Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Bicycle Mechanics
Reload this Page >

Grease for cup&cone hubs

Search
Notices
Bicycle Mechanics Broken bottom bracket? Tacoed wheel? If you're having problems with your bicycle, or just need help fixing a flat, drop in here for the latest on bicycle mechanics & bicycle maintenance.

Grease for cup&cone hubs

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-15-21, 07:49 AM
  #1  
Amt0571
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Catalonia
Posts: 956

Bikes: Canyon Grand Canyon AL SL 8.0, Triban RC520 Gravel Ltd, Btwin Ultra 520 AF GF, Triban Road 7, Benotto 850

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 402 Post(s)
Liked 215 Times in 137 Posts
Grease for cup&cone hubs

I only had a bike which used cup&cones, which was my beater bike. It does a low mileage and I didn't care a lot about it being perfect, so from time to time I repacked the hubs with whatever grease I had at hand. Last time I used Weldtite TF2 teflon grease.

However, I now have a bike with more expensive hubs (XT) and which does way more mileage in muddy and wet conditions and was wondering what grease should I use on it. Is the Weldtite TF2 ok? or should I buy something specific?
Amt0571 is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 08:52 AM
  #2  
pdlamb
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: northern Deep South
Posts: 8,895

Bikes: Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee

Mentioned: 36 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2601 Post(s)
Liked 1,925 Times in 1,208 Posts
Originally Posted by Amt0571
I only had a bike which used cup&cones, which was my beater bike. It does a low mileage and I didn't care a lot about it being perfect, so from time to time I repacked the hubs with whatever grease I had at hand. Last time I used Weldtite TF2 teflon grease.

However, I now have a bike with more expensive hubs (XT) and which does way more mileage in muddy and wet conditions and was wondering what grease should I use on it. Is the Weldtite TF2 ok? or should I buy something specific?
Use what you've got, it'll be fine.

And send me $10 to assuage any guilt you might feel about using the same grease on your less expensive and more expensive bearings.
pdlamb is offline  
Likes For pdlamb:
Old 01-15-21, 08:55 AM
  #3  
ARider2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 587
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 94 Post(s)
Liked 151 Times in 105 Posts
Most any grease will do, especially since it seems you service your bearings on a regular basis. I use Buzzy's Slick Honey grease...


ARider2 is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 08:58 AM
  #4  
Bike Gremlin
Mostly harmless ™
 
Bike Gremlin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Novi Sad
Posts: 4,430

Bikes: Heavy, with friction shifters

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1107 Post(s)
Liked 216 Times in 130 Posts
Making sure to set an optimal preload, and do regular service (every year, or each 5000 km, whichever comes first) is a lot more important than the type of grease.
It's similar to bathing: no matter how expensive, or cheap soap you use: as long as you wash regularly, all's good. If you don't, then even the most expensive soap doesn't cut it.
Bike Gremlin is offline  
Likes For Bike Gremlin:
Old 01-15-21, 09:29 AM
  #5  
Koyote
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 7,860
Mentioned: 38 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 6950 Post(s)
Liked 10,958 Times in 4,685 Posts
Buy grade 25 bearings in quantity, in the correct sizes, and replace those when doing the service.

I've found that, with good bearings and good grease (and plenty of it), cheapie hubs spin beautifully.
Koyote is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 02:02 PM
  #6  
davidad
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 6,660
Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 582 Post(s)
Liked 171 Times in 138 Posts
Originally Posted by Koyote
Buy grade 25 bearings in quantity, in the correct sizes, and replace those when doing the service.

I've found that, with good bearings and good grease (and plenty of it), cheapie hubs spin beautifully.
If the bearings have their original finish they are good to go. Any automotive grease is perfect for our use. A bike wheel spinning at 350 rpm is traveling at about 27mph. Not much strain on bearings that are capable of 10k
to 20k rpm.
davidad is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 02:28 PM
  #7  
Amt0571
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Catalonia
Posts: 956

Bikes: Canyon Grand Canyon AL SL 8.0, Triban RC520 Gravel Ltd, Btwin Ultra 520 AF GF, Triban Road 7, Benotto 850

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 402 Post(s)
Liked 215 Times in 137 Posts
Originally Posted by ARider2
Most any grease will do, especially since it seems you service your bearings on a regular basis. I use Buzzy's Slick Honey grease...


I have SRAM Butter, which is basically the same, and I use it for my dropper and forks, but I thought hubs worked better with something a bit thicker. Maybe I'm wrong.

Is there any grease expert here?
Amt0571 is offline  
Likes For Amt0571:
Old 01-15-21, 02:42 PM
  #8  
veganbikes
Clark W. Griswold
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ,location, location
Posts: 13,493

Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26

Mentioned: 54 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4342 Post(s)
Liked 3,978 Times in 2,659 Posts
I would use Phil Wood grease personally. If not that then probably the ceramic grease from Finish Line.
veganbikes is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 02:48 PM
  #9  
keithdunlop
Junior Member
 
keithdunlop's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA
Posts: 175

Bikes: 1988 Bottecchia Professional (for Eroica), 2011 Ridley Noah ISP (retired), 2020 Soma Fog Cutter (daily commuter), 2021 Ridley Kanzo Adventure (gravel), 2022 Tideace Aero (main road bike).

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Liked 76 Times in 32 Posts
I still have an old tub of Campagnolo Special Grease that I use all the time. Still works great!


Campagnolo Special Grease
keithdunlop is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 02:57 PM
  #10  
trailangel
Senior Member
 
trailangel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Pasadena, CA
Posts: 4,848

Bikes: Schwinn Varsity

Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1931 Post(s)
Liked 742 Times in 422 Posts
I am not a grease expert, but I play one on the internet. My Campy grease dried out so I threw it away. I've been using Phil Wood grease because I have it.
It's a little on the light side, but really good. If you live in PNW or east coast or really wet climate, you might use trailer marine grease... it's heavier.
The Slick Honey or SRAM butter... I have that, but it's really for forks....might be too light.
trailangel is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 03:03 PM
  #11  
RGMN
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 567
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 241 Post(s)
Liked 232 Times in 153 Posts
Originally Posted by keithdunlop
I still have an old tub of Campagnolo Special Grease that I use all the time. Still works great!


Campagnolo Special Grease
Campagnolo's grease is Kluber Isoflex Topas NB52. I use it in my Campag hubs just because I have a tube, but just about any decent grease will work.
RGMN is offline  
Old 01-15-21, 03:23 PM
  #12  
dedhed
SE Wis
 
dedhed's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Milwaukee, WI
Posts: 10,505

Bikes: '68 Raleigh Sprite, '02 Raleigh C500, '84 Raleigh Gran Prix, '91 Trek 400, 2013 Novara Randonee, 1990 Trek 970

Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2743 Post(s)
Liked 3,390 Times in 2,053 Posts
frequency of service is more important than grease, assuming reasonable quality of the grease used.
dedhed is offline  

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.