USE LOCKTITE! my friend just crashed because...

[nidyanazo]

He didnt locktite the handlebars.
Vibrations caused the screws to back out. He told me one minute everything was normal then ALL OF A SUDDEN the bars came off and he went over the front.

Hit his head and got some road rash.
Luckily for him his helmet took the impact and he's fine.

I've been going over all the bolts using red loctite- harder to remove than the blue stuff, but stronger.

Just a word of caution to my fellow MB pals!

[Yoda Bob]

Hope your buddy is mending well. Of the many learnings in my two-wheeled experience, the ones including road rash created the most lasting impressions.

Loc-tite is a wise idea. Bicycle design, as evolved as it may be, simply doesn't allow for the "buzz" of an internal combustion powerplant. Loc-tite is cheap insurance.

A word of caution based on 25+ years experience using thread lockers in a 24/7 industrial setting:

Loc-tite Red is intended to be permanent. That doesn't mean you can't take stuff apart. It does, however, lend to smaller things breaking when you try. Heads twist off of fasteners, threads come out with the screws (especially in aluminum), weird stuff like that. Heating parts to about 400F (liquifying the adhesive) is sometimes required to avoid breakage during (or even permit) disassembly.

The solution:

Use "blue". For fasteners from about M4 through M12 - most everything on a bike - blue is the preferred solution, and for very good reason.

Red's just too much of a good thing!

Yoda

[Stan4d]

Hope your buddy is mending well. Of the many learnings in my two-wheeled experience, the ones including road rash created the most lasting impressions.

Loc-tite is a wise idea. Bicycle design, as evolved as it may be, simply doesn't allow for the "buzz" of an internal combustion powerplant. Loc-tite is cheap insurance.

A word of caution based on 25+ years experience using thread lockers in a 24/7 industrial setting:

Loc-tite Red is intended to be permanent. That doesn't mean you can't take stuff apart. It does, however, lend to smaller things breaking when you try. Heads twist off of fasteners, threads come out with the screws (especially in aluminum), weird stuff like that. Heating parts to about 400F (liquifying the adhesive) is sometimes required to avoid breakage during (or even permit) disassembly.

The solution:

Use "blue". For fasteners from about M4 through M12 - most everything on a bike - blue is the preferred solution, and for very good reason.

Red's just too much of a good thing!

Yoda

Wise words from a Master.
I would add, if you ever get any green loctite: THOW IT AWAY!! Just because it is not a warning color like red does not mean that it is not worse than red.

[WhizBangAndy]

Green Loctite isnt bad..Its Just a PITA to get whatever you used it on loose again..LOL

[Stan4d]

Green Loctite isnt bad..Its Just a PITA to get whatever you used it on loose again..LOL

I have yet to get anything loose with out power tools and extreme heat. Mostly damaging components to where replacement was neccesary.....I have heard rumors of something stronger than green....but I do not know why it would be made. Welding already exists.

[Yoda Bob]

The flesh mends in time, the lessons endure a lifetime!

I've used two different green Loc-tites, both good in their given applications:

"Wimpy" Green (can't remember #): A flange sealant. Good success using it to prevent air leaks in water-cooled 2-cycle crankcases.

"Thick" Green (CRS sux...): Cylindrical fit adhesive. Good for locking bearing races into slightly worn bores.

Wouldn't throw any of 'em out. Each color has the same basic ingredient, basically in different strengths. Any one will do in a pinch. Just go easy on the red!

I believe I remember a purple, too. Wimpier than Wimpy Green. For tiny, little fasteners. Thinking it'll help keep my spokes tight when I get around to building up some wheels. Double-walled rims prevent the rim strip (aided by tire pressure) from preventing rotation of the spoke nipples. Some pro builders recommend Loc-tite.

"Room temperature, self-(D***ed CRS!) anaerobic sealants": they're all good!

Yoda

[SimpleSimon]

My brother and I built a Pterodactyl ultralight aircraft some years ago, and on the advice of the local airport A&P guy, we used Loctite green to assemble several slip joints in the suspension triangle. When he hit a hole on landing in a pasture and bent the axle between the wheels, we couldn't get the joints back apart in any way whatsoever. Ended up building an entire new suspension triangle. The second time we did as the kit plans advised, and swaged the fittings.

[Stan4d]

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/threadlockers.shtml
Here is where I found out what I did wrong.....Green is for AFTER assembly....aparantly if you use it during, you are SOL.

[Yoda Bob]

Loc-tite is a self-CURING (it came back to me!), anaerobic plastic. I remember when plastic used to stand for cheap. NOT the case with this stuff. The old literature from the manufacturer used to reference shear strengths in the 22-24,000PSI range for extreme applications. Definitely nothing cheap about that!

Heat is often required for disassembly. Glad you decided not to heat the ultralights wheel struts, SS. Might have left 'em a little "bendy". Sometimes it best to start over!

[GearNut]

I use it all the Time.
Stupid trivia: What it the main ingredient in Loc-Tite?