My torque wrench habit was ruining carbon stems

I used to snug everything by feel, even after buying a good Park Tool TW-5. Then a customer's bike came back with a hairline crack near the stem faceplate. I checked the torque spec and it needed 5 Nm, I was probably pushing closer to 8. That was the moment I realized I'd been over-tightening for years. Anyone else trust their hands too much before grabbing the wrench?

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richard_mason17d agoTop Commenter

Tbh I had the exact same wake up call a few years back with a carbon seatpost. I stripped the clamp bolt on a Ritchey post and it cost me a hundred bucks to replace. What finally worked for me was putting a piece of tape on my torque wrench with the number written on it for the most common parts, like 5 for stems and 4 for seatposts. That way I dont have to look up the spec every time, I just grab the wrench, see the tape, and set it. Honestly it sounds dumb but it turned the wrench from something I used when I remembered into something I use every single time.