Originally Posted by
merziac
Going to chime in to say that I often use heavy automotive bearing grease to sustain a compromised bearing situation where spindle, cup, cone, etc are pitted and may not be practical to find or spend for new.
New balls, s-can the cage, set them up loose, run for awhile, recheck and adjust as necessary.
I know the drag is substantial in terms of perfect, but unless you're Eddy Merckx it won't matter very much.
Being a 120yr old wooden rimmed skip chain bike, no big rides or Strava segment challenges with it. I like and agree with your tip on using heavy grease as a tolerator on old bearings.