Figured out I was greasing pedal threads wrong for years

I always slathered grease on the whole pedal spindle before threading it into the crank. Then a shop mechanic in Flagstaff pointed out I was just making a mess and should only grease the last few threads where the pedal actually seats against the crank arm. Has anyone else been doing this the hard way without realizing it?

2 comments

2 Comments

terry_mitchell7d ago

Yeah "only grease the last few threads" is wild to me too lol. So wait, does that mean you've been riding with basically no lube on the part of the pedal that actually contacts the crank? Seems like that's where all the corrosion happens. I always just do a thin coat on the whole thread but maybe I've been making a mess too. What's the actual downside of having extra grease on the threads that don't seat - does it just attract dirt or is there something worse happening?

reese5516d ago

So if you're only greasing the last few threads, aren't you basically leaving the first half of the thread dry where it actually seats into the crank arm? That just seems like asking for galvanic corrosion to set in right where the metal meets metal. I get that too much grease can make a mess and maybe cause the pedal to back out if it's too slippery, but a thin layer on the whole thing has never caused me any issues in like 15 years of riding. The dirt attraction thing is real though, especially if you ride a lot of gravel like I do, but I still think the corrosion risk is worse from leaving it dry.