Bicycle Mechanics - titanium BB worries..

after reading the recent thread on seized bb's in a Ti frame, i'm a little concerned.

when i put my Merlin together, i put the external bb cups into the frame using a very healthy amount of park tools polylube.

i see a lot of mention of anti-seize in the other thread. should i have used something more specific on the Ti threads. the bike hasnt been riddin in the wet yet, i could always pull it apart and use something different if its advisable to prevent future woes.

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/uploads/images/large/105252.jpg

I used grease in my new ti frame build also. Rode all winter. After reading this post, I think I will dis-assemble and use anti-seize, the choice of champions.

Litespeed always said grease was perfectly fine. Anti-Seize obviously works too as does a couple of layers of plumber's teflon tape. As long as you lube the threads reasonable well, there will be no problems.

I have a '96 Litespeed with over 70,000 miles that has been ridden in every possible condition and the bb is still in like-new condition. I used grease for the first few years, anti-seize (because I had a can in my garage) later and finally teflon tape. The tape keeps it very quiet and doesn't get on your clothes. Anti-seize is really messy. All of them worked fine.

One thing I always did was to disassemble the bike for a thorough cleaning and relubing about once a year. The problems from seized anything (bottom brackets, seatposts, stems, whatever) are mostly due to neglect and lack of routine maintenance.

The type of corrosive welding you're worried about takes a bit of time, and is also greatly affected by weather and whether the BB shell has a weep hole to allow water to drain, or acts as a sump accumulating water and causing it to migrate into the threads.

Most BB shell thread corrosion occurs from the inside out, so if there's a weep hole you can go a decent interval before worrying about seizing. Even with anti-seize, mixed metal assemblies should be disassembled at least once every year or two.

you are all easing my concerns. i dont ride much in the wet, and i lubed those threads very well with the polylube. sounds like i should be OK for the season.

i was planning on putting a ton of miles on this bike this spring/summer/fall. i will tear it down over the winter and re-lube everything, using anti-seize at that point.