M4 Ti bolts for derailleur hanger?

[HaakonJohansen]

I want to swap the steel hanger bolts for Ti ones, but have a few questions. First, the hanger is held by two M4 bolts. Will Ti bolts be safe for this part? If the answer is yes; should I buy whatever grade 5 Ti bolts I can find, i.e. from Toronto Cycles? Or should I opt. for some higher end bolts (still grade 5 Ti though) from the likes of Proti FFR?

Hope anyone have some input

Here is a link to the frame I've got btw: http://www.xmcarbonspeed.com/Productinfo.asp?f=1284

[HaakonJohansen]

No opinions?

[CGT]

You're over-analyzing everything. Just buy some titanium bolts and put them on. Two M4s should be strong enough for a RD hanger.

[TheRookie]

You can use alloy for most mech hangers as they are trapped by the rear axle, otherwise Ti will be fine.

[HaakonJohansen]

You're probably right that I't overanalysing things. I tend to have bad luck though. Both my hubs (Extralite) and cranks (Next SL) had production mistakes for example (Just found out about the cranks, so haven't returned yet, but RF has confirmed that they are faulty). Thanks for the heads up though.

Btw, completely off topic, but is it normal for headset bearings to rust after using it for just one month? I've been riding in some really nasty weather, but still. This happened to my cheap Chinese (or maybe Taiwanese?) Neco headset. I've replaced the top bearing by a new one from a BMX headset I had lying around, but haven't changed the bottom one yet.

[DanW]

You're over-analyzing everything.

This

Will Ti bolts be safe for this part?

For pretty much every part of an XC bike, Ti and Steel are interchangeable. The hanger is a sacrificial part so Alu bolts are more than fine and may actually be better in the event of a crash.

is it normal for headset bearings to rust after using it for just one month

The Neco headset is junk. That said any bearing constantly exposed to the elements, especially with water sitting around it almost constantly isn't going to do too well. In this type of frame the bearings are more exposed than more sealed units.

A combination of a KCNC headset, grease in the races, light grease on the outside of the bearing, light grease in the frame cups and a clean out every couple of months has kept me on the same bearings for over a year in UK muck on my HF-256 sl.

[TheRookie]

Depends which part or the headset is rusty?