rothenfield1

I'm about to attempt my first hub rebuild on a set of Shimano 600 6207s. I've used Park Polylube 1000 for every bike molestation I've attempted since getting sucked down into this vintage bike restoration obsession that I've been stricken with. I've repacked headset barring and that seems to be working out OK. But, now we're talking about the real-deal, the working end of the tool where the rubber meets the road, literally. If the goal is long term performance, is there really any difference what grease one uses?

rothenfield1

I just realized that this may not be the right forum for this question. But, I'd appreciate your opinions anyway.

cudak888 

Don't worry - I sent a notice to the moderators to have the thread moved into the main forum.

In the meantime, you might find that this rather recent thread has some very good advice on grease: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=588419

-Kurt

Force 

I've been using Park grease as well, but I was recently given some Campy grease and am very impressed after using it in my BB. You can feel the difference. Why did they quit making Campy grease?

divineAndbright

I'm a phil wood man when it comes to grease if its around, but really I'll use just about anything so long as its not super thick, not to mention stinky (the two usually come hand in hand)!

steve-d

Lubriplate. Available through Yellow Jersey. Made in the USA.

https://www.yellowjersey.org/hardware.html

The stuff is great and the threads allow for the tube to be placed on a Pete's grease injector.

steve-d

For the tech geeks, here is a specs page:

https://www.amazon.com/130-aa-10-oz-0...989189&sr=1-16

And found on EBAY:
https://cgi.ebay.com/LUBRIPLATE-Greas...QQcmdZViewItem

Sci-Fi

Chevron SRI-2 and Mobil Polyrex EM is factory fill for 'sealed for life bearings' (Timken, SKF, etc). Park Polylube, 'to me', is just a more expensive re-packaging of Polyrex EM.

For a more smooth and fast rolling grease, use Mobil 28 or Slick 50 One Grease...more like a NLGI 1.5 grease or on the thin end of NLGI 2 specs. Mobil 28 is also a Mil Spec grease, so it's expensive [but cheaper than Krytox grease (Finish Line has a small amount of Krytox in it, but not enough to justify it's price)], but Slick 50 One grease is priced like regular automotive grease.

Mobil 1 synthetic grease and Mystic JT-6 grease are more easily found locally. JT-6 is very waterproof/resistant and long lasting, if you live in wet/high humidity areas.

That being said, any automotive grease should be fine. Everybody will have their preferences based on experience with different brands of grease.

AL NZ

I use automotive wheel bearing grease, on the same assumptions that I have seen written elsewhere. A car wheel bearing will run hours at speeds of 50-100mph, carry 2-3 tonnes spread over 4 wheels, cope with brake heat up to 200'C+, and do this for 100,000 miles or more. So even a big fattie like me, at 240lbs, doing max of 30 mph and no brake heat to hub - surely even low-rent grease will exceed all demands.

So I use car grease!

soderbiker

hope this helps .
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html


Cheers
T

MountDoraCycles

I use RnR's Red Devil grease with 2-3 drops of motor oil on each side for some nice riding hubs. Been doing it for years on hubs that matter. Cheaper hubs get the ol park 1000 grease.

Lenton58 

Right on ... I agree. In my not so humble opinion, there is a lot of b.......t about bicycle lubricants so that tiny amounts of it can be sold at outrageous prices with fashionable names attached to fabulous claims that are printed on impressive little containers. Admittedly not all grease nor oil is equal, but any that is formulated for extreme service on race cars and expensive machinery of other kinds should do you well. If you are a super competative athlete, the fractional drag of thicker grease may be a tad worrisome — I won't argue the case. So, just use whatever the racers use and rest yer brain cells.

I have a set of wheels with old Campagnolo Record hubs that are intended for frequent oiling. And, my Raleigh back in the Cretaceous used the same lubricant application exactly ... with the spring steel detent cover where the oil went into the hub. As a boy, I dutifully squirted straight 30 weight in the hubs once a week. In years of riding I never scoured the cone side nor the actual race. Come to think of it, the BB was using the same lubricant, and it ran flawlessly for many, many years on into my adulthood.

Grease is oil with a wax in it. It is designed to continue sloshing about the target surfaces for a longer period than say straight oil that will wick away and be thrown about by centrifugal forces. But, as the late Sheldon Brown strongly implies in his article, oil is just as effective as grease, but re-application is necessarily a frequent thing. Nonetheless, actual grease may help keep water out of races — although I never seemed to have found that a problem on my bikes of yor.

I've been deeply involved in audio, and the associated, worshipped icons and ubiquitous fetishes resemble some of those to be found in the cycling world. The audio community knows this marketing fadism as 'snake oil'. My two bits ... but I live and stand by it after more than 40 years of keeping old machinary alive. The difference may be solely lie in terms of the intervals of maintenance. When my old Campy hubs go back into service, I intend to squirt a few drops of 90 weight synthetic hypoid oil into them every few rides. If I live and ride to be 120 years old, I'll only ever need one can of the stuff.

If you need grease — and nearly all of us do in this age — just be sure it is a good one that supplies a good shear factor. Some time ago, I bought a big, grease-gun-sized tube of stuff that is intended for race car wheel bearings — what more do I want!? OK ... so the price was more than the stuff for yer lawnmower, but it was a wad less than magical bicycle grease.

SJX426 

For truely period correct bikes that are genuine vintage, I use whale blubber.

southpawboston

+1. i buy the big generic tub of automotive hi-temp bearing grease, the red stuff. it has always worked great on all bearing surfaces on any bike i've serviced, not to mention automotive applications for which it has worked equally well. however, i can appreciate arguments against organic solvent-based greases when mixing with oil occurs, such as in an IGH, where soap-based greases may retain longer.

some people argue that oil is superior for bearings than grease, with the caveat that you mentioned-- it needs frequent replenishing, therefore it is incompatible with the modern consumer's habits. mark stonich recommends only oil for sturmey archer axle bearings, and a thin layer of grease for the labyrinth cone seals.

lol, so true. and the vintage audiophiles are just as fanatical (how many sets of vintage A/D/S speakers do i own??? ).

as an audio analogy to bike greases, i worked in retail high-end audio decades ago, and it amazed me how people would empty their wallets on accessories like monster speaker cabling. of course, quality pre-amp signal cabling was important (and i only used signal cables i made myself), but people were willing to spend upwards of $100 (in 1980s dollars) just for speaker cable with the belief that inferior "lamp cord" tainted the otherwise pure signal outputting from their carver and denon amps-- even when mcintosh debunked such beliefs by conducting blind audio tests using those two types of cables.

yellowjeep

Lenton and Southpaw, its posts like yours' that make me love this forum.
In the interest of staying semi on topic I use Phil Wood because I could get it cheap when I worked at a shop. The next grease I buy will be Slick 50.

yuyax

I have been using the brand that is or was available at the Home Crepot. It looks like the Phil Wood dark green grease and comes in small white tin can. I think the word waterproof or something else is on the can. About $6

Vinci

I just rebuilt one of those very hubs recently and used Redline CV2 grease. It is marketed for automotive applications but is an excellent (if smelly) red grease. The grease wasn't particularly cheap, but I already had it around for car projects.

lotek 

I only use my own home made grease which is a blend of expeller pressed canola oil jojoba oil
tallow and carnubia wax. I've noticed that this is also good when one needs to polish his/her
mpingo disks

Marty

noglider 

I understand that the bearings ride on a tiny, thin film of the lubricant, pushing the rest away. That pushed-away portion serves to keep dirt and water out, not to lubricate. (Have I got it right so far?) So I find it hard to believe that viscosity (between one grease and another) plays a role in increasing or reducing friction. I also use car grease, though I like the sticky stuff when I'm assembling bearings where the balls are likely to fall out. I still have a tube of Phil grease, from when I was more impressionable, so I use that when I need sticky grease.

Rothenfield1, I find headsets to be trickier than hubs, so you'll do fine.

awc380

We're honestly discussing grease now?
Is there vintage grease?? What do we want here...???

noglider 

Oy, I just realized that my tube of Phil grease is vintage! I'm still using it and not savoring it.

Sci-Fi

^^How vintage do you want to go? At one time brakes were considered not necessary/optional, vasoline was the in thing for chain lube and protection, and they were riding double century events (1896).
https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstrac...629C94669ED7CF

lol...couldn't resist

lotek 

yes there is 'vintage grease'

photo courtesy Velobase.com

Sixty Fiver

Any quality automotive wheel bearing grease will be more than enough for bicycle bearings... bicycle specific greases are the biggest scam out there as you pay 4 and 5 times as much for the same product you can get at an auto parts store.

There is a great selection of greases out there... synthetic marine grease is my favourite.

SirMike1983 

I use general purpose Lubrimatic dark-type Lithium grease. It is an all-purpose grease that isn't really "sticky" so much as slick. Most general greases are ok, with the exception of the very thick ones in certain applications. There are some greases that give better service than others. I rebuilt a bike a few years ago with general purpose brown axle grease-- a mistake I regretted later. I also avoid the thick, high-temp automotive greases too. I've since converted to the dark lithium grease you find in the hardware store, and I am quite happy with it.

The greases you want to watch out for are those with vegetable component additives that will dry out and gunk up. I haven't seen any of these around lately. I agree that the story of "pure bicycle" greases is a myth.