ultegra octalink: tick Tick TICK TICK TICK!

Meccanico di Bici wrote:
Very common. Grease the livin' bejesus out of those splines! Octolink
is an interference fit, not a press fit. The splines on the crank and
the spindle bottom out onto eachother. Lots-o-grease will keep it
quiet. NEVER grease the tapers on a square spindle, but grease splines
to your hearts content.

Should this be greased?
http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/media/tapir.jpg

--
Tom Sherman - Earth

On Thu, 27 Jan 2005 23:01:28 -0600, Werehatrack
may have said:

On 27 Jan 2005 19:10:20 -0800, "Meccanico di Bici"
may have said:

Very common. Grease the livin' bejesus out of those splines! Octolink
is an interference fit, not a press fit. The splines on the crank and
the spindle bottom out onto eachother. Lots-o-grease will keep it
quiet. NEVER grease the tapers on a square spindle, but grease splines
to your hearts content.

Some crank and BB installation instructions I've had specifically
recommended greasing the surfaces. YMMV; I don't think it makes a
difference *provided* that the retaining bolt is torqued adequately,
and IMLE this is not always the same as "torqued to the manufacturer's
specifications."

I should have said "Some square-taper crank and BB installation
instructions" above. I should note that at least a few also
recommended assembling them dry. I haven't seen a problem either way
with cranks that *I* installed, but then, my not-too-secret alternate
identity is Captain Overtorque...

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Tom Sherman writes:

Meccanico di Bici wrote:
Very common. Grease the livin' bejesus out of those splines! Octolink
is an interference fit, not a press fit. The splines on the crank and
the spindle bottom out onto eachother. Lots-o-grease will keep it
quiet. NEVER grease the tapers on a square spindle, but grease splines
to your hearts content.

Should this be greased?
http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/media/tapir.jpg

Well, that depends on what you plan on doing with it.

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:

Tim- Bicycle mechanics "in the know" tend to be the only people in all of
the mechanical world who advocate not greasing such interfaces. As
far as I can tell, the belief is that greasing the tapers will either
(a) cause the crank to fall off or (b) cause the crank to split.
Neither is actually true. BRBR

FAQ from Jobst aren't etched in stone tablets, yet. They may be someday.

Like tubies, if wanna grease those tapers, go right ahead, no law against it,
in spite of the all powerful 'FAQ'. But for 25 years, I haven't and have yet to
have a crank that I installed loosen or fall off...just like you.

The problem I had, before I started using grease, was that corrosion
welded the crank to the spindle. In the worst case the crank puller
stripped its threads despite being fully engaged, a gear puller made no
impression and in the end I had to remove the crank complete with the BB
and throw both of them away.

Thankfully this was in the days before cartridge BBs and the BB was
still removable with the crank in place. These days people have to saw
them off.

Zog- The problem I had, before I started using grease, was that corrosion
welded the crank to the spindle. In the worst case the crank puller
stripped its threads despite being fully engaged, a gear puller made no
impression and in the end I had to remove the crank complete with the BB
and throw both of them away.

Thankfully this was in the days before cartridge BBs and the BB was
still removable with the crank in place. These days people have to saw
them off. BRBR


I guess. The cranks I have seen that were 'stuck' weren't rusted in place.

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

Zog who? writes:

Bicycle mechanics "in the know" tend to be the only people in all
of the mechanical world who advocate not greasing such interfaces.
As far as I can tell, the belief is that greasing the tapers will
either (a) cause the crank to fall off or (b) cause the crank to
split. Neither is actually true.

FAQ from Jobst aren't etched in stone tablets, yet. They may be
someday. Like tubies, if wanna grease those tapers, go right
ahead, no law against it, in spite of the all powerful 'FAQ'. But
for 25 years, I haven't and have yet to have a crank that I
installed loosen or fall off... just like you.

The problem I had, before I started using grease, was that corrosion
welded the crank to the spindle. In the worst case the crank puller
stripped its threads despite being fully engaged, a gear puller made
no impression and in the end I had to remove the crank complete with
the BB and throw both of them away.

That scenario is not possible. This is a dynamic joint for all by the
most Milquetoast riders and no permanent contact can occur, nor can
the contact surface rust and become mechanically interlocked. I think
you had inadequate mechanical verve. Stripping extractor threads is
also not possible unless the extractor is not screwed in fully.

Thankfully this was in the days before cartridge BBs and the BB was
still removable with the crank in place. These days people have to
saw them off.

Saw off what? Their hands?

Jobst Brandt

On Sat, 29 Jan 2005 19:49:46 -0600, Tom Sherman
may have said:

Meccanico di Bici wrote:
Very common. Grease the livin' bejesus out of those splines! Octolink
is an interference fit, not a press fit. The splines on the crank and
the spindle bottom out onto eachother. Lots-o-grease will keep it
quiet. NEVER grease the tapers on a square spindle, but grease splines
to your hearts content.

Should this be greased?
http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/media/tapir.jpg

That's a round tapir, not a square one.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

wrote:
Zog who? writes:
...
The problem I had, before I started using grease, was that corrosion
welded the crank to the spindle. In the worst case the crank puller
stripped its threads despite being fully engaged, a gear puller made
no impression and in the end I had to remove the crank complete with
the BB and throw both of them away.


That scenario is not possible. This is a dynamic joint for all by the
most Milquetoast riders and no permanent contact can occur, nor can
the contact surface rust and become mechanically interlocked....

Even on a bicycle with steel cranks that has not been used for quite
some time?

--
Tom "Unlikely scenario" Sherman - Earth

On 30 Jan 2005 14:47:49 GMT, (Qui si parla
Campagnolo ) may have said:

Thankfully this was in the days before cartridge BBs and the BB was
still removable with the crank in place. These days people have to saw
them off. BRBR

I guess. The cranks I have seen that were 'stuck' weren't rusted in place.

I had a left crank on a junker which resisted all ordinary efforts
toward recovery; I put it aside for a while, and then on a day when I
needed something to do to relieve frustration, I engaged in a little
percussive dismantling of the assembly. (A large chisel was also
involved.) A chunk of the crank's tapered square bore remained
obstinately stuck to the spindle. The BB shaft wasn't black-oxide
coated, and there was corrosion evident along the corners of the
taper. My guess was that electrolytic corroson currents had, in time,
also effected fusion of part of the aluminum/steel surface contact
patch. I see this sort of "welding" on the threads of fasteners in
aluminum blocks and heads, and on the threads of spark plugs in
aluminum heads, quite often. I did not expect to see it on the BB
taper of that junker.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Tom Sherman writes:

The problem I had, before I started using grease, was that
corrosion welded the crank to the spindle. In the worst case the
crank puller stripped its threads despite being fully engaged, a
gear puller made no impression and in the end I had to remove the
crank complete with the BB and throw both of them away.

That scenario is not possible. This is a dynamic joint for all by
the most Milquetoast riders and no permanent contact can occur, nor
can the contact surface rust and become mechanically
interlocked....

Even on a bicycle with steel cranks that has not been used for quite
some time?

How do you strip out extractor threads in a steel crank. I haven't
seen a steel square taper crank since 1960... and no, that cannot
occur. Corrosion welding is a new process not yet discovered.

Jobst Brandt