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Hi all, the last 2 brand new bikes I've had have developed rust inside the head of the bolts within a year or two, is there any type of oil or grease that can protect them ?
Swap to stainless steel or Ti?
I always spray the bolt heads with silicon spray after washing the bike to disperse moisture. That and drying the bike and leaving the heater on for an hour in the winter works marvels for keeping rust at bay.
I've also got a load of stainless bolts in the garage and tend to replace rusty ones if I find them.
If you can be bothered, periodically applying ACF50 would stop it -Â https://www.amazon.co.uk/ACF-50/dp/B0761TV16Y - it lasts a bit longer than WD40 or similar.
A squirt of chain wax does the job.
Leave the mud on. It hides the rust.
ACF50 or replace with stainless.
If replacing with stainless be aware that A4/316 is a little under half the strength of 8.8 steel, A2/304 is about a third. It shouldn't matter much for most of the m3/m4/m5 screws on a bike as the alloy threads would strip first in most cases but I'd be more wary of replacing stuff like brake and crank bolts.
Having said that I had Ti calliper bolts for years (still do somewhere although I think I sold a bike by mistake with them still on) and didn't die.