Is this a crack on my frame from tightening seat post too hard? I never over tightened it tho…
Hard to tell but I’d loosen that screw, bring it to the shop for inspection and play dumb haha
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It’s hard to tell what line or reflection you are talking about in the picture.
Try the tap test.
If it came from your bike store and you’ve never even put a wrench to it, then let them look at it.
Are we looking at the line near us on the right of the clamp bolt? Is that a reflection or does it stay in the same place when you move around it/change the light?
These two white lines. I put some paint on it and it disappeared. I guess it was just minor pain chip.
Have you used a torque wrench? Pity if that beautiful Strada became wall decoration.
lol not a decoration. I have 5years warranty on this
With the necessary caveat of not being a professional framebuilder and basing my entire statement on a fairly small pic on the internet, I’d say that looks like a very shallow scrape in the clear coat. Probably.
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You were right. Got I checked out bike shop mechanic had hard time finding the scratch and got mad at me for wasting his time… he then tightened more to 7nm
How do you know you never over tightened it? If you are using a torque wrench follow the numbers it provides, if you are not using one you could have easily over done it.
However there is no evidence of a crack from what you posted. Looks like a slight scuff mark at most.
I have torque wrench and I always tightened to 4nm. I wasn’t sure if it was calibrated cause it’s old torque wrench
FWIW, torque settings are usually a max spec. If it says 7nm, tighten it only as tight as it needs to go to hold the seatpost staying below 7nm. You don’t go straight for the max on every bolt on the bike.
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I went through a calibration process, and it was expensive! The wrench was a well known brand, so I figured I’d send it out and get it done, and yeah it was off, but the cost wasn’t much below just buying a new one. For small torque wrenches (quarter inch or the 1’4" hex type, I’d plan on replacing them every few years as small parts and a potential large variation don’t do well, and many small torque wrenches aren’t made to be recalibrated.
For noobs to torque wrench care, dial down the resistance to the lowest setting after use, and don’t drop them or try to disassemble them.
Wrench testers are not at all cheap (or common) so at some point in their life, you will have to use your intuition on how its working. I had one that felt ‘off’, and it really was. I put a bolt in a vise, set the wrench for a mid-range setting, and it never clicked (indicating I’d reached the proper torque!
) I ended up tossing it as it wasn’t worth trying to get it fixed (cheaper brand).
I doubt that the torque marking is a ‘to failure’ measurement. Sure you can use lower torque, but you risk slippage/failure. And something I use often is here, from Park Tools, if you are ever in doubt.
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I never said it was “to failure”. I said it was “max”. Max means don’t go beyond. It doesn’t mean go straight to the max torque but the bike store mechanic did just that. If the seatpost wasn’t slipping at 5nm, it should have stayed at 5nm.
It’s all a ‘recommendation’. I just always do the recommended value so there is less chance of failure due to something loosening up over time. I’ve had people lose pedals because they weren’t tightened enough, and also had people break bolts because they Kong’ed them. But people are free to do want they want and feel comfortable with. I’ve had bikes where even at the recommended torque, things can slip, so it’s what works. (Ie: in the case of the kickr bike(s), I used fiber grip liberally on bar and seat clap areas, AND over torqued the clamps a bit)
Do what makes you feel comfortable.
I feel like one should follow the directions. If it says max, then it’s just the max, not the recommended. If it says recommended, then use that value.
Torque values on cars are usually the specified torque for a specific bolt. On my bikes (stems, clamps, derailleurs), I’ve usually seen max. My Campagnolo hirth joint crankset specifies a value.
On carbon interfaces I’d err on the side of caution rather than just go straight to max.
One also never knows how good their torque wrench is short of owning a recently calibrated professional grade wrench.
Yeah, and I have cracked carbon handlebars by torquing the bolts to (max) spec. The owner of my previous LBS fortunately noticed, and when I told him I did everything to spec, he just replied “It was obviously too much.” Hard to argue with that.
Can you share how much it was? I have a fancy torque wrench I got when a bike shop went belly up. Probably I should get it calibrated.
The wrench: “CDI 2503MFRMH” from Amazon. Cost: $220.00. The calibration cost was close to $190; parts, labor, and a certificate showing the test results. It did ‘need’ a few parts, and it took about a week. I didn’t know how many of the parts are just replaced because it’s the service or needed to be replaced, and the screws were sealed with red plastic goo.
Also, they did not test the wrench before the calibration which might have been helpful, but to find out that it didn’t really need recalibration wouldn’t be conducive to more business?
Example: I have purchased 2 of these: “CDI 1501MRMH”. One in 2013, and one in 2022, mainly to avoid recalibration fees. The original was donated to Goodwill. I’m sure they were surprised to find that tool, in the original box in their donations for that day.
I had clients who recalibrate their wrenches on a calendar basis, every x number of years: Yikes, but when it’s your job to have accurate wrenches, you better be accurate.
One thing to realize is that not all wrenches can be recalibrated. Depending on brand, price, etc, some aren’t worth the cost to do it, and some just can’t be rebuilt. I had a Craftsman, and they were disposable when new, so you just toss them if they seem off. (Once again, getting them tested can be expensive, and take a week or more, and some testing companies won’t test those disposable wrenches. Best to contact the company doing the cert and see if they can do that wrench. I used ‘Team Torque’ out of North Dakota) What brand wrench is it? Although I’m sure there are OEMs that build wrenches for other companies.
SO far the CDI wrenches have been the best IMO. There are more expensive wrenches out there, and cheaper ones too. CDI is a Snap-On division so seemed a good choice.
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Nothing more true has ever been said.
I needed to clean out a boiler transfer tank that came from Germany. The clean-out port had 16 bolts around the edge. I got the cover off no problem, cleaned it and was putting the cover back on. Googled the brand, got the service manual for torque specs for the bolts, got the gasket set, the cover on, threaded the bolts on hand tight, and started torquing the bolts, and the first one snapped. Oh great. I dropped about 10% off their recommendation and all was good. Told their engineering people about it, and they kind of shrugged it off, said the bolts could have weakened due to the heat. Said it might leak, but never did. Amazing German engineering? Obviously it was too much torque. I figured that the wrench was off and sent it in…
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