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Shoutout to the guy in Portland who told me to stop using grease on square taper bottom brackets
I always packed a little grease on the spindle before sliding the crank on, just like the old guy at my first shop in Austin showed me back in 2016. Then a mechanic in Portland watched me do it and said to wipe it all off, that the grease lets the crank walk up the taper and the bolt keeps tightening until something cracks. I figured he was just being picky, but two weeks later a customer came back with a creaking drive side that I had greased, and sure enough the crank had crept in about a millimeter. Cleaned both tapers with alcohol, torqued to spec dry, and the creak never came back. Anyone else here run them dry, or do you still grease and just check torque more often?
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aaronroberts1d ago
Portland mechanic just saved you from your Austin training, that's a fun full circle moment. Bold move trusting a guy who probably rides a single speed with no brakes though. Dry taper with the right torque seems to be the way, and your customer's crank agreed.
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