Any problem with adding Park lube to the factory hub grease
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Any problem with adding Park lube to the factory hub grease?
Brand new bike with 0 miles on it, do you see any potential problem with adding PPL-1 lube in with the factory grease?
Last edited by MyRedTrek; 04-19-22 at 06:54 PM.
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Why? There is literally no need to do that on a brand new bike. The only reason I might consider swapping grease is if I was a sponsored rider and had a grease company I was sponsored by but I would have team mechanics and it would all be paid for but it would still be silly. Unless there is actually an issue with the factory grease I would always leave it alone till I need to do it. The PPL-1 is pretty generic grease nothing special anyway so not like there might be a slight benefit and especially not adding more grease to something probably already properly greased.
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As a general rule I wouldn't mix grease types. Many are compatible but some aren't. If the factory grease seems adequate leave it alone until it's time for a complete overhaul or clean the factory grease out completely and regrease with the lube of your choice.
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Why? There is literally no need to do that on a brand new bike. The only reason I might consider swapping grease is if I was a sponsored rider and had a grease company I was sponsored by but I would have team mechanics and it would all be paid for but it would still be silly. Unless there is actually an issue with the factory grease I would always leave it alone till I need to do it. The PPL-1 is pretty generic grease nothing special anyway so not like there might be a slight benefit and especially not adding more grease to something probably already properly greased.
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
Last edited by MyRedTrek; 04-19-22 at 08:08 PM.
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It's an essentially new Walmart bike I happen to have had sitting in my garage that I'm giving to someone and I'm not inclined to just trust the Walmart setup on it, so I'm going through it and putting in what I know to be decent grease and making sure there's enough of it.
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
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Originally Posted by MyRedTrek View Post
It's an essentially new Walmart bike I happen to have had sitting in my garage that I'm giving to someone and I'm not inclined to just trust the Walmart setup on it, so I'm going through it and putting in what I know to be decent grease and making sure there's enough of it.
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
It's an essentially new Walmart bike I happen to have had sitting in my garage that I'm giving to someone and I'm not inclined to just trust the Walmart setup on it, so I'm going through it and putting in what I know to be decent grease and making sure there's enough of it.
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
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just go for it. Plenty of times I give bikes like that a quick once over and think nothing of putting a couple extra squirts of grease in there, usually there isn't enough to begin with as you suspect. Sometimes it does necessitate cleaning the bearings if you're going through the process, spin the axle, if it doesn't sound gritty then undo the cones enough to get a squirter in there, wipe the cones and edge of the seal, add squirts and move on. Obviously, if it sounds gritty pull it apart, clean it and regrease or you really will just be wasting time. Personally I think every bike deserves an equal amount of care regardless of source or cost, it isn't about the value of the bike but understanding its about making it as good as it can be for the person who will use it, ignore the naysayers and have fun rehabbing it.
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It's an essentially new Walmart bike I happen to have had sitting in my garage that I'm giving to someone and I'm not inclined to just trust the Walmart setup on it, so I'm going through it and putting in what I know to be decent grease and making sure there's enough of it.
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
As for HelMart bikes, the amount of grease used in them is about the equivalent of what you could rub off a teenager’s nose. Seems like a lot but it really isn’t.
Other prophylactic measures I would take would be to replace the bottom bracket or at least the bearings. The bearings and cups are made of slagnesium which has all the strength of wet toilet paper. I’ve seen a number of bottom brackets in the co-op where the cups pull apart when you try to remove them. Makes it seem like the cups are cross threaded but they really aren’t. Bearings often come out as hemispheres
Hubs and headsets don’t seem to be much of a problem in my experience but they have more of a sheen of grease than actual grease in them.
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There shouldn’t be any issue with combining greases. They are all essentially the same and will mix readily.
As for HelMart bikes, the amount of grease used in them is about the equivalent of what you could rub off a teenager’s nose. Seems like a lot but it really isn’t.
Other prophylactic measures I would take would be to replace the bottom bracket or at least the bearings. The bearings and cups are made of slagnesium which has all the strength of wet toilet paper. I’ve seen a number of bottom brackets in the co-op where the cups pull apart when you try to remove them. Makes it seem like the cups are cross threaded but they really aren’t. Bearings often come out as hemispheres
Hubs and headsets don’t seem to be much of a problem in my experience but they have more of a sheen of grease than actual grease in them.
As for HelMart bikes, the amount of grease used in them is about the equivalent of what you could rub off a teenager’s nose. Seems like a lot but it really isn’t.
Other prophylactic measures I would take would be to replace the bottom bracket or at least the bearings. The bearings and cups are made of slagnesium which has all the strength of wet toilet paper. I’ve seen a number of bottom brackets in the co-op where the cups pull apart when you try to remove them. Makes it seem like the cups are cross threaded but they really aren’t. Bearings often come out as hemispheres
Hubs and headsets don’t seem to be much of a problem in my experience but they have more of a sheen of grease than actual grease in them.
It's been sitting for around three years but I don't think the spoke tension would change that much with -0- stress being put on it.
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Park PPL-1 is a polyurea grease which while a very good cycling grease is actually one of the worst when it comes to mixing. Mixed with a typical lithium based grease it can result in hardening or softening and other issues not critical to most cycling. Mixing would not be done in professional industrial maintenance w/o knowing the original grease and insuring the compatibility.
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It didn't change over time. It was just as poor three years ago as it is now. When an entire bike sells for less than $100 at retail, how much careful assembly can you expect?
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I haven't gotten to the bracket yet, I've been dealing with the hubs. There was brown grease in there though the amount seemed a bit sparse to me. I lubed up the hubs and the freewheel. The dishing on the rear wheel was off, spoke tension was all over the place - stuff like this is exactly why I'm going through it, amazing they sell bikes in that kind of adjustment. However I will say the rims do true up pretty nicely.
It's been sitting for around three years but I don't think the spoke tension would change that much with -0- stress being put on it.
It's been sitting for around three years but I don't think the spoke tension would change that much with -0- stress being put on it.
But, since you have it, do the best you can. What you are seeing is fairly commom.
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Park PPL-1 is a polyurea grease which while a very good cycling grease is actually one of the worst when it comes to mixing. Mixed with a typical lithium based grease it can result in hardening or softening and other issues not critical to most cycling. Mixing would not be done in professional industrial maintenance w/o knowing the original grease and insuring the compatibility.
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Industry has much more severe demands than bicycling. Higher temperatures, heavier loads, longer duty cycles, etc. For a bicycle, it won’t matter for a couple of reasons. First is the light duty demands that bicycles have. The second one is that there is so little grease in HelMart bikes that any added grease will dilute the old grease to ppb (parts per billion) levels.
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I would add the grease. It is also a nice gesture to want the bike to function as well as possible. Good for you.
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It's an essentially new Walmart bike I happen to have had sitting in my garage that I'm giving to someone and I'm not inclined to just trust the Walmart setup on it, so I'm going through it and putting in what I know to be decent grease and making sure there's enough of it.
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
I take it you have no knowledge of any issue with combining grease then?
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I have no love for bikes coming from HelMart. They are poorly made and not good candidates for refurbishment unless you want to add more money to them than they cost in the first place.
But, since you have it, do the best you can. What you are seeing is fairly commom.
But, since you have it, do the best you can. What you are seeing is fairly commom.
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Ok you have fun with that but I don't really see a need to mix lubes. Can you do it, sure but it is a lot of effort for not a huge reward on that front.
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I don't worry about grease mixing issues. I bought some nos Miche cartridge bearing hubs on eBay. They're beautiful, but I thought they needed some grease. After all, they're a couple decades-old. So I added what I had on hand which was Park. Zero issues.
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I also found the black paint on the handlebars, stem and front fork had gotten dull on the top for some reason. Keep in mind this bike has been sitting in a garage the whole time, it's not like it's had sunlight beating down on it. The area under the grips is still bright and shiny. When I cleaned and prepped it to hit it with Rustoleum I found the factory paint is also pretty thin, I broke through to bare metal very quickly in certain spots with a moderate application of 400 wet/dry to rough up the surface.
I sure am glad I committed to give the bike a going over. What I'm seeing is that it's not so much that the bike components are terrible but the assembly of them which is also vitally important is really slipshod.
Basically if you get a Walbike you need to look at it as a bunch of parts that it's your responsibility to finish. Of course I doubt many people who get these bikes for kids or themselves are going to have the tools to do all this or even be aware of the assembly issues. Obviously the bikes could last a lot longer if they were just put together right.
I mean c'mon, attaching the pedals at a 90 degree angle from each other??
Okay they didn't really do that.
Last edited by MyRedTrek; 04-22-22 at 03:27 AM.
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Really? Unbelievable??
Actually, completely believable. And expected.
Sorry. There used to be a time when respectable bike shops wouldn't even touch such a POS. I agree with a lot of the others here. Why would you even have spent the money on this, even as a "spare?" And you bought it without knowing if it was your size? And you had it long enough--knowing it wasn't your size--to be out of the return period?? Something is fishy here.
I was 18 when I got into bikes, and thought about what I could do to "improve" my cherished Sears Huffy 10-speed. Took me about 5 minutes to realize it would be a waste of my time, and I started to research what constituted a good bike. And I loved that Huffy.
Hey, it's your bike, and you can keep putting as much lipstick on it as you can, if that's what you enjoy. But please, if you have any humanity, please don't foist this POS on someone else.
Actually, completely believable. And expected.
Sorry. There used to be a time when respectable bike shops wouldn't even touch such a POS. I agree with a lot of the others here. Why would you even have spent the money on this, even as a "spare?" And you bought it without knowing if it was your size? And you had it long enough--knowing it wasn't your size--to be out of the return period?? Something is fishy here.
I was 18 when I got into bikes, and thought about what I could do to "improve" my cherished Sears Huffy 10-speed. Took me about 5 minutes to realize it would be a waste of my time, and I started to research what constituted a good bike. And I loved that Huffy.
Hey, it's your bike, and you can keep putting as much lipstick on it as you can, if that's what you enjoy. But please, if you have any humanity, please don't foist this POS on someone else.
Last edited by smd4; 04-22-22 at 08:33 AM.
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Really? Unbelievable??
Actually, completely believable. And expected.
Sorry. There used to be a time when respectable bike shops wouldn't even touch such a POS. I agree with a lot of the others here. Why would you even have spent the money on this, even as a "spare?" And you bought it without knowing if it was your size? And you had it long enough--knowing it wasn't your size--to be out of the return period?? Something is fishy here.
I was 18 when I got into bikes, and thought about what I could do to "improve" my cherished Sears Huffy 10-speed. Took me about 5 minutes to realize it would be a waste of my time, and I started to research what constituted a good bike. And I loved that Huffy.
Hey, it's your bike, and you can keep putting as much lipstick on it as you can, if that's what you enjoy. But please, if you have any humanity, please don't foist this POS on someone else.
Actually, completely believable. And expected.
Sorry. There used to be a time when respectable bike shops wouldn't even touch such a POS. I agree with a lot of the others here. Why would you even have spent the money on this, even as a "spare?" And you bought it without knowing if it was your size? And you had it long enough--knowing it wasn't your size--to be out of the return period?? Something is fishy here.
I was 18 when I got into bikes, and thought about what I could do to "improve" my cherished Sears Huffy 10-speed. Took me about 5 minutes to realize it would be a waste of my time, and I started to research what constituted a good bike. And I loved that Huffy.
Hey, it's your bike, and you can keep putting as much lipstick on it as you can, if that's what you enjoy. But please, if you have any humanity, please don't foist this POS on someone else.
It seemed okay when I first sat on it in the store, but it wasn't until I finally got around to attempting to test ride it that the issues became apparent.
Hey my Giant Cypress DX which is the correct size for me seems "off" to me now in comparison to my Trek - I like the geometry on the Trek better.
But please, if you have any humanity
Dramatic much?
It wouldn't be "expected" to me since I've never taken a deep-dive into working on a Walmart Bike before. I haven't done a hardness test on the bearings or cup/cone or looked at the grain under a microscope etc. but the components seem mostly okay. The spokes and cables are made of stainless, the bearings seem identical to my Trek and Giant. The frame seems as solidly built. It's steel so it's heavier for the size but I would also expect it to be strong. They're going to be riding around the local area not randonneuring. If they don't beat the hell out of it I imagine they could get many miles out of it now that the issues I've mentioned are being addressed. My one question mark are the twist shifters which are a bit chintzy but they work. I'm lubing them with silicone grease, they might be fine for a long time. If they eventually break they can be replaced with better ones.
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I was 18 when I got into bikes, and thought about what I could do to "improve" my cherished Sears Huffy 10-speed. Took me about 5 minutes to realize it would be a waste of my time, and I started to research what constituted a good bike. And I loved that Huffy.
Hey, it's your bike, and you can keep putting as much lipstick on it as you can, if that's what you enjoy. But please, if you have any humanity, please don't foist this POS on someone else.
Hey, it's your bike, and you can keep putting as much lipstick on it as you can, if that's what you enjoy. But please, if you have any humanity, please don't foist this POS on someone else.
I had a Sears Free Spirit and reached the same conclusion that you did. I didn’t cherish and love it, although I did ride it to the ‘84 Olympic Road Race. I sold it at a garage sale and have no idea what happened to it.
There have been reports that even a Walmart bike will give some years of service if properly maintained.
I mean it’s not like the OP is a gamer and wasting hours staring at a screen.
John