Always thought this was a no/no due to grease near rotor, coming undone etc so I’ve always used locktite
however just changed the rotor on my boys bike and the bolts were so stuck fast they rounded off immediately. Filing a flat edge and molegrips did the trick but now I’ve got a nice new set of anodised bolts I’m wondering if a tiny wipe of grease would prevent this?
anodised bolts
Meh. You're just asking for trouble. Use steel bolts.
Steel bolts and threadlock ftw.
Maybe some copperslip if you are going to use the alu bolts? Probably have to check them from time to time as well.
But then they wouldn’t match the seat clamp and the chainring bolts. 🤷♂️ 😂
I'm assuming coloured titanium rather than anodised aluminium?
Tiny little bit of grease is what I use. Just the lightest smear, no danger of it contaminating anything. I don't often reapply, what remains on the bolt and thread keeps doing the job.
Threadlock for me.
Dab of grease and I've never had one stuck or come loose 🤷
Steel or to bolts on my hubs get copper slip and a torque wrench. Never had an issue.
You’d have to use so much grease to contaminate and even if you did, you can wipe it clear before using the brake, it’s never getting all the way to the braking surface. Ali bolts I’d grease very sparingly for sure
I'm assuming coloured titanium rather than anodised
erm yea titanium of course, but what if they weren’t? Just asking for a friend like.
erm yea titanium of course, but what if they weren’t? Just asking for a friend like.Aluminium will eventually either fatigue or bend and lose the heads. Maybe sooner than you expect. Steel or Ti is far more suitable. Even weight weenies/pros will only do 3 Aluminium and 3 steel or Ti. And they'll be checking/replacing regularly.
Rotor bolts are not the place to use Aluminium.
FWIW, i use steel or Ti with a dab of copperslip/anitseize. Have done for 20 odd years. Never had a seized, stripped or failed bolt.
It says steel alloy on the product description 🤞
Blue threadlock.
The bike vibrates due road/path conditions, so even properly torqued it can vibrate loose. Rare, but grease them and youre asking for it.
Material - Steel only. Alloy can shear, as can Ti, both metals are prone for it, especially alloy
Alloy is just not disc rotor bolt material. If it were a country club, it wouldn't even get a membership
copper anti seize for me. Never had a bolt come loose, never had one seize
I’ve always used a bit of grease or something like Juice Lubes Ass Juice, etc. unless they’re new bolts with Locktite already on them.
I was always taught not to to use dry bolts if I ever wanted to get them off again.
Blue threadlock.
The bike vibrates due road/path conditions, so even properly torqued it can vibrate loose. Rare, but grease them and youre asking for it.
+1
Cyclical loading, vibration, resonance, it's a textbook example of something that should be thread locked.
Never had a bolt come loose
I've had them come loose in the past, which is why I now threadlock them!
Filing a flat edge and molegrips did the trick
That doesn't strike me as "Seized", just rounded off. New (quality) bolts, new (quality) hex key, problem solved.
Rotor bolts tend to come pre-coated with blue Loctite (IME).
So I tend to pop a blob of 245 on now and then if re-fitting them, the other thing to be wary of is over-torqueing rotor bolts, they don't need 200 metric Gorillas, it's a frictional bolted connection, Grease in that area isn't going to help either, manufacturer recommendations are generally in the ~4-7Nm range...
Not very high torques, but it's worth understanding the difference between wet and dry applied Torque, if you lubricate a thread (which can include applying threadlock) you tend to achieve higher clamping loads for the same applied torque to the fixing....
I always put a dab of copper anti seize on all my Chitanium bolts.
I use loctite 248, preferring the semi-solid version to liquid for tidiness, and torqued to 4Nm (shimano) or 6Nmn (sram). Not sure why they differ, but neither come undone with the threadlock. I have had them come loose in the past with copperslip.
It says steel alloy on the product description 🤞
You can't anodise steel so there's something not quite right there, probably not a problem, more likely just a crap description?
Its not wrong to use locktite - I just prefer copper grease
LokTite here too. Also, I run a tap through the threads to clean things up prior to re-fitting if it looks too manky. Plus a bit of wire brush action on the bolts as well if needed.
New (quality) bolts, new (quality) hex key,
Buying a proper socket set with good quality Torx bits helps a lot. The throw-away Torx keys that come with new rotors are rubbish and more likely to round off the bolts than anything.
anodised bolts
Meh. You're just asking for trouble. Use steel bolts.
Exactly what I was going to say. Stainless steel Torx screws are what you need, with a dab of copper grease on them as well. They shouldn’t unscrew anyway; the act of braking has, as I understand it, the effect of tightening the bolts/screws anyway.**
It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a need to remove brake rotors, but having just noticed that Hope do a range of floating rotors, with different coloured inner ‘spider’*, I’ve got an overwhelming desire to replace the all steel rotors on my hooligan Inbred with floating rotors with gold anodised centres to match the gold piston covers on my Hope M4’s, a little additional ‘bling’ on an otherwise largely monochromatic bike.
*No idea if that’s the technical term, but I’m running with it.
**I could be wrong about this, but I’m sure I read it somewhere when first upgrading to discs from rim brakes. 🤷🏼♂️
anodised bolts
Meh. You're just asking for trouble. Use steel bolts.
Exactly what I was going to say. Stainless steel Torx screws are what you need, with a dab of copper grease on them as well. They shouldn’t unscrew anyway; the act of braking has, as I understand it, the effect of tightening the bolts/screws anyway.**
It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a need to remove brake rotors, but having just noticed that Hope do a range of floating rotors, with different coloured inner ‘spider’*, I’ve got an overwhelming desire to replace the all steel rotors on my hooligan Inbred with floating rotors with gold anodised centres to match the gold piston covers on my Hope M4’s, a little additional ‘bling’ on an otherwise largely monochromatic bike.
*No idea if that’s the technical term, but I’m running with it.
**I could be wrong about this, but I’m sure I read it somewhere when first upgrading to discs from rim brakes. 🤷🏼♂️
” Never had a bolt come loose
I've had them come loose in the past, which is why I now threadlock them!”
The Hope M4’s on two of my bikes are 22 years old, never knowingly had a screw/s loosen in that time.
Use a smear of something on rotor bolts to avoid corrosion and don't over-tighten them. Quality bolts and tools a necessity and clean the head out before attempting removal
My personal preference is threadlock. Don't overdo the strength, I look for one that is suitable for brass, like 245. 248 has similar strength characteristics, is clean to use and can be used on new bolts without degreasing
