A customer pointed out I was torquing stems wrong for years

Last week a guy came in with a carbon steerer that was creaking. I started tightening his stem bolts to my usual 5 Nm and he stopped me. He said I needed to alternate bolts in a star pattern like lug nuts on a car, not go around in a circle. I changed my method right there and the creak disappeared. Has anyone else been doing it the circle way this whole time?

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anthonykim5mo ago

Torquing in a circle works fine if you do multiple passes.

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kelly_henderson835mo ago

...and like, is torquing in a circle really causing that many problems for people? I've seen guys zip lug nuts on with an impact and call it done, never even break out a torque wrench. @anthonykim you make it sound like a single pass will snap a stud, but most daily drivers aren't exactly racing in Formula 1, you know? A couple slow passes in a star pattern is usually good enough for a wheel swap in my driveway.

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