Thread grease.
 

A couple of people here have told me that I should grease my new bolt threads before putting them in and tightening them. So if I'm to do that, what easy to find grease or lubrications should I use for greasing my threads? I was also curious if WD-40 would work, but I didn't know if it would be too thin. Thanks!

No, no wd-40. Use plain lithium, "white", or synthetic grease. You can generally find it for less than $5 a tube. That's the stuff to use.

But, yes, grease the threads.

Ok, so no WD-40, got it. My dad has a tube of grease in his garage I use on my chain, it's white, you think that would do?

Yep, sounds good. Now stop using it on your chain. :D

It will tend to accumulate LOTS of grunge and make for a dirty slimey mess that also chews up your drive train and makes shifting sloppy. Get some proper chain lube. Your local bike shop will have a few favorites depending on conditions.

Copper paste!

Umm I have a BMX bike, so I don't need to shift any gears. So should I still stop using it on my chain? Or should I do like you said and get some 'official' chain lube.

The best substance to use is anti-seize compound available at any auto parts store. Basically a grease with copper or other conductive additive that prevents corrosion due to dissimilar metal contact between steel and aluminum or steel and titanium. It should also help with rusting steel fasteners though any ordinary grease should do as well for steel to steel contact.

Anti sieze compound is the best, grease will work though.

Please stop greasing your chain. Grease is too "sticky" and attracts all kinds of dirt since it is exposed. Oil the chain. There are lots of threads on what to use.

"oil" being a figurative term since you typically don't want to actually use oil.

Yes, stop using grease on your chain. Ask at your local bike shop, they'll recommend some chain lube for you.

Bee's wax.

Just use Phil Wood or Finish Line. The only thing that you don't use that on is brake cables and chains; for cables, you need Tri-Flow, and for chains, well, you really don't need anything.

Geeze,..... grease is grease.Just get a tub of cheap wheel bearing grease from Wally mart, and be happy for the rest of your life.... And since when did chains start needing no lube?...LOL :rolleyes:

Yep. Tub of white lithium grease works great. $1.99 @ local auto parts store. Should last me for long time...

Considering the fact that every shop I've ever been to carries Finish Line grease, and most of them have Phil Wood, I'd use those, for availability reasons. And I can't say that I've ever had a chain problems without lubing mine up; the only grease on my chain is what was on it when it came out of the box.

Actually a lab test showed that at least under lab conditions lube did nothing for the efficiency of a bicycle chain drive. Pair that with a corrosion resistant chain and you have a real question on your hands, sydney.

I tend to agree with Raiyn (as oft seems to be the case). Marine Bearing Grease, like $3 a tub from Home Depot... SUSPICIOUSLY similar to Phil and Park grease.

When you ride BMX (at least for park and street), the amount of damage that a chain takes (I have to replace a few links a week, on average) negates the usefulness of lubing it up, because it never lasts long enough in the first place. That lube doesn't do much for a chain when you're grinding down an unwaxed concrete ledge at a decent speed.

Heheheheh... practical application. Suddenly the knowledgable bike mechanics are seeking out BMXers to see if they use grease to make their concrete ledge rides slipperier! Love it!

What hasn't been pointed out is that there are several points on a bike where maybe a touch of Loctite blue or equivalent might be applied. Such as the adjustment screws on V-brakes. The studs that hold the cantilever brake/V-brake calipers to the forks/seat stays. The screws that hold cleats to the soles of bike shoes. Maybe even the drop-out adjustment screw on a rear derailleur. Bolts holding on front and rear racks, if a spring washer is not used. Oh and maybe the threads of bottom bracket cartridges if they make a noise when pedalling uphill or under pressure.

Just in case some read the first couple of posts, and fail to get to the BMX issue. And I do point out this is from my own non-commercial, home bike mechanic point of view, and observation of what bike/equipment manufacturers provide.

Don't use WD-40 or anything like it because it is ultimately a degreaser. Lithium grease is ifme, especially for headsets, but try to get some copper slip grease. It has small pieces of copper in it which act as ball bearings, so the threads can be more easily turned even after six months of mud.

My initial reaction is: Don't you people in the colder parts of North America AND the British Isles have issues with salt on roads in snow and ice conditions?

My limited knowledge of electrolysis says: If you want to sink a guy's steel boat coz he's screwed your GF/wife/BF/husband, drop a copper coin in his bilge and let the salt water do the job?

Copper and steel don't go well together, as far as I know, in a salty environment. Grease or not.

Copper, nickel, and zinc are all common ingredients in anti-seize compounds used to prevent galvanic corrosion between two dissimilar metals.

For example, Loctite (and many others) makes products such as this:
http://www.jensentools.com/product/g...rent_id=420597
which are EXPLICITLY to be used on steel.

Finish Line's Ti Prep is just an overpriced anti-seize compound which also, by the way, contains copper.

I'd suggest reading a better grade of comic book.

Yeah I use marine bearing grease, for bearings. But for greasing threads as the poster asked, as well as seatposts and stem quills, whatever ya got works better than nothing.Beyond that, y'all can take grease on bike stuff to whatever level of rocket science suits ya.

Ok, sounds good to me! Thanks to everyone who offered their oppinions on my post, and yes I WON'T use WD-40 around rims, chains, and definetly not around bearings unless I want to degrease them all and slick 'em up!

Ah Sydney, always a ray of sunshine.

Maybe you ought to take it up with Johns Hopkins University. I'm sure they're very interested in why their results are invalid.

http://www.sdearthtimes.com/et1199/et1199s13.html

Ok, fair enough, but fundamental rule is to have the comprehension switch to the on position. Their observation on chain lube had to do with the effenciency of the chain, not wear factors !!

Yes, but how does a thing wear if it's 100% efficient? Wear results from the translation of input energy into friction. Efficiency is the measure of how much input energy is translated into useful work. The two are opposite concepts.

If my efficiency doesn't change with or without lube that means the lube is having no effect on frictional losses which means it has nothing to do with wear.

Now the real answer is take it out of the lab, dump some sand, and dirt, and whatnot in there and see how it changes. Though I suspect that the results may be counterintuitive: dry lubes are designed to shed contaminants. A non-lubed chain will have a very similar performance. The question is how much does the addition of non-stick additives improve the shedding properties of the chain? Is it enough to offset the lube itself?

Wet lube of course is to help protect the chain from oxidation or other chemical reactions and to be durable under harsher conditions.

Where do you get 100%? Some dark, warm, moist place?Why doncha dump the attempt at rocket science,go tool around on an unlubbed chain,especially in adverse conditions and then report back.