seau grateau

Did a 20 mile ride today. Ride every day plan got shot to pieces last week because of more important things, so whatever. Also have a patch of road rash on my leg from a dumb fall a few days ago. Changing bandages is the grossest thing.

johnnytheboy

what's happening on the instas?

Carcosa

I'm just talking about the power of FOMO, even when things suck behind the insta scenes lol.

50voltphantom

Had my best CX finish ever yesterday (10th/20). I learned a lot this season. Gonna do one more race next weekend, should be awesome.

the sci guy 

Carcosa

Hell yes.

Side note. I wish the CX racing sub-forum here was not so dead.

hairnet

That's why I don't indulge in social media very much anymore. I know some people that really do lead superr awesome lives while many others are just putting on a show. I got tired of feeling bad about what others are doing and I'm not.

50voltphantom

Agreed, it's kinda weird that it's not more active.

SquidPuppet

A few days ago I discovered something that (reportedly) looks, feels, smells and tastes exactly like Shimano's mega expensive Dura-Ace grease. At approximately 1/7th the price.

Made in Switzerland by beautiful tall blonde women. It's a sexy color and translucent, so high speed and good protection are virtually guaranteed.


Motorex 2000

LesterOfPuppets

$22 for almost a pound. I gotta get me some.

SquidPuppet

Get the 850 gram tub.

1.87 lbs for $28.xx + free shipping

https://www.amazon.com/Motorex-Long-...s=motorex+2000

LesterOfPuppets

Even better. Thx for link.

Carcosa

I flip scrolled quickly to the bottom of this page. Saw a grease photo. Knew there had to be a Squid around.

SquidPuppet

Admit it. It's beautiful and inviting, isn't it?

ThermionicScott 

How do you go through so much grease that you end up trying so many?

Ermm, wait, forget I asked that.

SquidPuppet

..................

I don't go through it. I try it and then it gets put on the back of the shelf while I look for something better. I've only tried 4 kinds so far. I have two small tubs and one small tube leftover. The Bel-Ray motorcycle grease is almost 20 years old and it's still 3/4 full. Frankly, the old Bel-Ray is WAY better than the 2 expensive bike specific greases I've tried. It looks like infant feces and smells almost as bad, but it's a superior grease than the White Lightning Crystal Clear and the Maxima. I was really underwhelmed by the Maxima. Shhhhhh, don't tell Leukybear. It's been kicked down to the minors, reserved for threads, seat posts, yard maintenance machines, and door hinges.

Before I try the the green snot I still have to try UncleRicos Redline.

seau grateau

Went to the track, had a good session. Then I flatted on a staple on the way home, about a mile from the subway station. Thought about just walking the rest of the way, but went about fixing it instead. Then after a lot of annoying work I found out both of my spare tubes had busted valves, and wound up walking anyway.

checoles

Aaaah so annoying.
Or even worse, when you put the old punctured tube in your backpack to stop littering, forget about it and then 6 months later when you have a flat, you pull it out thinking its a new tube

hairnet

and the glue in your patch kit is dry.

Unkle Rico

I was gonna ask if you had used it yet.. Can't wait to see what you think

TimothyH

I don't know.

I had asked for feedback on the crystal grease and was told that I couldn't know until something on which it had been used was taken apart, that I should not hold my breath.

Now I'm hearing that such and such grease is superior to crystal grease, etc.

Not really following... this seems more emotional than scientific.


-Tim-

seau grateau

Ehh, grease is grease as far as I'm inclined to care.

Carcosa

And clear grease doesn't stain all my sh**.

50voltphantom

Gotta admit, was slightly disappointed when I got my first tube of Phil Wood grease and it smelled like regular auto grease. Their mini grease gun is great though.

SquidPuppet

This came up before and I answered it, but I'll say it again. The clear is a pain in the ass to use because it's clear. The exact reason I bought it. And that defeats one of the specific reasons I bought it. My mistake. In hindsight it seems obvious. It may be an OK grease, but it's so much of a pain, I won't be reusing it for any bearing or brake applications.

Also, I recently learned something else from someone who really knows a lot about the hundreds of different greases and the specifics about their ingredients. He's not an actual grease designing engineer, but well in the know. I was telling him that one thing I really did like about the clear grease is how easily it wiped off my hands with just a paper towel, and that soap and water was a 30 second full clean. He said that is a negative trait for a grease that indicates low adhesion qualities. I always thought slippery grease would lube better. I was wrong. He explained. As we already know, grease's job is to be in between two metal object, preventing friction. It can be pushed or rolled off of bearing surfaces in some situations if it isn't tacky enough. He went further to say that very tacky is what he would look for in a grease to be used in low speed loose ball applications (bikes).

The Maxima blue grease is also a HUGE pain in the ass to use for cup-n-cone ball bearings, for the exact same, but exact opposite reason. Visibility issues. And another reason I'll address further down. First; The grease is DARK blue. So dark it's almost black. While it is technically translucent, it's so dark that the darkness negates the translucent qualities. Unless you are applying the lightest wisp of a thin film, (seat post, threads) for all intents and purposes you are working with a dark opaque grease. I recently serviced some MKS Sylvan loose ball pedals. I put a thick bead all around the bearing track in the cup. Then I began placing the eleven balls. I always have to do a little rearranging gymnastics when I am stuffing in the last couple balls to get them all in a nice row. That's normal, no biggie. Plus I have to make sure they aren't too low or too high in the cup, to make sure they sit precisely where they should against the cone as well. When I would push the balls around they went "into" the grease, which is normal. But because the grease is almost black and opaque I literally couldn't see where they had moved to. I had to arrange them by "Trial-and-error-braille". Then when I added the top bead and they were completely lost. I had to then screw on the cones hoping I had it right. I got 3 out of 4 right on the first attempt. Pure luck. Pure PITA.

The second issue with the Maxima grease is it's weird tackiness properties. It didn't want to stick to the surface that I was attempting to apply it to. I'd push it with my finger and/or a screwdriver and/or a Popsicle stick and the grease would pull away from the cone/axle/cup/balls and stick to my finger or tool. There were too many do, redo, redo, redos for my tastes.

Do they lubricate well? Probably very well. Good enough for the light loads and low speeds of bikes. But both of them turn an easy job into a PITA.

After all my mistakes I think I now see why Shimano did exactly what they did when defining the specs for Dura-Ace grease. Dura-Ace hubs use no ball retainers, so assembly time at the factory matters. Their grease is a color, so it can be seen, unlike the clear grease. It is a very light color and translucent so it can be seen through. That helps with assembly and identifying contamination.

Those Shimano "look-alike" qualities are what attracts me to Motorex. I've read some posts in other forums where guys say, "Yeah, yeah, and it's got the exact same super sticky texture as Dura-Ace." The only problem is that it has a "normal" drop point, so I can't use it in my rear hubs. That's where the @UncleRico Redline will probably reside, since it's heat rated for nuclear war survival.