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Can we talk about greasing pedal threads?
I used to just put a little grease on pedal threads before installing them, but after 6 months one of them seized up so bad I had to cut the crank arm off. Turns out the pedal spindle needs anti-seize compound instead of regular grease, especially on aluminum cranks. Anyone else made this mistake before?
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rubys8015d agoMost Upvoted
Honestly I had the exact same thing happen to me on an old pair of M540s about a year ago. I used a bit of copper grease because that's what my dad always used on his bike, and after just 8 months the pedal was fused to the crank arm. I ended up having to take the whole bike to a shop and they charged me 40 bucks to extract the broken spindle. Since then I switched to a little tube of anti-seize from the hardware store and I haven't had a single problem. I also started putting a tiny bit of anti-seize on the pedal body where it meets the crank face, because I read that aluminum can bond to steel over time even without the threads locking up. Ngl it's a pain to remember to use the right stuff but it beats destroying a crank arm.
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hugomurray15d ago
That happened to me with an old set of Shimano PD-M520 pedals on my commuter bike about two years ago. I put a thin layer of standard automotive grease on the threads because that's what I always did for bottom brackets and headset cups back in the day. Six months later I was trying to swap pedals and the non-drive side just wouldn't budge. I used a cheater bar and it still cracked the aluminum arm where the threads meet the crank. I had to buy a whole new crank arm and even then the pedal spindle was mangled. Now I use proper anti-seize compound on every pedal install, and I actually wipe the threads clean with degreaser first to make sure there's no old crud. It's wild how many of us have learned this lesson the hard way with aluminum cranks.
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