damo010

Hey all just quick one;

Any one know of a alternative to thread lock solution when your on the road and can't get any / don't want to carry to many spares?

Is there any home made types?

thanks D

Leebo

What kind of threads are you trying to lock? Rack bolts? Piece of plastic bag or pine pitch might work.

antokelly

how hard is it to carry a small tube of thread lock

Tourist in MSN

I only use threadlocker on rack bolts and kickstand bolts. Factory usually puts it on cantilever/V brake bolts, so none needed. Grease on other bolts.

But on a tour, I just make sure that the bolts stay tight, I do not worry about threadlocker. And I carry a few spare bolts on a tour.

FBinNY 

First of all, I don't know why you feel you'll need thread lock on the road, and if so, why you feel carrying some is a burden.

Bicycles existed and worked fine without adhesive thread locks for over a century, and it's only over the last few years that anybody has felt the need for this class of products.

By the same token, there are many alternate and DIY solutions to preventing hardware from loosening. if you have hardware that you're concerned about you can use any of the commercial lock washers, or fit a Bellville washer under the bolt head. These produce spring tension within the bolt to prevent loosening. Or you can use my favorite old trick of slightly distorting a thread or two to create pressure on the engaged threads.

For an emergency field repair you can trap a piece of thread or dental floss lengthwise within the thread, or paint the threads withnylon base nail polish.

In short there are all sorts of creative ways to address the issue if they arise, and what's best will depend on the specific problem, and/or what's available at hand.

boomhauer

Lock washers are for this purpose.

indyfabz

I thought this was going to be a thread about alternatives to locking BF threads. I think this thread should be deleted before others are similarly misled.

Rowan

Nail polish on the thread?

Plumbers teflon thread tape?

BigAura

Super-glue, if you're intending for it to be permanent. The reality is you can still usually break the bond if so desired.

rex615

Paint works, maybe too well, as it is often hard to break loose later.

But as others have said, not much on a bike needs locktite and carrying a tube of it is not that much of a burden,

Doug64

+1

I don't use thread locker on any bolts, just the opposite, grease. I just check bolts periodically on tours.

mdilthey

I do carry a little threadlocker for stubborn rack bolts. It's such a small tube, and it doesn't take much to lock a bolt. It's the red tube pictured below.

B. Carfree

Not to quibble, but myself and a fair number of other west coast tourists were using loc-tite thirty years ago on our racks, so it's not just the last few years that this has been going on.

FBinNY 

Fair enough. let's change that to "the last few decades".

Actually it's a matter of perspective. When comparing to the century before, even 30 years isn't all that much. Also keep in mind that you might have been a bit of an early adopter, but I guess that we're talking 20 at least

With over 50 years of active riding behind me, I sometimes find it hard to fit events into the time line. If you were to ask me when index shifting came out, I'd say it wasn't that long ago, unless I stopped to think about it. My few years can be much longer in real time.

JBHoren

Beeswax. A little goes a long way.

Rivendell Bike Works sells a small paper cup filled with two-and-a-quarter ounces of beeswax, for $4. At that price, you could put a quarter of it (0.6 ounces) into a bottle cap, and the bottle cap into a baggie/balloon, stuff it into a corner of your handlebar bag, and forget about it 'til you need it.

prathmann

I've never used any threadlocker on my bicycles, but I did once have a need for some on a tour. The headset on my bike kept loosening and finally I put a piece of Scotch tape over the threads before screwing down the locknut to provide some extra friction. Turned out to be a common problem on that particular bike model and the manufacturer sent me a replacement locknut with a set screw as a more elegant solution.

LesterOfPuppets

Or get 7oz of Sno-Seal for $5.00 or so, slather your leather boots with it and still be able to treat a TON of threads.

LesterOfPuppets

Yep, I've been using blue Loctite on racks, bottle cages, set screws since the mid-80s myself.

LesterOfPuppets

I have a feeling at least a few early 20th century cyclists treated some of their threads with tar or other substance to keep fender and chainguard bolts from shaking loose.

elcruxio

On top of the other reasons, why not just use threadlocker, it also functions as a corrosion inhibiting agent. It acts the role of both thread locking and grease in threads, except in threads that specifically require grease (pedal threads). I cannot see a single reason why go to gimmicks when there is such a good product available.
Also a small bottle will last for years and weighs a few grams.

About locking washers, I thought about those at some point, but apparently the ones that work (nordlock for example) are actually pretty expensive, like a dollar or a couple a dollars a pop depending on size. So I just use threadlocker which will inhibit loosening just as well, if not better.

FBinNY 

I'm sure that some did where they felt they needed some extra help. I even posted suggestions of the type they might have used:

By the same token, there are many alternate and DIY solutions to preventing hardware from loosening. if you have hardware that you're concerned about you can use any of the commercial lock washers, or fit a Bellville washer under the bolt head. These produce spring tension within the bolt to prevent loosening. Or you can use my favorite old trick of slightly distorting a thread or two to create pressure on the engaged threads.

For an emergency field repair you can trap a piece of thread or dental floss lengthwise within the thread, or paint the threads withnylon base nail polish.

In short there are all sorts of creative ways to address the issue if they arise, and what's best will depend on the specific problem, and/or what's available at hand.

The point is that there's no real need to carry thread locker on a tour.

By the same token, there's very little need for these adhesives on a bicycle. Screw fasteners stay put using tension and friction, if properly designed, produced, chosen, and tightened. Yes, there's little harm in using them, except when time for disassembly comes along.

In any case, I'm not at all invested in whether people use these products or not, and was simply responding to the OP's request for alternatives to carrying them on a trip.

damo010

both my bottle cages keep coming loses, i think the tolerances of the frame are on the big side.

damo010

I like to keep my load out on the light weigh side of things so the mental approach of it's only a little bit can snow ball to a fair bit of weight. If I can carry something that has a dual purpose then thats the way I like to go than carrying lots of single purpose items.

Also I'm currently on tour and don't have any to sort out a prescient issue with bottle cage bolts working loses. Its surprising just how hard it is to find products like this in the far east and if a home made / quick and easy fix is an option then why not use that instead.

Rowan

Except V-brake post bolts, and disc brake hub bolts, and the centring adjuster grub screws on V-brakes, which have locker applied at the factory.

Rowan

That might be more an issue with the rivet nuts used these days in many cases instead of brazed on braze-ons.

Epoxy resin might be your best friend in the short-term.