Loctite 243 and your Bikepacking Rig

Loctite 243 and your Bikepacking Rig

Loctite 243 is some magic stuff. We've been using it for years to secure bolts on our bikepacking rigs and motorcycles.

If you're new to using it, Loctite 243 is a medium-strength, blue-colored threadlocker liquid that is used on bolt / nut combinations to prevent unintended loosening. It works on bolts up to 20mm (3/4") in diameter and is ideal on inactive surfaces like stainless steel, zinc plated steel, and aluminum. It has excellent oil resistance, meaning that you don't need to clean the bolt / nut combo to a squeaky clean shine before using it. 

It goes on wet, and dries once the bolt / nut combination is tightened down. Conceptually, it fills in the surface between the scoring on the nut and bolt, and in so doing, it prevents the nut from coming unintentionally loose. If you do need to loosen these bolts back up later, it's not impossible, but it will take a bit more effort than you'd expect without a Loctite coating.

It's sibling, Loctite 242, has similar properties but requires a primer when it's used on imperfect and slippery surfaces, like stainless steel. Because we're always doing maintenance and not just assembling from new, 243 is our Loctite of choice. 

For bikepacking, you'll absolutely want to use this on your seatpost bolt, rack bolts, water bottle bosses, and on anything mounted to your handlebars, including kLite components. We don't use it on the bottom bracket mounts or on the headset. It's OK to use with bolts that have Nylock anti-vibration gasketing. Give it a day or so to cure so that the material sets up and begins performing. 

Be sure to wear protective gloves and lay out some newspaper on your workbench when using this, it will get everywhere and due to its primary function, it's hard to clean off "unintended surfaces". Sorry, we're not a Loctite authorized reseller--you can find it at your local hardware store.

 

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