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Guy at the shop told me he never torques stems because 'they're all the same,' and I've been thinking about it for a week
Was at the shop on Grand Ave last Thursday picking up a bottom bracket tool and overheard one of the older guys telling a new hire that stem bolts don't need a torque wrench, just get them 'snug and even.' I almost said something but kept my mouth shut. Here's the thing, I've seen two cracked carbon steerers in the last year from exactly that move, one of them on a customer's bike that came in wobbling because the bolts were at maybe 3 Nm on one side and 8 on the other. The faceplate wasn't even sitting flush and you could feel the play just rocking the bars. I get that a lot of alloy stems are forgiving, but once you're clamping carbon, 'snug' isn't a number and your wrist isn't calibrated on a Tuesday versus a Friday. I keep a 5 Nm preset driver in my box for a reason and it costs less than one steerer tube. Am I crazy here, or are shops actually teaching this to new hires now?
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