Got called out for using a torque wrench on every single bolt

A customer brought in a carbon seatpost that had slipped, and after checking my work, he asked if I'd torqued the binder bolt. I admitted I just went by feel, about 8 Nm. He showed me the spec sheet that said 5 Nm max, and said 'You're crushing the carbon.' I bought a proper torque wrench the next day and now use it for every carbon or aluminum part. How do you guys handle torque specs on a busy shop day?

3 comments

3 Comments

flores.tessa7h ago

Coleman.jade has a point, feels like overkill sometimes.

coleman.jade29d ago

Honestly, that sounds like overkill for a seatpost binder bolt. A good mechanic's feel is built from years of experience, not just reading numbers off a sheet. You really think every single bolt on every bike needs a torque wrench? That would slow the whole shop down to a crawl.

bettymurphy29d ago

I get what you're saying @coleman.jade about speed in a shop. But I saw a carbon seatpost get crushed last month because someone just cranked it down. The torque spec was only 5 Newton meters. That's way lighter than most people's "feel". A torque wrench for something like that takes ten seconds. It's not about slowing down, it's about not breaking a customer's two hundred dollar part.