The torque spec on my derailleur hanger was way off for 2 years

I was rebuilding a customer's bike last week and decided to actually check the torque spec on a derailleur hanger bolt from my repair manual, not just guess. Turns out the spec is 8 Nm, but I had been cranking them to like 12 Nm out of habit, which probably warped a few hangers over time. Has anyone else found a torque spec they were totally wrong about?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul3461mo ago

I’ve been there with crank bolts. Thought they all needed to be tight enough to strip, then found out Shimano says like 5-6 Nm for hollowtech stuff. Saved a few cranksets after that, just grab a torque wrench and don’t guess.

elliot451mo ago

Stripped a few myself before I learned that lesson. Feels like half the bike industry is just a prank where they tell you to send it then laugh when you ruin a crankset. Torque wrench is the only way to go, but I still feel like a chump every time I pull one out because it just feels wrong to barely tighten those bolts. Shimano really out here gaslighting us into thinking we're strong enough to break their stuff.