Question guys. Should I grease the tapers of my square taper bottom bracket before installing the cranks?
I would have thought that I should. It will prevent corrosion. Also according to a blog post I read, grease can allow the crank to sit better on the taper:
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/to-grease-or-not-to-grease/I also watched a video of someone servicing a BB (an ISIS spline or something? Not square taper though) and they used grease on the splines before installing the crank (see at 4:26):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yJd-oO__qQHowever, in this video the guy says he doesn't like to grease square tapers because the grease can act as a cutting agent, rounding off the inside of the crank? Seems weird to me, surely metal rubbing on metal would cause more wear than if there's grease in there? See at 10:22 -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3czxkFlh-twI think I'll probably put a thin layer of grease on. It should help the cranks go on better. And if the bolt is tight enough then wearing shouldn't be an issue, surely. And I still don't understand how grease can act as a "cutting agent".
