Thanks guys.

-I don't have clips, only Retrogression straps.
-Crank arms were on the spindles all the way. They were on so tight I could not get one off and over-tourqued my crank puller, stripping it.
-I will grease the spindle when I re-assemble the drive side crank arm (never got the other off).

I'm guessing a Dodici. Scrod tends to ride frames available on RG

Anything with splines is okay to grease. Square taper? Never ever.

You got me - although we are a Cinelli dealer too. It's an Italian Dodici though (with a few slight tweaks).

Can you guess what color it is?

The wink.jpg was supposed to make my post a joke, I already know it's a dodici and what color it is.

so no superbe sprint?

Hey scrod, I remember in that one thread you mentioned that Dodici had its own italian/ international line up while leader had the US line up and the former being the "real" deal. Can I assume this situation is like Japanese car makers with JDM & USDM versions of the same model?

Black?

If you look at the frames on Dodici's site, you can clearly see they're different that the ones being sold here.

Also, the tubeset on the ones made in Italy is made of Dedaccai Fire 7003-AL.

I like how the Italian ones come with a matching fork. And I have to say pink.

Also, can you use the VO stem shims with other stems as well?

Why not? Not trying to challenge you, just wanna learn.

it's an interference fit
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_fit

what happens if i greased mine? before i built up my bike someone told me to grease anywhere that theres metal on metal contact happening

400+ miles and everything seems fine so far..

Dag. I hope the bike mechanics in Seattle (moving there in 2 weeks) are better than the ones here in Queens. This ain't the first time theyve steered me wrong.

Take them off, wipe the grease off, put them back on.

You'll be fine but it up to you. I know people that have been riding and wrenching longer than many of us have been alive and they never had issues with lightly greasing.

Grease is used on metal-metal contact for a couple reasons. First, it prevents corrosion and parts from seizing. Second, grease is needed to overcome the friction that would otherwise suck up the force applied to secure a bolt.

/notscrodseeyoulater

In the non-Scrod threads it's not a black/white rule. Jobst Brandt makes a good case for greasing the spindle. Campagnolo says not to.

Anecdotal evidence* from most users shows it generally makes no difference. The average user should generally focus on achieving correct torque and installing the cranks in the same orientation each time they are removed.

It's also not really an interference fit because the crankarm is attached to the spindle with a fastener and is not held on solely by the friction between the crankarm and the spindle as it would be in a true interference or press fitting.

*I've had crank arms loosen in both lubricated and unlubricated fittings, even with proper torque. Cheaper cranks are more prone to this.

i guess ill just wait and see if i die before i order my 722 next week (godwilling) and swap parts over there

When using the correct torque, it doesn't matter much. Considering most people installing crank arms tend to be ham-fisted and not even know what a torque wrench is - let alone own one - overtightening a square taper crank arm on a greasy spindle will most likely cause damage to the interface.

As I've said before, a drop of blue Loctite on the threads of your crank bolts will prevent them from loosening.

do you know of an affordable torque wrench?

try a car parts store

I think harbor freight tools carries one for a ridiculously low price... take that with a larger than normal grain of salt as far as accuracy goes. I've never bought a tool there before in my life and I only heard about them because they always have full page ads w/ coupons and a free item coupon in lots of magazines. Yet I've heard both raves and jeers

or google.

I would never buy any tool that I'm planning on using more than once from harbor freight.

A lot of "normal" torque wrenches have settings that are useless for a bike. I used a regular Craftsman torque wrench on my square taper crankset and had to use the lowest setting.

Hey Scrod,

When you get a chance, is the Nitto UI 21EX the same as the 85EX, but with a 31.8 clamp? That's my understanding, and if that's true, is the 85EX a quality stem (on par with a Thomson X4) based on your experience?

The UI21EX is exactly that. Thomson is great but I prefer Nitto any day.