like a nightmare, and an $80 mistake plus a long walk is way more expensive than the tool. I guess a torque wrench is just cheap insurance against turning your bike into a hazard, especially on something that takes that much force.