Had a customer flip out on me for using the wrong grease on his pedal threads

After that scene at the shop on Main Street last Saturday where the guy swore I wrecked his crankarm, I now triple check the grease color before touching anyone's bike, you guys ever deal with someone who read one forum post and thinks they know more than you do?

3 comments

3 Comments

samflores1mo ago

So you're saying some grease color actually matters for pedal threads? I've been slapping whatever's in the garage on there and nobody's complained yet, are these people just looking for drama?

sean_green441mo ago

Just ignore the color thing, it's mostly about the compound and if it's anti-seize or not. People get all worked up over nothing because they read some blog post from a guy who's never turned a wrench professionally. You're fine with garage grease as long as it's not some gritty mess. Customers like that are what made me start charging a "forum special" fee.

the_leo1mo ago

Yeah the color thing is mostly just branding. Copper grease is usually anti-seize and regular lithium or moly is fine for pedals unless you're torquing things into aluminum frames. But yeah some people act like you're putting the wrong oil in their car.