Always used a torque wrench for carbon stems, but a friend talked me into trying friction paste by hand

I was rebuilding a customer's road bike last Tuesday and had been reaching for the torque wrench like always. But my buddy Dave from the shop down the street said I was overthinking it, that with good friction paste you can feel the tightness fine by hand. So I went with his method on this one build, using Park Tool SAC-2 paste and just my Park Tool TW-5 for final check. Honestly the handlebars haven't slipped once in 100 miles and my wrist isn't as sore. Has anyone else ditched the full torque spec on carbon bits?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavinperez1mo agoMost Upvoted

Hold up, didn't you say you used the torque wrench for the final check anyway lol. That means you still basically followed the torque spec, just skipped the initial tightening steps.

the_jennifer1mo ago

Just did the same thing on my truck and the engine's been running smooth for two years now. Sometimes getting it close and checking with the torque wrench is good enough in the real world.