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I think we're all wrong about using a torque wrench for every single bolt

Just had a customer bring in a gravel bike with a stripped seatpost clamp bolt, said they torqued it to spec with their new wrench. This was the third one this month. I've been building bikes for 15 years and I think we've made new mechanics scared to feel the bolt. My old boss in Austin taught me to go by feel for stuff like clamps and bottle cages, and I've never had a failure. Sure, use it for carbon or cranks, but for a basic aluminum seatpost? Sometimes the tool makes you overthink. How many of you actually reach for the torque wrench for every little thing on a steel frame?
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3 Comments
evan_wilson18
Reminds me of how we overcomplicate cooking with all those exact measurements. My grandma never measured a cup of flour in her life, just felt the dough, and her bread was perfect. We get so focused on the numbers from the tool that we lose the sense of the material we're actually working with.
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avery_smith22
Exactly, and now we even have apps telling us how to breathe right, like we forgot our own lungs.
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cora975
cora97520d ago
Torque wrenches are the new avocado toast.
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