Torque Help, Please

Triathlon Forum
1

A friend recently gave me a carbon-railed Selle Italia SLR Kit Carbonio saddle to me. I was told to be careful not to overtighten the bolts. Problem is, I’m not sure how hard I should tighten the bolts. The little manual that came with the saddle does not have any torque specifications. Can someone give me an idea how tight (in nm) I should tighten the bolts with my torque wrench?

Thanks for your help!

2

Bolt torque should be based on a variety of things:

  1. material properties of the bolt (strength, ductility)
  2. the application (shear or tension fitting)
  3. the material properties of what is being clamped (strength ductility)
  4. the geomety what is being clamped (thickness)
  5. the size of the bolt (diameter)

Without knowing the above, you are merely guessing. If anyone specifies an actual # for you, it’s just pulled out of the air with no basis. Attaching a seat to a post is a shear fitting situation - you need enough torque preload to give a nice clamping force and consequently friction force to prevent fore-aft slipping of the seat. I personally go by feel. I’m a little cautious with carbon, so I tend to be conservative and undertorque. I’ll carry an allen wrench so if I get some slipping, I know to torque a little more.