Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
Fail.
Good mechanics have a torque wrench... mine usually hangs on a wall to impress people and for the odd occasion I am working on carbon fibre bikes.
Amateurs should invest in a torque wrench... it is amazing to see how many people who have no idea how tight some parts have to be and then there are the gorillas who over torque things and screw things up.
I have a few local racers who frequent my shop and they ride CF bikes that cost upwards of $7000.00... if I use a torque wrench I can ensure that the part is set to factoryspecs and of something fails I am then confident that it wasn't due to a bolt not being torqued to those exact specs.
Yeah, I might be singing a different tune if I worked on bikes professionally and was liable for any screw ups. BUT, since I only work on me and my friends' bikes, I feel pretty confident in my ability to just "feel it out," even if I am tightening a carbon fiber stem onto a carbon fiber steerer tube or what have you...