Carbon and grease

It's recommended not to use grease on carbon seatposts but i never
hear anybody about forks with carbon steerers. I have a new frame
which has such a fork. I'm certain the steerer will get grease on it in the
places where it passes the headset. Any recommendations to prevent
this? I was thinking of wrapping the steerer in electrical isolation tape
near the headset.

Ronald- but i never
hear anybody about forks with carbon steerers. I have a new frame
which has such a fork. I'm certain the steerer will get grease on it in the
places where it passes the headset. Any recommendations to prevent
this? BRBR

Grease isn't like an acid when it comes into contact with carbon, like on a
steerer. Just wipe it off, a wee residual won't hurt it.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

"Ronald" wrote in message ...
It's recommended not to use grease on carbon seatposts but i never
hear anybody about forks with carbon steerers. I have a new frame
which has such a fork. I'm certain the steerer will get grease on it in the
places where it passes the headset. Any recommendations to prevent
this? I was thinking of wrapping the steerer in electrical isolation tape
near the headset.

I think the problem with grease on carbon seatposts is that the carbon
will be extra slick and the clamp will not hold the seatpost in
position. And then someone will put extra pressure on the clamp and
destroy the seat cluster or the seatpost. I don't think the problem
is the grease will degrade the carbon fiber of the seatpost.

So for your carbon fork steerer, don't put grease under the spot where
the stem clamps onto the steerer. Don't worry about grease from the
headset touching the carbon steerer in other places.

On 11 Nov 2004 07:42:02 -0800, (Russell
Seaton) wrote:

"Ronald" wrote in message ...
It's recommended not to use grease on carbon seatposts but i never
hear anybody about forks with carbon steerers. I have a new frame
which has such a fork. I'm certain the steerer will get grease on it in the
places where it passes the headset. Any recommendations to prevent
this? I was thinking of wrapping the steerer in electrical isolation tape
near the headset.

I think the problem with grease on carbon seatposts is that the carbon
will be extra slick and the clamp will not hold the seatpost in
position. And then someone will put extra pressure on the clamp and
destroy the seat cluster or the seatpost. I don't think the problem
is the grease will degrade the carbon fiber of the seatpost.

It's not the carbon fiber that gets attacked by certain greases, it's
the epoxy resin, but your point is well taken anyway; there should be
no need for grease on a metal or carbon seatpost in a carbon tube, or
a carbon seatpost in a metal tube. OTOH, certain greases can and will
attack the epoxy, and contact should be avoided unless the
compatibility is known to be good. A slight film may not cause a
problem even if the grease is not the right kind, but with something
that costly, it's best to take no chances.


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