Originally Posted by
lhorn
Just to play devil's advocate, as long as he was well below the torque spec, I think he was right to keep torqueing. At least he ended up with an answer and he's safe.
What happens if he's still far from his intended torque spec and he and his friends hear a distinct "crack?" What do you do? Ride it knowing that it might not be tight enough (unsafe) or that it might be cracked (unsafe)? Bar looks ok visually...does that mean it didn't crack? Maybe not. It's not as though he kept torquing beyond manufacturer's spec.
If you hear a crack, you take the joint apart and inspect the bars. If the bars are still okay (the crack might have simply been coming from a misaligned screw), you put it back together, paying really close attention to how you tighten the bolts. You tighten until you can jump on the bars and not have them move. Like I was saying previously, the torque spec is a
max, and it pertains to stripping the threads on the stem and has nothing to do with the bars.
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