# Anti-Seize Compound or Grease



## Slyham (Jun 24, 2015)

Hello,

I'm a long time mountain biker but newbie to doing my own maintenance. I was having trouble with stuck pedals so I bought the Park Anti-Seize Compound and that has worked great. I have read that it works well in a lot of other applications but I have also read that grease can be used in the same application. Is one better than the other? Do most people use grease because they always have it available? Since I have the Anti-Seize Compound is that better to use than grease in some applications?

Thanks in advance.


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## Slyham (Jun 24, 2015)

For some reason I was unsuccessful in finding a post with this info before but now I have found one.

http://forums.mtbr.com/tooltime/grease-thread-lock-anti-seize-846145.html

I'm not sure if that cleared it up or made it more confusing. 

Now I need to add thread lock to my kit. :thumbsup:


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## dundundata (May 15, 2009)

I've used it but it's kinda messy so generally I use grease. Threadlock on caliper and rotor bolts.


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## Rockadile (Jun 27, 2005)

dundundata said:


> I've used it but it's kinda messy so generally I use grease. Threadlock on caliper and rotor bolts.


THIS. Holy crap is it messy. A long time ago I decided to try my hand at wheel building. It was suggested to use anti-seize on the spoke nipples, so I did. I still have the bike and wheels and you can still find places on the wheel where I didn't get it all off. Never again.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Anti-seize is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, I use it liberally on my morning toast. :ihih: I didn't read the link above, I've been in the game of turning wrenches on heavy industrial equipment down to simple little bicycles and have learned over decades that for the want of the tiniest speck of anti-seize, bazilliion's of dollars could have been saved in parts destruction and/or labor costs. I've experienced the grief myself, over and over from manufacturers saving a penny during assembly and me spending thousands to mitigate. 

Pedals are an excellent example of a component that is perfect for anti-seize. It's a fitting that you know you will need to break loose at some point but not one typically requiring frequent removal. These types of fittings, especially if combining alloys (crankset) and steel (pedal threads) should be treated with A-S and torqued to proper spec. A fastener like pivot bearing bolts, brake caliper bolts, or things that need to be torqued and we want to make absolutely sure they don't come loose due to catastrophic circumstances, a threadlock compound is the ticket. Typically always a "blue" or medium strength would be the most needed on any bike component, IMO. Threadlocked fittings will usually always break free but if too tight, when heated properly they should break free. I tend to use grease on fasteners that will be repeatedly tightened and loosened in the course of regular maintenance if the fittings are of similar metals. If different, A-S gets used and the fastener torqued to spec. 

As for NOT using A-S because it's messy? Well, that's plain silliness. Don't apply it like toothpaste. A tiny amount goes a long way. I usually just swipe one side of a bolt/screw across the tube's opening to pack a little into the tip of first few threads without any excess on the fitting. It will disperse itself neatly and sufficiently as the fastener is threaded into it's mated component. No reason to make a mess.


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## Rockadile (Jun 27, 2005)

Oh My Sack! said:


> Anti-seize is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, I use it liberally on my morning toast. :ihih: I didn't read the link above, I've been in the game of turning wrenches on heavy industrial equipment down to simple little bicycles and have learned over decades that for the want of the tiniest speck of anti-seize, bazilliion's of dollars could have been saved in parts destruction and/or labor costs. I've experienced the grief myself, over and over from manufacturers saving a penny during assembly and me spending thousands to mitigate.
> 
> Pedals are an excellent example of a component that is perfect for anti-seize. It's a fitting that you know you will need to break loose at some point but not one typically requiring frequent removal. These types of fittings, especially if combining alloys (crankset) and steel (pedal threads) should be treated with A-S and torqued to proper spec. A fastener like pivot bearing bolts, brake caliper bolts, or things that need to be torqued and we want to make absolutely sure they don't come loose due to catastrophic circumstances, a threadlock compound is the ticket. Typically always a "blue" or medium strength would be the most needed on any bike component, IMO. Threadlocked fittings will usually always break free but if too tight, when heated properly they should break free. I tend to use grease on fasteners that will be repeatedly tightened and loosened in the course of regular maintenance if the fittings are of similar metals. If different, A-S gets used and the fastener torqued to spec.
> 
> As for NOT using A-S because it's messy? Well, that's plain silliness. Don't apply it like toothpaste. A tiny amount goes a long way. I usually just swipe one side of a bolt/screw across the tube's opening to pack a little into the tip of first few threads without any excess on the fitting. It will disperse itself neatly and sufficiently as the fastener is threaded into it's mated component. No reason to make a mess.


That's me. I always use too much for fear I am not using enough. I use grease for everything that doesn't get loctite. Haven't had a problem yet so it's not worth the hassle (and doubt if I've applied enough) for me to switch to anti-seize.


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## Miker J (Nov 4, 2003)

AS is for threaded things that stay put.

Grease is for things that go round and round, like bearings.

Thread locker is for things that need to stay put but you are limited by not being able to utilize high torque. Like a pivot bolt that captures bearings.


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## Slyham (Jun 24, 2015)

Oh My Sack! said:


> Anti-seize is the greatest thing since sliced bread. In fact, I use it liberally on my morning toast. :ihih: I didn't read the link above, I've been in the game of turning wrenches on heavy industrial equipment down to simple little bicycles and have learned over decades that for the want of the tiniest speck of anti-seize, bazilliion's of dollars could have been saved in parts destruction and/or labor costs. I've experienced the grief myself, over and over from manufacturers saving a penny during assembly and me spending thousands to mitigate.
> 
> Pedals are an excellent example of a component that is perfect for anti-seize. It's a fitting that you know you will need to break loose at some point but not one typically requiring frequent removal. These types of fittings, especially if combining alloys (crankset) and steel (pedal threads) should be treated with A-S and torqued to proper spec. A fastener like pivot bearing bolts, brake caliper bolts, or things that need to be torqued and we want to make absolutely sure they don't come loose due to catastrophic circumstances, a threadlock compound is the ticket. Typically always a "blue" or medium strength would be the most needed on any bike component, IMO. Threadlocked fittings will usually always break free but if too tight, when heated properly they should break free. I tend to use grease on fasteners that will be repeatedly tightened and loosened in the course of regular maintenance if the fittings are of similar metals. If different, A-S gets used and the fastener torqued to spec.
> 
> As for NOT using A-S because it's messy? Well, that's plain silliness. Don't apply it like toothpaste. A tiny amount goes a long way. I usually just swipe one side of a bolt/screw across the tube's opening to pack a little into the tip of first few threads without any excess on the fitting. It will disperse itself neatly and sufficiently as the fastener is threaded into it's mated component. No reason to make a mess.


Thanks for the thorough response! Definitely something I plan to continue to use. I appreciate the descriptions of when to use each compound.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

I can't think of anything on a bike I'd want to put thread-lock on. If you do the bolts up correctly, they won't come undone. 

As for anti-seize, it makes sense in some places but I've always just used grease and that's been fine too.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Mr Pig said:


> I can't think of anything on a bike I'd want to put thread-lock on. If you do the bolts up correctly, they won't come undone.
> 
> As for anti-seize, it makes sense in some places but I've always just used grease and that's been fine too.


You don't put Locktite on your rotor or caliper bolts?! :eekster:

You could be seriously killed or get dain bramage that way! :skep:

:lol:


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

Oh My Sack! said:


> You don't put Locktite on your rotor or caliper bolts?


No. Most bolts arrive with blue threadlock on the threads and ok, I usually don't remove it, but even when I have used bolts with none, they've never come loose. Never had a caliper come loose and no locktite on those.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Mr Pig said:


> No. Most bolts arrive with blue threadlock on the threads and ok, I usually don't remove it, but even when I have used bolts with none, they've never come loose. Never had a caliper come loose and no locktite on those.


I generally roll the same way. I never re-apply on those particular bolts aside from some occasional instances when I'm cleaning up a hub and have cleaned up the screws from old grunge, than I dab the 242 on them. I have the "glue-stik" applicator that makes it easy.


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

The problem with locktite is that sooner or later you are going to want to undo whatever fastener you've put it on!

Last year I had to replace the top air-seal on a Specialized Command Post dropper. This involved dissembling the post and removing the activation lever on the top of the post. The lever pivoted on a small pin that screwed into the side of the head. Because the pin had been put in with thread-lock, dealing with it was the hardest part of the whole job! I ended up having to drill it out and fit a new pin. It was a real hassle and totally unnecessary as there was no need to glue that pin in.

Manufacturers often do crap like that because the part they've fitted falling out is their responsibility, you not being able to remove it when you want to isn't.


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## Oh My Sack! (Aug 21, 2006)

Well, I hate to do this but your problem first started with "Specialized Command Post". :lol: 

Sorry I went there. :thumbsup:


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## Mr Pig (Jun 25, 2008)

Oh My Sack! said:


> Well, I hate to do this but your problem first started with "Specialized Command Post".


Yeah, it has its issues but name a dropper that doesn't?


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## edubfromktown (Sep 7, 2010)

Grease is the word 

I use anti-seize on air cooled auto engines (Chevrolet Corvair and VW), not on bicycles.


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## Grassington (Jun 24, 2017)

Oh My Sack! said:


> You don't put Locktite on your rotor or caliper bolts?! :eekster:
> 
> You could be seriously killed or get dain bramage that way! :skep:
> 
> :lol:


I had a front rotor rattle loose _because_ of thread lock. It was a new fit and the bolts came with their own band of blue threadlocky stuff. So far so good. The rotor got a proper anally-retentive fitting (tighten with a torque wrench in stages, sequenced in a star pattern) but they all loosened up after a few hours of riding, and it was pure dumb luck that I caught it at an early stage. One post-mortem later and I'd worked out what went wrong: the blue threadlock was kind of hard and plasticy and this made the bolts quite stiff to turn, which meant that the bolts weren't stretched enough when tightened to the specified 5 Nm. The cure was to scrape all the plastic crap off and apply some trusty Loctite 243.

As for the OP's pedals - yeah, I'd use either copper grease, anti-seize grease or anti-fretting compound on the pedal threads because electrolytic/galvanic corrosion. Any grease is better than dry here. Just on the threads, mind, you don't want any between the pedal spindle and the crank, it's the dry friction here that prevents it being over-torqued or working loose. If you get a bit of corrosion here then it won't be the disaster that you'd get with corroded threads and you'll still be able to unscrew the spindle.


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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

I use anti seize in very specific applications. It's very messy and I don't feel like dealing with it. On bikes, I like grease much better.


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## Schulze (Feb 21, 2007)

ARP Ultra Torque in a 20ml syringe with a 12ga needle ground flat. No mess.


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## E. Bryant (Jan 25, 2018)

I'd dare say that in most cases on a bicycle that sees typical use, using either grease or anti-seize will help avoid 90%+ of problems with seized fasteners. Hell, even a dab of candle wax or pork fat would help! 

If you're spending a lot of time in corrosive environments - road salt, costal regions, whatever - then it'll pay to find and use the correct anti-seize compound. I've yet to find a definitive source of information as when to use nickel/graphite vs copper formulations, so I suspect that it's simply best to use something and reapply it as needed. It's really no fun to deal with something like a water bottle case mounting bolts that's stuck in a frame because it was installed dry several years ago, and I have better things to do with my time.

For those small bolts that really need to be installed with thread locker, remember that a bit of heat at the time of removal can be valuable in saving time and frustration. The tip of a large soldering iron is appropriate for this task.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

E. Bryant said:


> For those small bolts that really need to be installed with thread locker, remember that a bit of heat at the time of removal can be valuable in saving time and frustration. The tip of a large soldering iron is appropriate for this task.


I had to do this on my hub on my truck. I could not get the bolts out to service the hub without heat. worked like PFM(pure f*cking magic) with the heat gun. I broke 3 different torx drivers. All high end drivers. What did the job? harbor freight torx folding key set. didnt break.









I put AS on many parts. like said before, grease is for those things that move, AS is for bolts you take on and off.


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## R_Pierce (May 31, 2017)




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## NYrr496 (Sep 10, 2008)

Hahaha! Yep.


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## azimiut (Feb 21, 2014)

one of the techs at my old job really pissed me off one day. I put a big dab of AS under the door handle of his car.


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## SuitKnol (May 27, 2017)

copper grease works great as anti-seize. always use it for brackets and pedals.


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