To Grease Or Not To Grease

Hello All,

Should one grease the screw threads on Shimano SPD-SL cleats before installing them on Sidi shoes with carbon sole?

I am inclined not to grease. Am I right?

Regards,

Super

 

grease all things with threads, including the screw heads or after getting them wet some, they may bond to the steel attach hardware of the shoe.

 

IIRC, there's only one thing that you shouldn't grease on a bike, and that's the BB spindle/crank interface. There's also something against greasing the crank bolt I think.

 

Only certain square taper spindles shouldn't be greased (in fact, I did grease them for years and that crankset is still going strong). All splined BB axles and all integrated/external BB crank/axle systems should have the splines greased. I don't see why the crank bolt shouldn't be greased. I would say that if you didn't grease an octalink crank bolt, you'd be in trouble as the damn things are very susceptible to backing off their crank bolts if they are inadequately tightened.

 

Yes, I was referring specifically to square tapered BB setup. And that crank bolt comment was with that reference in mind too. I am not sure of the reason why either but suspect that someone is concerned about crank loosening.

 

The hypothetical concern with greasing a square taper spindle is that the lubrication will allow the crank to slide too far up the taper, causing the socket to split at the corners due to overstretch. I was blissfully ignorant of this for a decade or more with my old MTB and have never run into trouble.

 

That's an interesting explanation and somewhat counter-intuitive. Maybe some of the Usenet historian/gurus can shed more light on the background.

 

Don't grease any threads at all. Use antisieze lube like you should.

 

Wouldn't thread-locker be more appropriate for cleat bolts than either grease or anti-seize?

 

Antisieze compound is good, and I use it now on BB axles, but it is designed for environments likely to be hostile to ordinary grease and the BB axle is not such a location. I always find that my grease is still there years later; grease was all I used for many years. You can get away with grease for your BB cups as well, although I prefer the security of antisieze compound there.

 

I agree, because you can't place a high torque on the bolts without damaging your sole or cleat. I'm missing a bolt on one of my cleats right now for the lack of it.

 

Antiseize compound was created because solid particles will not squeeze out from between threads. Threads have clearance and will appear to still be greased when disassembled, but the thread surfaces being squeezed together may not have had any on them until disassembly smeared the stuff around again.

Threads won't always seize. Grease provides some level of protection for a time, and its solid-phase thickeners like bentone clay may remain and provide at least some of the benefit of anti-seize after the oil base has been squeezed out.

 

This only seems to happen with some shoes, I have one pair that where a pain until i used thread lock. Another pair, nipped up once, no thread lock and no problems! Maybe it's a tolerance thing?

If you find the cleat screws are backing off I'd suggest using thread lock on them! It's not funny when a screw falls out while your riding! If the cleat can turn in your peddle, when you try and clip out it is somewhat more difficult to get your foot out. Next time you stop you'll be in for some excitement if you didn't notice and the cleat is loose.

Also, if your new to cleats make sure your happy with the positioning before you use the thread lock. Nip the screws up after every ride until you're happy with the positioning and also know if there's a problem in the first place!

 

Shimano instructions don't mention use of any lube or thread-lock on the screws, so yes, you're correct. Torque the screws to spec carefully, and then suggest you recheck the torque after the first few hundred miles of riding. I've found they loosen a bit intially: after all, they are clamping up plastic cleats to plastic soles with threaded inserts so there are a few things to "creep". After that, all should be fine but I'd still suggest checking them periodically.......particularly before your big events