Clegg2

Hi, I'm currently servicing my headset and replaced the old grease with some multi purpose lithium grease. The old grease was kind of sticky and syrup texture, but felt much smoother. I would like to replace it with this type of grease, but not sure what type. Thanks

jadmt

phil wood waterproof grease

Andrew R Stewart 

Bike maintenance is far more about doing the work than what lube is used. Andy

Iride01 

Do you spin your steering tube at 21,000 rpm?

Use what ever lube you wish.

WizardOfBoz

Everyone else is wrong. The best (and only!) way to lubricate loose balls is using grease extracted from the musk glands from polka-dotted (no other!) ferrets. The best of this type of grease is extracted only during leap years in which there has been more-than-average sun spot activity.

It's really the only stuff that really works. These people who suggest an industry standard grease (Phil Wood? Pah!) or worse, any standard bearing grease for the low rpm situation (cretins!) just don't get it...

mpetry912 

I use the Phil or a synthetic grease I like but for headset bearings I have a tube of Wurth molybdenum disulfide.grease left over from 20+ years of Porsche maintenance.

It is a horrible black goo that is very messy. But great for "extreme pressure" applications.

I agree with Andrew above, the lube matters less than the fact that you do the overhaul but I happen to have this stuff so that's what I use.

/markp

zandoval 

Ha... Love It... And the most comfortable bike seats were snapped up by Elves in the late 1800's. Except for some hybrid human by the name of Brooks... So the search goes on.

That's the ticket and that's what counts. Like Andy said, the grease is not that important. Try to simplify your lubricants. There is no need for special magic lubricants on your bicycle. It's the maintenance that matters.

When I use Grease, I use "Marine Grease", any flavor. I would suggest just getting a container of some generic Marine Grease and going with that for all your grease needs. The other thing I would suggest is getting a small Micro Grease gun... Magic!


Amazon

Note: Loose Balls Rule... (Sheldon Brown)

I remember back in the 70's I toured the campagnolo assembly sheds in Vicenza Italy. It was an old building with a big high ceiling and wooden tables with old Italian workers wearing aprons assembling those beautiful components. At the end of each table was a big 2 gallon bucket with military markings in Italian. They said Grasso Marino. You could smell the grease when less then 3 feet from the bucket of what appeared to be black tar. Latter at the end of the tour I bought a little white plastic container of Campagnolo Grease. The grease was smooth, odorless, and white. Every time I refill that little container with Marine Grease I think about that tour.

smd4

You have a problem with that?

smd4

You're never going to be able to feel what kind of grease you used in your headset. Phil's is good. I like Shimano. Just use something.

Andrew R Stewart 

Who here remembers Bike World's April's issue having a joke/April Fool's article. One year it was about the secret Russian chain lube that came from male yaks. Funny thing were the later letters to the editor (remember those) claiming to have gone to their LBS in search for said Yak Fat Lube. Andy (who can believe how modern people can be so miss led by someone's claims, sad as it is)

FBinNY 

I generally agree that just about any decent grease is more than adequate for bikes, but.....

Headsets present a unique problem. Most bearings wear from motion, but headsets wear because they don't move enough. They wear out by fretting, aka false brinnelling, due to vibration while stationary.

Lube works away from the point of contact, and since there's not enough movement to replenish it you get wear at the points of contact causing the dimples we see in dead headsets.

So, to the answer depends on how and how much you ride. High mileage road riders should consider a lube specifically made to prevent fretting. I use one from SKF figuring that a bearing company would know best.

FBinNY 

I generally agree that just about any decent grease is more than adequate for bikes, but.....

Headsets present a unique problem. Most bearings wear from motion, but headsets wear because they don't move enough. They wear out by fretting, aka false brinnelling, due to vibration while stationary.

Lube works away from the point of contact, and since there's not enough movement to replenish it you get wear at the points of contact causing the dimples we see in dead headsets.

So, to the answer depends on how and how much you ride. High mileage road riders should consider a lube specifically made to prevent fretting. I use one from SKF figuring that a bearing company would know best.

drlogik 

I've tried them all. My go-to tends to be Motorex 2000, Phil Wood or Park depending on what mood I'm in but just about any bearing grease will work just fine.

KerryIrons

To concisely summarize: for a headset, any grease is fine. You're overthinking this, which is a common problem when it comes to lubricants for bicycles.

Clegg2

I'm struggling to agree, as this multipurpose lithium is all leaking around the gaps and spinning the bearing by hand sounds a bit dry. The original grease I replaced it with was very sticky, with a smoother feel and stayed on easily. So it kind of makes sense that, not all grease are the same.

FBinNY 

Obviously, all greases are not the same. However, just about all are more than adequate for bicycle applications.

So, for most people here, it's really about preference and secondary considerations.

For example, you have issues with the lithium grease weeping out, so that's argument for a thicker stringier grease that will stay put. OTOH, I know someone who does lots of stunt riding and finds that thick greases cause a low steering response, and lubes his headset with something thinner.

smd4

Working in bike shops, white lithium was the grease we used. After years of seeing it dried up, I went with something else personally. Phil’s is great and I still have some, but when I opened up some 40 year old Shimano pedals to find the grease In perfect condition, I knew what I would use going forward.

smd4

I call BS on that. Not that you know someone, but that he can feel the difference in his headset lube.

wheelreason

I don't know about that, I used the excretion from an albino sable masked one, and it worked even better...
Seriously though, any grease will work.

FBinNY 

It's his bike, so I've never felt the need to argue with his choice.

OTOH some stunts involve the fork and bars spinning, so who knows.

Breadfan

I use Yamalube and it is completely waterproof to fresh and saltwater, and it's not expensive.

mpetry912 

FBinNY SKF doesn't know anything about bearings ! See pic below.

Seriously what is the stuff you're using ?

FBinNY 

I honestly don't know. Something like 50 years ago, as we were talking about the issue, a friend who works there gave me a small pot of grease saying, "this may help, it's what we use". The stuff is a bit smelly, extremely sticky, and reminds me of gasket compound, except that it doesn't dry.

I can't say for sure how much difference it made, because I also used some other strategies, but my headset life improved considerably.

SKF now markets bearing lubes including some specifically made to prevent fretting.

etherhuffer 

Those grease guns are unbelievably handy. Bought two, one for Marine Grease and one for SuperLube. They get lots of use. Particularly good for getting just enough grease in tight spaces

SkinGriz

Use GAA G403 grease.

So thick and sticky that anyone attempting a bar spin will only get halfway before the landing.