Anti seize paste alternative?

[youngs_modulus]

As others have pointed out: the stuff you’re calling “anti-seize paste” is exactly the same thing as what you’re calling “copper grease.” You’re not using one in lieu of the other...they are literally the same thing.

[youngs_modulus]

Yeah grease is often good enough but the silver is nice because it doesn’t seem to get washed out as easily. In my experience the worst is galvanic corrosion between steel and aluminum fwiw.

A reasonable coating of grease is usually more than effective enough between two metal parts. Some stuck seatposts could stem from galvanic corrosion between the aluminum post and the steel frame, but it’s not always easy to distinguish between galvanic corrosion and the conventional kind.

In the real world, it rarely hurts to use anti-seize of any persuasion, but it’s also rarely necessary.

I have had pedals and seat posts seize. Im inclined to say if you leave parts on the bike for years then anti seize is a good idea.

It doesn’t hurt to use anti-seize, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Anti-seize is most useful where it prevents galling and in very hot environments (like cylinder heads and exhaust components) where regular grease would burn off immediately. Anti-seize is not any great shakes at preventing galvanic corrosion, as some have suggested in this thread.

Silicone grease would be better for this than anti-seize. (As I said the last time Calnago mentioned it, “aquaproof paste” is likely just grossly overpriced silicone grease marketed to bike geeks). But the main point is that true galvanic corrosion is not nearly as prevalent on bikes as people seem to think. The secondary point: regular grease does just fine in most applications. There are valid places to use anti-seize on a bike, but not many.

It’s silly (and very messy) to use anti-seize where grease would do. When I turned wrenches in bike shops, I had one customer who put anti-seize on everything (except bearings). He thought of anti-seize as “grease plus”—if grease was good, anti-seize must be better. His bike was a nightmare to work on because anti-seize stains everything. It’s even hard to wash off your hands. (This was before nitrile gloves were common in bike shops). His pedals always came off, but so did the pedals on on every other bike I worked on. The anti-seize didn’t hurt, but it wasn’t helping, either. It was just there, staining my clothes in a way that grease didn’t.

In most environments, simply overhauling your bike annually is plenty to prevent your BB and pedals from seizing. If you want to put anti-seize on your pedal threads and don’t mind dealing with the mess and/or your mechanic’s silent disdain, that’s your call.

[Orbital]

Agreed. I’ve never used anti-seize anywhere on my bikes. It’s either grease or carbon paste where required.

[Nefarious86]

I actually love this stuff for cleat bolts because it won't wash out like grease does and on shoes like the Sub6 it's pretty east to damage a T nut if they seize up.

I'll give Aquaproof paste a go nest time now that I have my hands on some.

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[Calnago]

Yeah, the Aquaproof Paste is just “fun” to use. . If you’ve ever put a little silicone grease in your fingers and a little of the Morgan Blue stuff, you’ll know it’s not the same. And that little tub of it I pictured will last a very long time, like forever for most people.
But this thread kind of strayed from the OP’s intended purpose, that being for a pressfit BB if I remember correctly. I would never use plain grease in this application, although many do. Grease facilitates movement (said those words about a zillion times). Pressfit is an interference fit and you don’t want it to move. For a pressfit application of two anodized surfaces that are well machined (fit well), a dry install is generally perfectly fine as the anodization itself will prevent corrosion. Two such surfaces might be a Colnago Threadfit shell (anodized aluminum cups), coupled with finely machined and anodized Campy BB cups. Colnago actually recommends a dry install in their BB shells. But just for insurance I generally like to add a little somethin somethin and hope it doesn’t slide around. Aquaproof Paste is doing the trick for me so far, and I haven’t had to resort to any retaining compounds (absolute insurance against movement) for a long time now. But especially for things that you don’t want to remove often either because you don’t need to or that it’s just best not to (as is the case from a wear perspective for pressfit BB’s), an anti-seize will keep things just fine in there for a very long time, and I believe better than grease will. In 2011, on my C59 for example, when I installed the BB cups (threaded) I coated up the threads with that thick Copper based Antiseize. Eventually, years later I figured I should inspect the cups etc. Taking them out was if I had just installed them the day before. Still tight, but that antiseize seemed to be just as thick and tenacious as it was the day I put it in. A vastly different experience than removing a galled BB from a Colnago Dream that didn’t have any antiseize applied and had to cut though the BB, then recut the thread using Italian taps to save the frame. Trouble with the copper based stuff is that if you get it on surfaces you don’t want it in, especially a matte finish, it is a bear to clean off. Anyway, I quite like the Aquaproof Paste, for a lot of things. It’s clean, super tenacious with high adhesion properties, and supposedly really suited to resisting getting washed away and for prevent corrosion from salt water (oceans and sweat.
But to the OP the n a pinch, any old antiseize from a car parts, or other store will do just fine.

[mag]

The only problem with that Aquaproof paste is that they sell a way too large packaging of it. I don't really need 200 ml of it at all. Kogel also sells some 5ml syringes but that's just another extreme - too little - and there's nothing in between...
I once wrote to Morgan Blue that it would be nice if they sold some smaller (like 50-70 ml tubes) packagings of their greases like they do with their oils for example, but they don't seem to be interested in small customers much.

[Nefarious86]

It's <$20aud for a 200g tub, I just bought one.

It's hardly expensive when it's perfect for sealing up things like BB30 crank dust shields/wave washers/spindles when installing them, stem bolts, cleat bolts, pedals, chainrings bolts, the list goes on and it's not going to spoil sitting in a tub in your cupboard.

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[Calnago]

Exactly, and then you have the types that think, “shit man, for that kinda money I can get a whole gallon tub of stuff that’s just as good”. Ha. Ok then, you do that.
“Honey, could you fetch the gallon jug of economy Aquaproof Paste, oh and bring me a toothpick so I can apply it to this bolt”.
“Where is it dear?”
“In the storage shed, behind the thousand pound sack of potatoes we’re storing for the winter”.
Years ago (a lot of ‘em) I once bought a little tub of “Genuine Campagnolo Grease” about the same size as that tub of Aquaproof Grease. Had it forever, finally moved, then one day I just threw it out as it looked a funny color. In hindsight, I should have at least kept the little tub it came in. Those things are worth something these days, if nothing else a cool container for buttons and things. What?... you don’t sew?

[youngs_modulus]

If you’ve ever put a little silicone grease in your fingers and a little of the Morgan Blue stuff, you’ll know it’s not the same.

Ah! If it’s not silicone-based, then it’s based on something else. What is it, then?

I’m glad you’re happy with Morgan Blue’s product, but your statement above doesn’t make sense. Silicone grease is often pretty sticky, and the thickener is fumed silica. You can add more or less make it as thick/thin/sticky as you like. But fumed silica is abrasive, which is one reason why one shouldn’t use silicone grease in bearings.

Morgan Blue’s product may or may not be based on silicone grease, but the fact that it looks like silicone grease, protects well against corrosion and is explicitly not to be used in bearings makes it fairly likely that it is essentially silicone grease of some viscosity, regardless of Calnago’s gut feeling.

I mean, I could be totally wrong about this. If Morgan Blue specifically says “there is no silicone or fumed silica in that product,” then I have to assume that it isn’t silicone- or silica-based. But until then, it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. Each of us can draw our own conclusions about the product’s duck/not-a-duck status.

[Calnago]

I don’t know what it is. You tell me. Have you used it? Have you felt it? Have you removed something that’s been through some pretty harsh winters having Aquaproof Paste being used when it was installed? It could very well be silicone based, I don’t know. I have tried to find out in the past because I was curious but had no luck and at that point I didn’t care. They claim it prevents corrosion and has high adhesion properties (understatement) and is especially good at resisting water, even saltwater. That was good enough for me to try it out and it seems to be living up to those claims. If you want to carry on the search and report back be my guest. And yes, it looks like silicone grease, so does my hair gel. Lots of things do I suppose. By your logic it’s a duck. But respectfully, it doesn’t even sound like you’ve got any experience with the stuff to be honest.

[youngs_modulus]

I don’t know what it is.

I agree. But that’s not what you said before.

You tell me.

Nice try. All I’ve ever said is “it’s probably silicone grease.” You insisted that it’s not silicone-based right up until I asked you to provide a more likely suspect. The burden of proof is on you. Or it was, until you conceded that you have no idea what the stuff is made of.

Have you used it? Have you felt it?

No, and I haven’t claimed to. I’m a just a simple country mechanical engineer who has worked with a lot of specialty lubricants—including silicone greases—and this stuff sure looks like silicone grease to me. More importantly, all of the properties disclosed by the manufacturer are shared by silicone greases.

They claim it prevents corrosion and has high adhesion properties (understatement) and is especially good at resisting water, even saltwater.

Yes; those properties all apply to silicone grease. In fact, scuba divers use silicone grease on the O-rings that seal their aluminum flashlights, as it resists saltwater so well.

That was good enough for me to try it out and it seems to be living up to those claims. If you want to carry on the search and report back be my guest.

I’m not the one claiming that it’s based on something other than silicone—you are. Well, you were until I asked you what you think it is made of. Then you conceded that you had no idea.

Again, I’m glad you like the product. But since you admit that you have no idea what it’s made of, why are you so sure about what it’s not made of? Could it be that you’d feel foolish if it turned out to be silicone grease? You shouldn’t. You’ve found a product that you like and that seems like a fine alternative to conventional anti-seize compounds. While it’s pricey, a tub lasts a long time and you find the price/benefit tradeoff to be worth it. Shouldn’t that be all you need?

[Calnago]

Could it be that you’d feel foolish if it turned out to be silicone grease?

Not at all. Nighty nite.

[akaspin]

+1 for MorganBlue AquaProof. I'm using it for screws and fittings.

[mag]

Re quantity of the Aquaproof paste - the problem isn't the price, I just don't like wasting stuff much and here I know I'd never use so much of it.

[Nefarious86]

So split a tub with a mate

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