This is a very good practice 10-12 nM is a lot more than we think it is (or at least I think it is with my tiny arms…)
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They also make a 12nm one helpful as mountain bike through axles on UDH frames seem to be 12-15nm spec.
I’ve just checked the bikes in my garage and the thru-axle torque specifications are variously:
- 6-8 Nm
- 9-13.5 Nm
- 10 Nm
- 11 Nm
- 12 Nm
How bad would it be to just torque them all up to 10 Nm?
IMO, you’d be better off doing them up by hand then purposely setting them to the non-recommended torque.
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I have a Super-B TB-TW10. It has standard 1/4” bits but is fixed torque of 10Nm, and I bought it for the same reason. Also it has a better ergonomic grip than similar models that use the handle to store bits.
That’s how I do! Especially helpful if you need to take the wheel off mid ride.
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My take on this is that you originally need to install and adjust your calipers when the axle is at 10Nm and then always tighten it to that. If you don’t use 10Nm when putting the wheel on later, you get rub. This has been my experience and why I do the axles up with a torque wrench.
So I’d guess your calipers were originally adjusted at a higher axle torque than 10Nm. Any other takes? Or did you mean that despite proper re-alignment of the calipers the rub kept happening during riding due to flex?
What kind of frame do you have? I’m trying to see how, at least on my frame with my wheels, how tightening to less than optimal torque would cause a significant change in rotor position relative to the brake pads. Given that my dropouts press up against my hub’s end caps, I can’t see how the dimensions of the hub and thus position of the disc rotor will change so much that I would get rub if I don’t use the same torque on my thru axles each time. I’ve both used proper torque via a torque wrench and hand tightening to something less than spec’d torque, and I’ve never had any brake rub.
Maybe I’m missing something?
This! On the road you (mostly) don’t have a torque wrench with you and I hazard a guess that bike manufacturers take that into account when designing something so critical. And indeed doing up to 10nm is quite counterproductive if you’re then standing beside the road having to call someone because you can’t get your wheel off when changing a tire.
You should call them “pro cyclist arms” sounds better 
You might think that, but on mountain bikes, which also tend to use 10-12Nm, the axles seem to be running a fairly tight line between coming loose and failing from over torque.
For my part, I have a suggestion for OP and anyone in the US, which is what I do. I bought a clicker wrench from harbor freight, which can regularly be had for around $10 on sale. I leave it set and occasionally check it against a line scale or a “good” torque wrench. Less than 5% drift in the first 18 months and I have a long way to adjust
I’ve definitely seen this and changes in shifting. I’m sure it depends on the frame and hub, but I’d attribute it partly to hub design (e.g is it preloading bearings or compressing seals) and partly to frame flex (if you can insert the hub in the dropouts, there’s probably at least 0.1mm of clearance, which the frame “pinches” closed)
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“axles seem to be running a fairly tight line between coming loose and failing from over torque.”
If that would be true then they wouldn’t be safe enough to use, I doubt there’s that fine of a margin for a thing you are going to use on the road with sometimes less then ideal tools and under less then ideal circumstance. Maybe there’s something wrong with your axles if that’s really happening to you.
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Yes, I do think a number of mountain bike thru axles are questionably safe due to a combination of design and manufacturing to a price. It’s not just a one off thing. It happens quite often. It’s a pretty normal feature of mtb reviews for a reviewer to mention how often they needed to retighten bolts on a bike. It’s not totally uncommon to see a broken or loose axle at the bike park (it is thankfully rare though)
I offered that as just a warning to not put blind faith in everything on a bike being over built and designed with margin for error. These aren’t bridges
My Fox forks on my mountain bike axles are 9nm. Be nice to find a preset for that as I have 8 and 10 but no 9. And is that dry or wet?
Start at 13:11 into the video for the torque wrench that was left at its last setting for six months. Approx 16% reduction in accuracy