Thankfully! An opportunity to dispel the myth that one shouldn’t grease a carbon post!I don’t know where the myth started, but carbon composites are not affected by grease. Our advice is simple: If the seat post fits tight,grease it. If it slips, de-grease it. As has been known for many years, when aluminum and carbon fiber contact each other, galvaniccorrosion can start. That is why Calfee uses a fiberglass sleeve as a seat tube shim. Aluminum seat tube (or sleeve) and a carbon post will result in corrosion of the frame and possible seizure of the post within the frame. A carbon sleeve on an aluminum post will result in corrosion of the post. Salty environments accelerate this corrosion.Anodizing merely slows it down. About the only common chemical that will hurt carbon fiber is paint remover (which attacks the resin between the fibers). But there are many solvents that will dull a nice paint job.Craig Calfee (published on VeloNews.com)
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You should strongly consider the carbon fiber assembly paste offered by FSA, for example: http://is.gd/9WbfR. To quote the package:
ReplyDeleteFSA Carbon Fiber Assembly Paste - 5g
This is any amazing compound for fixing Carbon Fiber component issues. This product helps to gurantee that Carbon Seatpost, Stems and any other Carbon item will stay in place.
# Can be used on Aluminum, Titanium, Steel or Carbon Fiber.
# Very high viscosity.
# Highly water resistant.
# Manufacturer: FSA (full speed ahead).
# Size: 5 grams.
# Also protects against corrosion.
What's the worst that could happen though, if you don't use it?
You should have talked to Corbitt for a guest post here. He's a recognized expert on greasing his post.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Burt