MicahWedemeyer

Hi,

I just have a basic question: Is lithium grease OK for chainring bolts? I wanted to get anti-seize compound, but nobody at Home Depot knew what it was, and neither do I. So, I just grabbed the lithium grease, hoping it was the same thing.

Since I don't have a car, getting to stores is a pain in the ass, so if the lithium will do the trick, then that's what I'll use.

Thanks,
Micah

P.S. My first post

sydney

Yeah, it works. And HC, we get to have another grease thread....Ooh lala!!

DocF

You'll be fine with the grease. If you want an anti-seize compound, most any auto parts store will have it.

Doc

2manybikes

OK ,so you mean (sarcastically~I know.) we need another grease thread, about thread grease? uh..

Rowan

So, is it advisable to place grease on the thread of everything that screws in? How much?

phantomcow2

Its good for fine threads that are placed under torque. Well all threads are placed under some torque but i mean a decent amount of it. You dont need to have it so grease is spewing out, just a light coating of it over the actual thread.

2manybikes

just the right amount. no more. no less.

bostontrevor

Lithium = good (syd will tell you that there are better greases these days and that's no lie but there's also nothing wrong with plain lithium so long as it doesn't use a soap base)

As for amount...Well think about the actual contact area between threads and think about a layer of grease a few microns thick... that's how much. Basically a little dab'll do ya.

2manybikes

You're old enough to remember Brylcream (spelling?) commercials?

Applehead57

Don't forget your seatpost. That also can get stuck permanently.

bostontrevor

Nah, but I think it's safe to say that it's entered into the vernacular.

2manybikes

I guess you're right it has. Didn't even think of that.

I may have watched that saying on a commercial in the 1960's.

One of us is old............

peripatetic

...but do youse guys remember the 80s attempt at reprising the song for some short-lived Brylcream mousse: 'a little dollop'll do ya?'

powers2b

Is lithium OK for chaingangs?

2manybikes

Somehow I missed that one. You are the trivia leader at the moment. Youse is good.


powers2b Is lithium OK for chaingangs?

Yes, especially if they run out of Prozac.

halfbiked

FYI, Home Depot ain't the place to go for mechanical stuff. You'll have much better luck going to either a local hardware store or automotive place when you need things like grease and tools. Sears is good for tools, but won't have as much in terms of 'consumables' like grease.

Regarding never-seize, its overkill for the application you're talking about. Plus its a horrid mess to work with. Unless you like having little silver fingerprints and smears all over your bike, tools and self.

sydney

You might be surprised at what sears and HD really has.Wallymart or The Blue Light Special place may beat em both. There is always LBS for the big spenders,that buy the bike specific grease angle.

nick burns

any grease is better than no grease IMO

halfbiked

I doubt I would be surprised. I actually shop at sears regularly for tools & HD for house crap. But if I didn't know the difference between grease and anti-seize compound, I'd go to a shop that employs people that do know the answer. In my experience that would be a local hardware store or an auto-parts shop. If I want cheap lumber I'll go to HD.

Metro

I have a carbon seat post. Sorry, no grease on carbon components please.

Pardon my redundency, but we are advising peope to grease their threads on this grease thread. Does that mean that we have to use thread grease (on the grease thread, that is)?

2manybikes

Well you don't really use thread grease on the grease thread. You really use thread grease on threads that need grease. Although there are thread greasers on this grease thread that do use thread grease to grease threads.

And if you find a grease you like from reading the grease thread, you may technically refer to it as

"Grease thread, thread grease"

Hopefully I did not repeat your redundancy repeatedly.

Rowan

Geez, 2manybikes, do you bet your horses each way like that?! And, hey, metro, at least you're thinking.

It was a trick question. In my humble (very, very humble) experience, there are places where I would NOT put grease, because the OEM has said so. For example:

-- Brake posts on suspension forks (use Loctite).

-- The itsy-bitsy screws on V-brakes and cantis that adjust the spring tension.

Funny, when I see blue on the thread of a screw or bolt applied by the OEM, that's a pretty good clue that neither a clean thread nor a greased thread should be used.

Then there are spoke nipples. Grease them? Nah. Maybe the old raw linseed oil trick, or none at all (my preference). But grease? Hmmmm.

Do you grease the ends of your quick-release skewers? What about the seat clamp bolt? Atop your threaded headset and lock-nut? Even the clamp bolts on the brake and shifter set?

And I've read some Shimano specs that have said no grease. I think around the BB. But I might be wrong there. Also the flats of BB spindles.

More seriously (or very seriously, actually) one of the things I was supposed to learn in dealing with motor mechanics was that ALL threads should be absolutely clean of grease. It all had to do with torquing of bolts and stuff to ACCURATE specifications.

So it was initially a bit of an problem when everyone said... hey grease those threads on bikes... but I learned it had more to do with corrosion and seizing of parts together.



Oh well... we are in the hands of experts...