I must be doing something wrong because in over 45 years of working on bikes I've never had the need for thread lockers. And things don't fall off my bike either. I just use a quality grease - the brand doesn't really matter. I'm currently working through a tub of Slick50 One Grease, but there are many other fine greases out there. My experience with the white lithium greases is that they tend to emulsify when water is present, so are not good for bearings in the rain. They are a little less durable as thread grease for the same reasons.In bike work, where do YOU use them? How do you make the determination?
I'm with you. So far in 45+ years the only thing I use Loc-tite for is when rebuilding Campy egolevers, where it was used by the factory originally.
But in all fairness, I'm also using Loc-tite sometimes though not by choice. These days it isn't rare to have parts that come from the factory pre-treated with some sort of threadlocker. This is becomming more common of BBs for example.
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there's a product called 'spoke freeze' that is made specifically for that. slightly less 'sticky' when compared to blue loctite. wicks into the threads really well. comes in handy on certain builds for the non-drive side.I use blue loctite on my spokes after the final touch up on a new wheel build. I have used green too, wish I hadn't.
Actually, that's how a thread locker works. Threads are not perfectly round or have perfectly formed peaks and valleys. Loctite and other compounds fill the imperfections. After it's cured, it prevents the screw from rotating. Contrary to what some people think, it isn't a glue.I use blue Loctite on stuff that may rattle loose, or I just feel that may need it.The Zinn manual has some great pointers on proper application technique. Loctite the company has a guide of all the different flavors of Loctite; they aren't all necessarily thread lockers, some are intended to fill gaps, and do other jobs as well.
Probably more important than to Loctite or not, is proper torque spec, which is a whole different issue.
Assuming things haven't changed much, it used to be that the green Loctite (formerly #290) was intended to be applied to screws that were already in place and torqued. It was thin enough to wick in like a penetrating oil. You could use it where you didn't/couldn't apply one of the thicker blends before assembly. When you're filling small imperfections between screw threads and tapped threads, it doesn't take much liquid. I've actually used 290 on a soldered copper plumbing joint. I had a tiny leak that did one drop every hour or 2. Not enough to hurt anything, but enough to tick you off. I applied a little of the compound and when I pressurized it the next day, there was no leak.I use blue loctite on my spokes after the final touch up on a new wheel build. I have used green too, wish I hadn't.
Well, that's the purpose of a thread locking compound. It prevents screws from loosening due to shock and vibration. How difficult it is to remove is a function of which variety of compound is used. Some are more difficult than others. They are rated as High Strength, Medium Strength and Low Strength.Is it difficult to remove when it drys? I had a hard time loosening a few bolts of the brakes on a used bike.