Originally Posted by
krispenhartung
Is anyone using a torque value to tighten the top tube/stem cap bolt on the Fuji Track Elite when changing bars, etc, or are you just doing it by feel? I am just tightening it enough to remove any play in the top tube, and then just a half turn after that. What happens if you keep tightening it? Will it stiffen up the feel quite a bit?
I always tighten my expander to where when I hold the bike off the ground by the downtube (standing in front of the bike) and pull/push on the fork, it has no play but moves freely when turning the handlebars. (this is in most cases when you start feeling resistance from tightening the bolt) If you keep tightening past that point then turning the bars/fork will fill like it's in a bind/resistance. If you go beyond that point (we're talking some fairly significant effort tightening on an expander like comes in the Track Elites) you run the risk of cracking the steerer. That's very unlikely unless you were actively trying to. Realistically if you overtighten you'll just get to the point that it feels like there's some resistance when you turn the bars.