Originally Posted by
deep_sky
I was told at an LBS that stainless and titanium bolts are bad, mostly due to the high stress location they are typically in on a bike (stem bolts, handlebar bolts, etc). Why would they think this?
A titanium bolt on the stem might be a bit more prone to break if you over torqued it. But you don't need that much torque to get it to hold in the first place (and you don't want to crush your carbon steerer anyway) So I'd say they're full of it.
I use Ti bolts in most of my stems for cosmetic reasons just because I live in a coastal environment prone to rust and haven't had any problems.