Buy a F***ing torque wrench!
Seriously. Just buy one.
I saw 4 cracked seatposts at the cross race today, and after a friend broke a carbon handlebar, my question about the installation torque was met with a blank stare.
Here’s a little tip to go along with the rant; if you have a carbon seat post, make sure that the slot in your seat collar isn’t in line with the slot in your frame, to whit:
Good: Seat collar has an inner sleeve offset from the slot in the seat tube…
Bad: Slot is in line with the clamp, no distribution of force. Almost every cracked seatpost I see (and I see a lot of them!) is installed like this.
Does your bike look like the picture above? Simply flip the damn thing around… if it’s good enough for Rabobank, it’s good enough for you…
Crosssports's Weblog 