I’m sure this has been discussed thoroughly and I’ll be doing plenty of additional searching.
Every time I’ve had my bike worked on I’ve never actually seen a torque wrench being used. Everything is always hand tightened.
When/where do you use grease to get the proper torque with a torque wrench? Also, when/where do you use loctite? If I was to put on carbon aerobars, would I use grease + torque wrench to get the recommended tightness, loctite + wrench, or loctite + hand tighten til the right feel?
It also seems like the manufacturer’s recommended tightness is not enough. Example, the splined stem on my Felt would always come loose until loctite was applied and it was tightened past the recommended Nm.
I personally grease every bolt on my bike, except in cases where anti-seize is more appropriate, and friction paste at any point carbon is having pressure applied to it (stem, seatpost, etc). Then use a torque wrench.
I don’t make a habit of using loctite unless absolutely necessary, and I can’t tell you the last time that was.
after learning the hard way more than once, i always use a torque wrench when dealing with carbon. i like bontragers little 5nm one since it seems to apply to 90% of all of the bolts around carbon. For grease, I pretty much apply a little to every bolt, especially if I’m going to be sweating on it. I rarely use locktite, unless i have a pesky bolt that rattles loose every ride.
Try carbon paste on bars, seatpost, stem/fork if they’re slipping at the rec torque. Grease would be used on bolts, although ti-prep tends to be used on ti bolts (I’ve never had an issue substituting grease for ti-prep). I use a torque wrench for just about everything, especially w/ alloy bolts and/or expensive parts.
I’ve only used loctite for the installation of BB30 bearings on a frame and on the bolts for my sram RD cage. If you see loctite on a part you purchased new, chances are there’s a reason they used it.
after learning the hard way more than once, i always use a torque wrench when dealing with carbon. i like bontragers little 5nm one since it seems to apply to 90% of all of the bolts around carbon. For grease, I pretty much apply a little to every bolt, especially if I’m going to be sweating on it. I rarely use locktite, unless i have a pesky bolt that rattles loose every ride.
Those snap type torque wrenches are pretty much useless. But on the plus side you can say you were using a torque wrench when the part breaks!
after learning the hard way more than once, i always use a torque wrench when dealing with carbon. i like bontragers little 5nm one since it seems to apply to 90% of all of the bolts around carbon. For grease, I pretty much apply a little to every bolt, especially if I’m going to be sweating on it. I rarely use locktite, unless i have a pesky bolt that rattles loose every ride.
Those snap type torque wrenches are pretty much useless. But on the plus side you can say you were using a torque wrench when the part breaks!
Its all about keeping that warranty! They do tend to limit my overtightening habits nicely though
I always use a torque wrench (and common sense) when tightening carbon fiber. I have unfortunately made a mistake in the past due to the lack of common sense!
Hand tightening works fine for most things if you’re able to work by feel.
Don’t lube bolts and then torque. The torque specs that are given assume that the bolt is dry.
I always use carbon friction paste. It holds the parts in place and some claim that you can use 25% less torque when using it.
The only thing I’ve used loctite on was an old Shimano crank that kept loosening. Unless there’s a known issue / need for loctite, I don’t see much use for it.
I always use a torque wrench on carbon ($100 tool investment on $X,000 bike). I use teflon tape on the bolts (instead of grease) to add some additional corrosion protection and vibration protection. The only LocTite I’ve used is the stuff that’s come pre-applied (ex. speedplay cleat screws). If you do use LocTite, make sure it’s blue and not red.