I ditched torque wrenches for carbon bars and it worked better than I expected

Everyone says you absolutely need a torque wrench for carbon handlebars, but I set my bars by feel on a 1998 Colnago I've been restoring over the past 3 months out of my garage in Portland. Not a single creak or slip after 200 miles, and I think the old-school carbon layup is way more forgiving than people admit. Has anyone else found a specific carbon part that handles hand-tightening just fine?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_zara26d ago

Buddy of mine snugged down a set of carbon seatpost bolts using a regular Allen key on his early 2000s Look and it never budged a millimeter in five years. Makes you wonder if the old stuff was just built tougher than the modern whisper-thin parts.

piper_green26d ago

Man that's a solid point. I've got an old Cannondale CAAD from the same era and I treat it like a tank compared to the new stuff. Makes you think all that torque spec paranoia is more about covering liability than real world use sometimes. Your buddy's story just proves it's not all as fragile as the manuals say.