Teflon chain spray for everything, Am I stupid?
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I started getting a clicking sound on every crank as I was riding. This can be due to numerous things, I know. First I sprayed teflon lubricant that I use for my chain into the bottom bracket and let it sink in with gravity and some crank spinning. Voila, the noise went away. (I've done this twice). So it got me to thinking, instead of disassembling and greasing the bearings on my rear and front hubs, can I just spray them periodically with the same teflon lubricant (included with nifty little wd-40 style skinny plastic insert spray guide) to keep them "greased" and "maintained"? Am I stupid?
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Last edited by Eric F; 05-19-23 at 11:23 AM.
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My loose hub bearings don't need any lubricant at all (but I did use grease just to hold them in place when I installed them).
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#29
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Stupid? I don't know you well enough to make that determination. Ignorant is probably more accurate. Your lack of knowledge about the parts you're dealing with has lead you to a band-aid solution. Your BB is a sealed unit. Spraying teflon lube on it does not actually lubricate the bearings. If your hub bearings are sealed, same thing. If your hub bearings are not sealed, spray teflon lube may get to the bearings, but it is not the proper lubricant, and not a good recipe for long-term durability.
Anyway time for my daily ride. It's 72 degrees outside. People drive crazy on Fridays, gotta watch out for 'em.
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I once worked on a bike that had more raw drag in the wheel hubs than i'd ever seen before... it felt like the brakes were applied... the owner had completely packed the hubs with thick "bubble gum" grease.. the hubs featured actual seals and had retained so much grease that it was UNDER PRESSURE.. this caused extreme drag and made the bike a struggle to ride.. i removed 90% of the offending goop, added a few drips of PB Blaster, and slapped the hub back together...the bearings felt kinda gummy but they turned MUCH EASIER.... the Headset was the same way, minus the pressurization...... i removed all the grease, put in thinner grease... worked fine.
Last edited by maddog34; 05-19-23 at 03:20 PM.
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I'll let everyone I know how long mySUNTOUR BB10-XCT-SQS-113-CBT CARTRIDGE (68mm x 113mm, Cartridge bearing, Square taper, Solid cromoly axle, English threading, M8 bolts included) lasts. So far it's been about 18,000 miles.
Anyway time for my daily ride. It's 72 degrees outside. People drive crazy on Fridays, gotta watch out for 'em.
Anyway time for my daily ride. It's 72 degrees outside. People drive crazy on Fridays, gotta watch out for 'em.
#33
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My sealed bearing stuff - bottom brackets, wheels, headsets - last forever without teflon spray, grease or any other maintenance. So I dont' think spraying you do is increasing longevity at all. It might stop a squeak, but I wonder if the squeak is bearing related or soemehing else.
Didn't think I would do it today, but I'm doing a double ride.... 72 degrees with a setting sun...
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Last forever means among all the sealed bearings that have come through the family, I can only remember replacing two sets: one BB and one headset. And by the way, both are extremely cheap and simple to do. Even for a non-maintenance kind of guy.
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My sealed bearing stuff - bottom brackets, wheels, headsets - last forever without teflon spray, grease or any other maintenance. So I dont' think spraying you do is increasing longevity at all. It might stop a squeak, but I wonder if the squeak is bearing related or soemehing else.
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Into the metal or plastic cylinder that spaces the two bearings, not into the outer race of the actual bearings. You''d also have to remove the inner seals, if present. Bear in mind this is only suggested as preferable to lubricating the bbkt with Teflon spray.
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Teflon lubricant spray is often used on nuts, bolts, and washers to protect them from exposure to things such as oil and seawater. The non-stick characteristics of teflon lubricant also allow for easy tightening and loosening of fasteners, etc.
I prefer teflon squeeze lubricant.
Keep in mind that it penetrates and can actually do more long term damage than good to bearing which should be protected using greese because the greese can be broken down and Not work as a longer term protectant.
I prefer teflon squeeze lubricant.
Keep in mind that it penetrates and can actually do more long term damage than good to bearing which should be protected using greese because the greese can be broken down and Not work as a longer term protectant.
#40
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You're not "stupid" but if you continue to do this your crank's bottom bracket bearings, they will wear out prematurely and you'll be spending more money. Better to take it to a shop and have them look at it.
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Teflon lubricant spray is often used on nuts, bolts, and washers to protect them from exposure to things such as oil and seawater. The non-stick characteristics of teflon lubricant also allow for easy tightening and loosening of fasteners, etc.
I prefer teflon squeeze lubricant.
Keep in mind that it penetrates and can actually do more long term damage than good to bearing which should be protected using greese because the greese can be broken down and Not work as a longer term protectant.
I prefer teflon squeeze lubricant.
Keep in mind that it penetrates and can actually do more long term damage than good to bearing which should be protected using greese because the greese can be broken down and Not work as a longer term protectant.
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Yes, for example the oil on the roads that especially after rains makes roads less "grippy" and can splash up with the water puddles. In this case, a teflon coating on your external moving parts, like bolts and chain, helps keep such debris off your bikes parts. Does this make sense?
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Yes, for example the oil on the roads that especially after rains makes roads less "grippy" and can splash up with the water puddles. In this case, a teflon coating on your external moving parts, like bolts and chain, helps keep such debris off your bikes parts. Does this make sense?
/markp
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Yes, for example the oil on the roads that especially after rains makes roads less "grippy" and can splash up with the water puddles. In this case, a teflon coating on your external moving parts, like bolts and chain, helps keep such debris off your bikes parts. Does this make sense?
Sounds like a theory.
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These are tangents to thread but real concern is using teflon for parts that should stay covered in greese
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If you would spend some of your time posting debates and challenges to statements, doing google searches then this evidence would be one of the top hits. Respond however you want but Im done with this.
Hint: Dupont
Hint: Dupont
Last edited by joesch; 05-21-23 at 10:27 AM.
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Hint: Dupont invented teflon and puts it in a wide variety of products. The only ones I can find that are chain lubes are wax based. Not lubrication coming from largely teflon.
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It is generally a bit more likely that yes a well sealed bearing on a bike that is taken care of generally will not need much of anything and could potentially last quite a while or slowly wear but not as noticeably so sometimes people do end up saying it is fine because we get used to our bikes and how the work and if it slowly gets worse we may not notice as much. I see it often and I see a lot of folks who come in say before a big ride or a race or something and want a tune up without any time to ride the bike and get used to it and adjust things as needed. I will usually tell those folks unless they have no brake pads or things are really dangerous to go do the ride or race and come to me as soon as it is over and we will tune it and replace parts so you are ready for the next one. You will be amazed what people say after their bike has been tuned up properly and how well it works and feels like a new bike to some or them not knowing or remembering something worked or did it's job so well.
A double ride can be quite fun and riding in the evening hours and seeing the sunset is always nice. I love riding off into the sunset and then into some night riding (assuming good lights). I did a lovely ride Friday evening about 30 miles and then did another nice ride the next day in the afternoon with some friends on a MUP half of us hadn't been on. Was surprisingly a very uncrowded MUP for how nice the day was and the general number of people out.