title says it. how often should i lubricate the splines of my torker dx?
antisieze not lube
How often do you ride it in the rain, through snow, through rain, through puddles, jump in water, etc.?
It all depends on what kinds of conditions you ride it in. If it is always ridden in clean dry conditions and stored well you won’t have to regrease (with anti-seize) very often. If you ride regularly in bad conditions you may have to regrease every couple of months (or even more) and also replace the bearings regularly. It all depends.
forgive me, but what is the difference between like a heavy bike grease and an anti-seize?
Heavy bike grease is designed for lubricating things like bearings. It is thick so it acts as a barier to dirt or water getting in to where there is metal on metal contact.
Anti-seize is designed to lubricate parts where there is high pressure. Pressure being that the parts squeeze together very tightly. Splined crank interfaces and the threads of highly torqued bolts are examples of high pressure applications.
Anti-seize is a grease with metal and/or graphite flakes mixed in with the grease. The metal flakes will lubricate even after the grease has been squeezed out due to the high pressure. Anti-seize won’t get squeezed out from between the parts the way regular bicycle bearing grease can.
Here’s Loctite’s blurb on anti-seize from their catalog:
Anti-seize is used in various maintenance tasks for cars. For example you put anti-seize on spark plug threads so the spark plugs won’t seize in the engine block. Because it’s used for car maintenance you can find anti-seize at automotive shops. You can find anti-seize at bike shops too, but it’s generally more expensive there than at automotive shops. For bicycle use the copper based anti-seize is fine.
A little bit of anti-seize goes a long way. A little 4 oz. jar of anti-seize will last you many years. Don’t buy more than 4 oz. cause you’ll never use it all.
Forgive me JC but I’m still a fan of using Finnish Line Grease w teflon. I’m just not convinced that there is that much pressure on my splines to warrent the icky nasty anti seize, its way expencive and while yes I know profile does reccomend to use it. My profile cranks and splines look great after 3 years of hard riding.
Oh and I typically clean and lube up the uni every 2 months when I’m riding alot.
i dont know hwo to find Anti-seize here in brazil…
I have never used anything other than anti-seize. But if I did try something else the Finish Line Teflon grease would be a good option. It’s good stuff.
I wear Latex gloves when putting the anti-seize on and wipe away the excess with a paper towel (while I still have the gloves on). It is messy when it gets on your hands and it can be messy wiping away the excess.
Anti-seize isn’t expensive, especially compared to premium bicycle grease like the Finish Line Teflon grease. You should be able to find a 4oz jar of anti-seize at an auto parts store for around $8. The Finish Line Teflon grease has a MSRP of $7.49 for 3.5oz or $16.99 for 16oz. It’s not cheap either.
Grease or “Lube” is fine. I use grease more than anti-seize.
There are many, many, many types of grease. K-Y jelly, for example, is a type of grease. Would you use K-Y jelly on your splines? I didn’t think so…
I rarely ride in water but I run a Profile crank and my method is pretty simple but so far effective. Tear everything down, clean with a super strong and toxic degreaser (that has acid), coat all parts with regular axle grease and reassemble. I’ll have to try anti-seize next time but so far this simple method has worked well for me. Gotta do this about three to four times a year if I’m riding every weekend. Also, change the bearings sooner than later. They’re only about 15 bucks and it’s nice to have a smooth running wheel.
JL
i use this “cyclo” brand stuff i found in my basement. i dissasembled the whole uni, wiped it down, dried any water, put the stuff on, and reassembled it. rides like a dream.
its the best anti-seize ive ever seen. i put some on my brothers bike secretly, and he said he noticed a difference.
so I imagine if you do use anti-seize instead of grease, you use less, right? cause when I grease my splines, I slather it on, but at that rate, 4oz would never last me for years…
A little goes a long way. You just coat the parts like you were painting. It’s not like stucco or plaster. You don’t slather it, just coat the surfaces like paint.
The jars of anti-seize will have a brush in the cap. The tubes will not. Spread it around with the brush. If you don’t have a brush then cover your finger with a plastic bag and spread it around with your finger.
I didn’t see many responses to natiag’s original question, not what with but how often should he grease the splines. Splines don’t really need to be greased or Loctited or anti-seized more often than when they are being mounted, if, however, natiag means how often to grease bearings then all of the advise about anti-seize is incorrect - don’t Loctite or anti-seize bearings - just grease - anti-seize is for non-moving surfaces, the metal flakes in anti-seize is bad for bearings. This may be why some people are disagreeing grease an anti-seize, you can grease or anti-seize splines but bearings should only get grease. I work on big, multi-ton industrial machines that run 24/7 and the bearing surfaces NEVER get anti-seize, just oils and greases.
thank you brianslater
There is no simple answer where you can say the cranks need regreasing after X number of hours riding. It’s like asking how often you should relubricate a bicycle chain. It all depends on the conditions you ride in and some other factors.
The cranks need to be regreased when they need it. If you start hearing noises from the crank or hub then it’s overdue for some maintenance.
Generally the lubrication on the splines will be fine. The splines aren’t exposed to the elements. It’s often the lubrication on the spacer washers or the funny washer under the Bitchin’ Bolt for the Profile cranks that wears away first and that seems to be where some noise can develop. To lube the spacers you need to pull the cranks off so might as well lube the crank splines again too.
The hub bearings for a muni likely need to be replaced once or twice per year, depending on how often you ride and the conditions you ride in. The Winter season generally does in my hub bearings so the cranks get pulled to replace the bearings then.
All told the cranks come off my muni at least four or five times per year. I don’t count or keep track.