Originally Posted by
Slaninar
It doesn't reach the bearing grease - there's about 1+ cm of axle between them. Of course it should never mix with other greases, especially inside the bearings. It is put on the axle part where the cranks are placed, nowhere near the bearings. Dirt and water are a lot more likely to contaminate the bearings, than the mounting paste - especially if the excess is wiped off after mounting (as it should).
Of course.
Like I said, even if it does reach the bearing, it's not going to damage anything. It's just oil with some very soft sacrificial materials in it like copper and zinc oxide. Neither of those will do any damage to a bearing or race.
Originally Posted by
Slaninar
Kontact's argument that mounting paste will somehow hinder the engagement is something that both the theory (it's a mounting paste, that's what it's made for) and my practical experience so far do not agree with.
My argument is not that it "hinders the engagement." It's that it is rarely necessary, and more often can lead to overtightening.
Either choice has possible downsides. Yes, a dry taper can gall. Yes, a "wet" taper can be overtightened. IMPE the latter is more common and has worse consequences than the former. And I've worked on a LOT of very old bikes in my time. I've never not been able to extract a crankarm from a dry taper. Ever. Given, of course, intact extractor threads. Sometimes a minute with a propane torch is all it needs to come off.
OTOH I've seen more than a few crankarms pushed on so far that they are not usable. In most cases, they were greased.
A deft trained touch, or a torque wrench, will usually prevent overtightening. But there are far more people in the "tighter is better" club than have either of those things.
The only time I could see using anti-seize on a taper is for a bike that will see extremely wet and salty conditions. Even in that case, you'll probably be chewing through BBs often enough that galling won't be a problem.
FWIW, Barnett's recommends dry tapers. It's not the Bible, but it's the Book.
Originally Posted by
Slaninar
On the other hand, it's better than grease for preventing the interface getting stuck together through rust, and it should provide better protection from fretting damage compared to most "multipurpose greases".
On that we are in total agreement. Grease is for moving parts. Anti-seize is for non-moving parts.
Originally Posted by
Slaninar
Having said all this - using any old grease should do the job - just not do it "dry" - crank mounting that is.
Let's keep religion out of this, ok?