Review: Norbar (Model: 13285) 1-20nm torque wrench.

With the widespread popularity of carbon frames (as well as seatposts, stems and handlebars) tightening fasteners correctly has become a critical part of bike maintenance. Over-tightening of fittings can easily crack or crush delicate carbon components which, as well as  being dangerous, can be very expensive. So, with this in mind, I started researching torque wrenches for cycling. The only two prerequisites being that it must have 1/4" drive and cover a range of approximately 2 nm-16 nm. There are lots of cycling branded ones that I suspect are made in the Far East, including one that is commonly sold for £50-60 that is sold branded as Shimano's 'Pro' brand for £100, but I was curious if there was anything 'better' available?

I came across the Norbar brand on a cycling forum that mentioned they were an English company. I found that this model was available with 1/4" drive and a range of 1-20 nm and it was made in England. Best of all? It was available from Amazon for £73 delivered! It's a beautifully made bit of kit, as you rotate the adjuster to the individual torque numbers, the tenths scroll past a clear window. So, for example, you could set it to exactly 2.3 nm or 6.7 nm or 17.9 nm and know you're pretty much bob on. The icing on the cake is that each wrench comes with a certificate of calibration performed when the wrench was made and you have an address in the UK where you could send it to be recalibrated should you ever decide to in the future. 

Anyhow, I've redone all the critical fasteners on the Giant and I now have a warm, fuzzy feeling inside knowing that everything is perfectly torqued and safe.