Originally Posted by
MyRedTrek
Does any lube stand up well to water intrusion? I keep seeing people say to be careful when washing a bike to avoid it. As I understand it that's why boat trailers constantly have bearing failures, because people don't stay on top of re-lubing them after they're submerged.
The blue ‘waterproof’ grease resists this
more than other lighter, faster types of grease, but the grease itself doesn’t ‘seal’ your hubs or BB, unless you fill the entire cavity.
Those kind of bearing failures aren’t directly caused by submersion. A trailer wheel bearing, being backed down a boat ramp is a pretty low stress situation. If the bearing housing is full of grease, there will be nowhere for the water to go, and water won’t enter the hub.
this is why boat trailer hubs feature zerk fittings, because you have to keep them ‘full’ as opposed to highway trailers, which can be ‘dry’ other than the actual bearing surfaces.
leaving a void inside the hub, and filling it with water, then running it down the road will mix the grease and water, emulsifying it, and breaking down it’s lubricant properties. Let it go long enough, and you have a bearing failure.
If you ride in the rain a lot, repacking your wheels and BB with ‘waterproof trailer grease’ should be more than sufficient for the kinds of conditions a typical bicycle sees.