Grease for threads

Just zis Guy, you know?

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:27:13 +0100, Rob Morley <nospam@ntlworld.com>
said in <20080616142713.6b20e73f@bluemoon>:

>Halfords is fine as long as you think of it as a supermarket rather
>than a bike shop.

Not really, no. I remember when they drove most of the useful car
parts shops off the high street, but did not themselves sell more
than the basic bits, making it much harder to get the part you
actually wanted. Same with bikes, IME. They simply don't carry
stuff that a good bike shop usually will, like replacement rings.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Roger Burton West

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:

>Not really, no. I remember when they drove most of the useful car
>parts shops off the high street, but did not themselves sell more
>than the basic bits, making it much harder to get the part you
>actually wanted. Same with bikes, IME. They simply don't carry
>stuff that a good bike shop usually will, like replacement rings.

While they may be convenient for very basic stuff, I've got to the point
where I'm simply not prepared to use them any more. The Carrera Subway 8
is a very nice bike, but I got one with a duff back wheel (it started
breaking spokes under normal use - I'm large but not _that_ large). LBS
said "this will need a new wheel". But it was still under warranty, so I
went to Halfords to get it done free. "No need for a new wheel, we'll
just replace the spokes, come back in two days", they said. Three weeks
later (noting that they have never once managed to phone me, I always
have to chase them at my expense) they handed me back the bike. With the
back nut finger-loose. And after another 20 miles or so the wheel fell
apart, just as predicted, because the rim was knackered.

But why complain at that point? If I'd said "this is not of merchantable
quality", they'd have offered to fix it - and _my bike would have been
back in the hands of Halford's_. Since I wasn't prepared to trust them
to touch it again, I just took it back to the LBS and got the wheel
build done instead.

--
When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of
the human race.
-- H. G. Wells

Rob Morley

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:36:17 +0100
"Just zis Guy, you know?" <uce@ftc.gov> wrote:

> On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:27:13 +0100, Rob Morley <nospam@ntlworld.com>
> said in <20080616142713.6b20e73f@bluemoon>:
>
> >Halfords is fine as long as you think of it as a supermarket rather
> >than a bike shop.
>
> Not really, no. I remember when they drove most of the useful car
> parts shops off the high street, but did not themselves sell more
> than the basic bits, making it much harder to get the part you
> actually wanted. Same with bikes, IME. They simply don't carry
> stuff that a good bike shop usually will, like replacement rings.
>
So you'll never buy stuff on-line despite the fact that it's cheap and
in stock, while your LBS will have to order it and charge more? Useful
car parts shops aren't on the high street anyway, they're in dingy
low-rent backstreet premises.

Tom Anderson

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008, vernon wrote:

> "Tom Anderson" <twic@urchin.earth.li> wrote in message
> news:Pine.LNX.4.64.0806151457360.7727@urchin.earth.li...
>
>> Should i grease the threads before putting them together, and if so,
>> what with? Currently i have Finish Line Cross-Country chain oil, 3-in-1
>> oil, and GT-85 - would any of those do? GT-85 is a PTFE coating rather
>> than a grease, but i'm hoping 3-in-1 might be okay. Surely you can use
>> 3-in-1 for anything!
>
> None of the three lubricants can be described as a grease - they are all
> oils. You have listed them in order of decreasing retention i.e. the
> chain oil will han around longr than the 3 in 1 adn the GT-85 will
> disappear first.
>
> Some folk, myself included, oil the threads and periodically remove and
> re-lubricate the components as part of servicing their bikes.
>
> If it's grease you want then something like copper slip anti-seize
> grease is the stuff to use. It's avalable from Halfords and the like.

Thanks, and thanks to everyone else who's contributed to this thread, for
the help.

I am now on the lookout for some copper grease.

I tried two bike shops and a tool shop this lunchtime, and no joy. I don't
think there's a Halford's anywhere near me. Oh, Stoke Newington,
apparently. Anyway, there's bound to be a hardware shop somewhere in town
that will sell it - maybe Robert Dyas, or the random tool shop a few doors
up from it.

One of the bike shops did have Park Tool ASC-1 anti-seize compound, at a
tenner a go, but i was a bit dubious about that.

tom

--
Miscellaneous Terrorists: Ducks | Bird Flu | Avian flu | Jimbo Wales |
Backstreet Boys | The Al Queda Network | Tesco -- Uncyclopedia

Tom Anderson

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008, Doki wrote:

> Tom Anderson wrote:
>
>> I'm soon (as soon as the deliveryman comes) to replace various bits on
>> my bike, cranks and cassette among them. There are a couple of places
>> there where bits will be attached to other bits by threads which will
>> then stay done up for the lifetime of the components - pedals, cranks,
>> cassette lockring. Should i grease the threads before putting them
>> together, and if so, what with? Currently i have Finish Line
>> Cross-Country chain oil, 3-in-1 oil, and GT-85 - would any of those do?
>> GT-85 is a PTFE coating rather than a grease, but i'm hoping 3-in-1
>> might be okay. Surely you can use 3-in-1 for anything!
>
> I like blue loctite and copper slip, depending on how much I want it to
> stay done up or be easy to undo...

In my case, i want them to be undoable. Pedals are threaded so that
peddalling keeps them tight, and i have a vague idea that neither crank
bolts nor cassette lockrings are under a lot of force when in use, so i'm
not worried about them falling out. I am worried about them seizing up
over the next couple of years of mistreatment!

tom

--
Miscellaneous Terrorists: Ducks | Bird Flu | Avian flu | Jimbo Wales |
Backstreet Boys | The Al Queda Network | Tesco -- Uncyclopedia

Dave

"Tom Anderson" <twic@urchin.earth.li> wrote in message
news:Pine.LNX.4.64.0806171519400.23985@urchin.earth.li...
SNIP
> I am now on the lookout for some copper grease.
>
> I tried two bike shops and a tool shop this lunchtime, and no joy. I don't
> think there's a Halford's anywhere near me. Oh, Stoke Newington,
> apparently. Anyway, there's bound to be a hardware shop somewhere in town
> that will sell it - maybe Robert Dyas, or the random tool shop a few doors
> up from it.
>
> One of the bike shops did have Park Tool ASC-1 anti-seize compound, at a
> tenner a go, but i was a bit dubious about that.
>

Many car accessory shops are likely to sell it as it is commonly used to
grease brake shoes as they enter the calliper (obviously not the pads).

It comes in a small tube - smaller than a toothpaste tube and is quite
expensive.

Dave

Clive George

"Dave" <dave.barwickns@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Z5ydnQ239ouaR8rVnZ2dneKdnZydnZ2d@eclipse.net.uk...
>
> "Tom Anderson" <twic@urchin.earth.li> wrote in message
> news:Pine.LNX.4.64.0806171519400.23985@urchin.earth.li...
> SNIP
>> I am now on the lookout for some copper grease.
>>
>> I tried two bike shops and a tool shop this lunchtime, and no joy. I
>> don't think there's a Halford's anywhere near me. Oh, Stoke Newington,
>> apparently. Anyway, there's bound to be a hardware shop somewhere in town
>> that will sell it - maybe Robert Dyas, or the random tool shop a few
>> doors up from it.
>>
>> One of the bike shops did have Park Tool ASC-1 anti-seize compound, at a
>> tenner a go, but i was a bit dubious about that.
>>
>
> Many car accessory shops are likely to sell it as it is commonly used to
> grease brake shoes as they enter the calliper (obviously not the pads).
>
> It comes in a small tube - smaller than a toothpaste tube and is quite
> expensive.

I've got a 1 lb pot of the stuff which cost a few quid - definitely not
"quite expensive". (looks - 6 quid or so from GSF for half a kilo).

Make sure you don't use copper grease on bearings though!

cheers,
clive

Tom Anderson

On Tue, 17 Jun 2008, Dave wrote:

> "Tom Anderson" <twic@urchin.earth.li> wrote in message
> news:Pine.LNX.4.64.0806171519400.23985@urchin.earth.li...
> SNIP
>
>> I am now on the lookout for some copper grease.
>>
>> I tried two bike shops and a tool shop this lunchtime, and no joy. I don't
>> think there's a Halford's anywhere near me. Oh, Stoke Newington,
>> apparently. Anyway, there's bound to be a hardware shop somewhere in town
>> that will sell it - maybe Robert Dyas, or the random tool shop a few doors
>> up from it.
>
> Many car accessory shops are likely to sell it as it is commonly used to
> grease brake shoes as they enter the calliper (obviously not the pads).

There don't seem to be many car accessory shops in inner London, though.
Probably because not a lot of people drive cars there.

tom

--
VTEC Just Kicked in, Yo!!

Peter Pan

Tom Anderson wrote:
> There don't seem to be many car accessory shops in inner London, though.
> Probably because not a lot of people drive cars there.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Molyslip-Copa...1QQcmdZViewItem

£4.40 delivered.

Just zis Guy, you know?

On Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:52:22 +0100, Rob Morley <nospam@ntlworld.com>
said in <20080616235222.5af3e9e5@bluemoon>:

>> Not really, no. I remember when they drove most of the useful car
>> parts shops off the high street, but did not themselves sell more
>> than the basic bits, making it much harder to get the part you
>> actually wanted. Same with bikes, IME. They simply don't carry
>> stuff that a good bike shop usually will, like replacement rings.

>So you'll never buy stuff on-line despite the fact that it's cheap and
>in stock, while your LBS will have to order it and charge more? Useful
>car parts shops aren't on the high street anyway, they're in dingy
>low-rent backstreet premises.

Not often, no. I buy from my LBS unless they can't get it.

And no, good car parts shops are not in dingy backstreets, they are
gone for the most part. Although I noted with some pleasure that
the Midnight Motor Shop in Watford is still hanging in there, that
one saved my bacon many times.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Rob Morley

On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:14:50 +0100
"Just zis Guy, you know?" <uce@ftc.gov> wrote:

> And no, good car parts shops are not in dingy backstreets, they are
> gone for the most part.

There are several within a couple of miles of me, in a medium
sized town. Maybe you live in an area where everyone uses main dealers
so there's little demand from small garages or home mechanics.

Tom Anderson

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008, Rob Morley wrote:

> On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 09:14:50 +0100
> "Just zis Guy, you know?" <uce@ftc.gov> wrote:
>
>> And no, good car parts shops are not in dingy backstreets, they are
>> gone for the most part.
>
> There are several within a couple of miles of me, in a medium sized
> town. Maybe you live in an area where everyone uses main dealers so
> there's little demand from small garages or home mechanics.

Grease update: i went past a car parts shop in a dingy backstreet this
lunchtime, and went in to ask for copper grease. Apparently they only have
one tub in stock at a time, since it's not a very popular item, and they'd
recently sold it. "Try City Hardware, down the road". City Hardware had
lithium grease, but not copper (that's similar, innit?), and directed me
to City Belts and Bearings, in a nearby industrial estate, at which point
i made my excuses and left.

Mr Dyas and another local tool shop await ...

tom

--
IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!!

Rob Morley

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:44:31 +0100
Tom Anderson <twic@urchin.earth.li> wrote:

> Grease update: i went past a car parts shop in a dingy backstreet
> this lunchtime, and went in to ask for copper grease. Apparently they
> only have one tub in stock at a time, since it's not a very popular
> item

I'm not overly surprised - I bought a tube of it at least 18 years ago
(and used it on several Minis) and I still have some, so a tub must last
forever.

These people will send you a big tube for £5.95
http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?show=1413

I almost feel obliged to check out the local suppliers to see if they
have stock. :-)