Bike shop told me to use thread lock on pedals

[longers]

I've seen it on the tension adjustment bolt thingy on v brakes. After I've adjusted the screw once then it's no longer able to do its job? They've not dropped out yet.

Putting some on bottle cage bolts as Dodgy suggests sounds like a reasonable use for it. Or at least on one bike I own, new bolts didn't help so it must be the thread. I have solved the problem by not riding that bike much.

 

[mickle]

Best practice for pedal threads - in every work shop I've ever worked in - grease and torque.

Copper slip and threadlock are very rarely used.

Don't get any of these things ^^^ on yourself or near anything which is living and cherished - they are all toxic or carcinogenic.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

The problem with using it on bottle cage bolts is that it can turn the rivnut in the frame when you try to remove it. As I suggested, if you have a problem with bottle cage bolts vibrating loose (which you shouldn't if they are torqued up correctly), then use spring or serrated washers.

 

[mcshroom]

I got a bottle opener at a trade fair recently with one of these on it. Very effective at keeping the bolt tightened. I haven't seen them on sale anywhere but they looked interesting.

 

[mickle]

I got a bottle opener at a trade fair recently with one of these on it. Very effective at keeping the bolt tightened. I haven't seen them on sale anywhere but they looked interesting.

Interesting indeed.

I use regular pedal washers on every decent chainset I own though they are rarely seen in bike shops. You have to hunt them down - does anyone else use them?

 

[Zoiders]

Never use white lithium grease on pedals.

Use plain old brown molybendumwhatsit grease, white grease causes galvanic corrosion which bonds steel to aluminium.

Thread lock is a security blanket for the cack handed, buying the most expensive option does not make it the right option.

Bike companies may use threadlock in some places but only as a liability cover on a few safety critical components, you still wont find it on pedal threads though.

 

[gwhite]

Best practice for pedal threads - in every work shop I've ever worked in - grease and torque.

Copper slip and threadlock are very rarely used.

Don't get any of these things ^^^ on yourself or near anything which is living and cherished - they are all toxic or carcinogenic.

Now you tell me.

I think that threadlock has a place but certainly not on pedal threads. I do think it's good for the Allen-headed bolts on rack fittings however and on those mudguard stay nuts.

 

[henshaw11]

>Never use white lithium grease on pedals.

I'd be curious as to where you got that from.
Pretty sure I used to use it pretty much universally years ago, never had a problem...and a brief web search just seems to throw up somethin akin to an old wive's tale/mtb mag waffle. Castrol LM - typically lobbed in wheel bearings and I've also used for years - is a lithium grease.
The white stuff is a bit thin, tho'

Threadlock's worth putting on things you really don't want to come undone in a hurry, such as disc rotor/caliper bolts but I don't bother/seem to need to use it elsewhere.

I think there's a few cases where copaslip's a better choice, istr summat related to titanium frames...

 

[snailracer]

Pedals CAN loosen on a fixie or a bike with a coaster brake.

 

[Alien8]

Pedals CAN loosen on a fixie or a bike with a coaster brake.

Why's that then, in the case of fixed, other than based on experience?

Regardless as to whether you are applying back pressure or not I would have thought that whilst the pedals/cranks are turning in the traditional direction the resultant forces would always tend to tighten the pedal.

Of course, if you ride your fixed pedalling backwards, that what be a different matter.

I'm just wondering?

 

[mickle]

Pedals CAN loosen on a fixie or a bike with a coaster brake.

Is it though.

 

[snailracer]

Why's that then, in the case of fixed, other than based on experience?

Regardless as to whether you are applying back pressure or not I would have thought that whilst the pedals/cranks are turning in the traditional direction the resultant forces would always tend to tighten the pedal.

Of course, if you ride your fixed pedalling backwards, that what be a different matter.

I'm just wondering?

Hmmm I think you are right - in theory, the pedals should still automatically tighten on a fixed or coaster brake.

My claim was based on my own experience of having a couple of pedals loosen, which in hindsight may just have been isolated examples of poor maintenance .

 

[gwhite]

Why's that then, in the case of fixed, other than based on experience?

Regardless as to whether you are applying back pressure or not I would have thought that whilst the pedals/cranks are turning in the traditional direction the resultant forces would always tend to tighten the pedal.

Of course, if you ride your fixed pedalling backwards, that what be a different matter.

I'm just wondering?

Not quite true as it has been shown that it's not that simple. There appears to be still some degree of force which does unscrew the pedals even given the direction of the threads.
I seem to remember a thread about this somewhere perhaps by Chris Juden.

 

[mickle]

I've seen a few bodgerama machines such as HPV's use chainsets the wrong way round - early Burrows Speedys for example. The pedals do have more of a tendency to unscrew but this can be eliminated simply by 'nipping them up' tight. The pedals on McGurns Windcheetah #007 have never come undone. And it's thirty years old.

 

[Ravenbait]

I use mild threadlock on the cleat bolts in my shoes.

Other than that, it's grease.

Sam