Went back to old-school hand tools for tuning my bike last week

I used to rely on a $40 torque wrench from Amazon for everything. Snapped two bolts on my seatpost clamp in the same afternoon. Switched to a simple Park Tool hex key set I picked up at a shop in Portland. Now I just go by feel and it actually works better for me. Anyone else ditch fancy tools for the basic stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

wren30718d ago

Really feel you @gray_gibson, sometimes less really is more with tools.

gray_gibson19d ago

Man I used to be the exact opposite. I was all about those digital torque wrenches and thought anyone going by feel was just being lazy or cheap. But then I borrowed a buddy's vintage set of Craftsman wrenches to swap out my crankset and something just clicked. You don't realize how much you're fighting a tool until you use one that actually fits your hands right. Now I keep a basic set of alloy hex keys and a solid spoke wrench in my bag and honestly my bike rides smoother than it ever did when I was chasing numbers on a screen. Sometimes you gotta eat crow to realize simpler is better.