Debate: Should you grease or anti-seize a bottom bracket?

Last month I rebuilt my old Cannondale and used anti-seize on the BB threads like a buddy swore by, but the shop down the street says grease is safer for aluminum frames because anti-seize can cause galvanic corrosion over time. Now I'm stuck with a creak after 200 miles and wondering if I made the wrong call. What do you guys use on steel vs aluminum frames for bottom bracket installs?

3 comments

3 Comments

riley_schmidt4d ago

Man that exact same thing happened to me with my aluminum Trek! I used anti-seize because a guy at the bike co-op told me it was better for steel frames, but my BB started creaking after like 150 miles too. I pulled it out and there was this weird white powdery stuff on the threads, which freaked me out. Now I just use plain old Park Tool grease on everything, aluminum frames especially, and haven't had a creak since. The shop was right - grease is way safer for aluminum, I learned that the hard way.

grace_bailey18h ago

Haha "exact same thing" is right... I had that same white powder scare on a vintage Cannondale, thought I'd somehow grown alien mold in my frame. Ended up taking it to three shops before someone told me it was just the anti-seize reacting, not the bike dying. Now I use that cheap lithium grease from the auto parts store and it works fine, even if the mechanics roll their eyes at me.

parkera224d ago

Jumped right into that same trap myself on an old aluminum frame, and it drove me nuts. The white powder you saw is exactly the galvanic corrosion everyone warns about (it happens when anti-seize with copper or nickel reacts with aluminum). I switched to plain marine-grade grease after that, and my creak went away completely like magic. For steel frames, I still use anti-seize because it's less of a worry, but aluminum gets grease only now no question.