Reid
Well-Known Member
Please add your own thoughts. Sharing experiences and perceptions helps us all, all around.
Stainless steel screws mostly screw things to threaded aluminum sockets or holes in the CCS frame. Please beware because uminum is very soft and can gall, flake off in bits. Unlubricated, un-threadlocked aluminum may also corrode when in contact with a dissimilar metal over time.
It's a good idea to apply grease or oil or put something* to threads, or use a thread locker after first cleaning the threads of any possible grit or wear products.
The four screws of the rack mounting, for instance, may tear off lots of aluminum fines if the male and female threads are not either locked with a thread locker, or greased. If greased, be sure to check the rack mount screws for snugness frequently, especially if you carry items on your rack.
I use bottle brushes to clean out threaded holes. And a tootbrush works fast to grit off of screw and bolt threads. Mineral spirits/white spirits/charcoal starter all work well to degrease parts safely.
A big error in my experience is casual reassembly of any bicycle threaded joint contaminated with the least bit of road grit (silica!) present.
Threads will become instantly damaged, eaten, degraded. After repeated screwing and unscrewing dirty aluminum threads a strip-out of the threads is eventually inevitable. Basic cleanliness from GRIT is a great saving of destruction of threaded joints.
Starting threaded joints in general: easy does it by finding the thread start, turning by hand first backwards, then forwards after you feel the lead of the thread drop into engagement.
And if it feels gritty by hand in this hand tightening, by all means you missed some road grit. So, take apart and clean the male and female threads.
Please do not overtorque, particularly rear axle nuts. I do not use a torque wrench, ever. I make joints hand wrench tight, at the most. I moderately tighten that way and recheck fastener torque at intervals, as opposed to a massive locking down to distort threads into a psuedo thread lock. Avoid brutal tightening because threads have a fatique life and limit. And Aluminum is very soft and will bend only once, and only one way, without destruction.
The most costly threaded joint on your ebike is doubtless the hub motor axle. Steel on steel. Make it clean, first, and always use grease or oil or antiseize compound.
A huge torque on the rear axle nut is only going to cause machine-cut axle threads to fall off in time.
Machine-cut threads of the hub motor axle are nowhere near as robust as rolled threads of the axel nut.
Rolled threads are in essence, forged threads and are robust. All the screws and bolts of your bicycle are roll-formed threads but not the holes in the aluminum frame and not the hub motor axle threads.
That's my start for this topic. Lots of us here are really smart people but do not happen to have hands on mechanical experience nor reason to need any. Until now, now that they own a bike and will be better off and have more fun with the bike if they baby and maintain the bike themselves.
*"something" can be non-abrasive dirt, grime.
Talcum powder is a useful anti-gall solid lubricant one can mix into any grease to make an effective anti-gall aluminum protectant. And Helicoils are a time tested solution for stripped threads.
Stainless steel screws mostly screw things to threaded aluminum sockets or holes in the CCS frame. Please beware because uminum is very soft and can gall, flake off in bits. Unlubricated, un-threadlocked aluminum may also corrode when in contact with a dissimilar metal over time.
It's a good idea to apply grease or oil or put something* to threads, or use a thread locker after first cleaning the threads of any possible grit or wear products.
The four screws of the rack mounting, for instance, may tear off lots of aluminum fines if the male and female threads are not either locked with a thread locker, or greased. If greased, be sure to check the rack mount screws for snugness frequently, especially if you carry items on your rack.
I use bottle brushes to clean out threaded holes. And a tootbrush works fast to grit off of screw and bolt threads. Mineral spirits/white spirits/charcoal starter all work well to degrease parts safely.
A big error in my experience is casual reassembly of any bicycle threaded joint contaminated with the least bit of road grit (silica!) present.
Threads will become instantly damaged, eaten, degraded. After repeated screwing and unscrewing dirty aluminum threads a strip-out of the threads is eventually inevitable. Basic cleanliness from GRIT is a great saving of destruction of threaded joints.
Starting threaded joints in general: easy does it by finding the thread start, turning by hand first backwards, then forwards after you feel the lead of the thread drop into engagement.
And if it feels gritty by hand in this hand tightening, by all means you missed some road grit. So, take apart and clean the male and female threads.
Please do not overtorque, particularly rear axle nuts. I do not use a torque wrench, ever. I make joints hand wrench tight, at the most. I moderately tighten that way and recheck fastener torque at intervals, as opposed to a massive locking down to distort threads into a psuedo thread lock. Avoid brutal tightening because threads have a fatique life and limit. And Aluminum is very soft and will bend only once, and only one way, without destruction.
The most costly threaded joint on your ebike is doubtless the hub motor axle. Steel on steel. Make it clean, first, and always use grease or oil or antiseize compound.
A huge torque on the rear axle nut is only going to cause machine-cut axle threads to fall off in time.
Machine-cut threads of the hub motor axle are nowhere near as robust as rolled threads of the axel nut.
Rolled threads are in essence, forged threads and are robust. All the screws and bolts of your bicycle are roll-formed threads but not the holes in the aluminum frame and not the hub motor axle threads.
That's my start for this topic. Lots of us here are really smart people but do not happen to have hands on mechanical experience nor reason to need any. Until now, now that they own a bike and will be better off and have more fun with the bike if they baby and maintain the bike themselves.
*"something" can be non-abrasive dirt, grime.
Talcum powder is a useful anti-gall solid lubricant one can mix into any grease to make an effective anti-gall aluminum protectant. And Helicoils are a time tested solution for stripped threads.
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