Re: [CR]Grease on Threads

I'm convinced that it is an extremely good idea to coat the tapers on Stronglight BB's with something, having recently hammered yet another seized Stronglight arm off the BB. I've been "lubing" these tapers for years and never had one I lubed seize, but others apparently haven't done so. I use a very light film of the same grease I'm using in the BB. Not sure if a fancy antiseize compound would do any better. Like you, I'm not sure antiseize and grease are all that different, and it seems using too much antiseize could casue the crank to overseat, just like using too much grease.

Stronglight arms of course are softer than Campy, and so more susceptible to seizing, the upside being they don't crack as easily as Campy. I figure a little grease/antiseize will prevent the seizing, whereas the only way I've heard to prevent the cracking is to file the spider/arm transition. And that doesn't help with cracking at the pedal hole.

Regards,

Jerry Moos big Spring, TX

loudeeter@aol.com wrote:
    It is interesting, and entertaining, to see the discussion about grease on threads. Brian Baylis mentioned yesterday that Faliero Masi insisted on lubing every threaded bolt, including some that you might otherwise ignore. Hugh Enox mentions the aluminum-steel issues that many have experienced. In my distant past, I restored Porsche cars. At the time, Porsche recommended against grease on some threads because of the chance that you would "over-torque", which intuitively makes sense to me. They did, as Hugh mentioned, sometimes suggest anti-seize compound. It isn't clear to me that anti-seize compound isn't actually a form of grease however. See this link: http://www.jetlubecanada.com/AS.html. For bicycles, since we don't have the same torque required as you do on automobiles, I would say that lube makes sense on all but the highest torque situations. Just my opinion, but the crankbolts & stem bolts might be ones that would be better treated with anti-seize than with lube.
   Also, lubing the square ends of the bb spindle used to be a no-no as it could cause the crankset to overseat, creating a lose crankset, cracking the crank, or forcing the chainrings against the chainstay. I'm not sure what the current thinking is. Regarding whether silicone based grease is better than other grease, I don't think it really matters a great deal if you routinely perform maintenance on your bikes. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL