So Mr Commander off of here has kindly sold me an 8speed Alfine hub with around 500 miles on it. I know a “bedding in” period is reccomended (as with any new gearboxes) so i decided to take it apart while it was clean, give it a degreaser bath and get the fine steel powder out of it.

i dont want to oil bath it, i understand it leaks out of the seals too readily, however i did spy a can of spray grease in halfrauds, so decided to push the boat out.
My theory is that as it is so solvent heavy when it goes in, it should penetrate into the hub much better than anything else and get where it is needed, but then thicken up after a few hourspreventing it from dribbling out again.
Can anyone see any problems with using spray grease in this application?

Cheers all!!

Me

I had a can of chainsaw “oil” in an aerosol – very, very sticky when it dried

i guess as some people reccomend an oil bath, there cant be any places one shouldnt oil (plate clutches etc)….

It might depend on what that particular grease is intended for, it’ll get a right hammering in a hub gear which it may not be formulated for if it’s just meant to protect metal from water. You used to be able to get motorcycle chain grease in a spray, I guess something like that would be OK. scaredypants’ chainsaw oil sounds pretty similar.

I conceed, i wasnt 100% convinced, so got the cheaper one, but it does say bicycles on the tin (indicating use on a chain, though i wouldnt even consider “greasing” my chain!

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/grease/halfords-spray-grease-400ml

Alfine 8 hubs don’t sit in an oil bath like the Alfine 11 does. You have to dunk the internals in oil, but then remove the hub and leave it until it stops dripping before putting it back in the shell. As such, there are no leaking issues with the A8 (I’ve worked on loads of them). The A11 does have a habit of leaking a bit though.

The ‘correct’ oil does cost a small fortune. I know of people using ATF in the A11. Although the A11 uses different oil to the A8 (presumably the A8 oil has a higher viscosity). Not sure about using grease though….Might be fine, but there’s a lot going on so I’d guess that it would add drag.

Sooo…. getting this grease back out again?

took it for its maiden voyage and dunked it up to above the top of the wheel in filthy puddle. cant be good. Also noticed its pretty damn draggy in 1st and 2nd.
My mechanic has offered me a litre of whatever fluid i want for nowt, so might go and ask for a tub of as thick as poss ATF to replace the grease with.

I can recommend Rocol Aerospec 100 (as used in the prop reduction gearboxes on Bombardier Q400’s). It’s basically a liquid grease and, as such, ideal for something like the Alfine 8. It’s what I’m using anyway.

Also noticed its pretty damn draggy in 1st and 2nd.

Have you checked the bearing preload?
I was all ready to take mine apart for this reason – but as soon as I undid the nuts it all went away.
They are quite sensitive to excessive preload.

Eugh. Ive opened it up, and the grease looks like mayo. I think it might just be the natural colour of the grease, but im paranoid now.

Flushed it all away, hosed it down with degreased and it sitting on the radiator drying all the last traces of water out of it.

I was in motorexpress today buying a new battery for my car, and picked up some gearbox oil.
Having looked around online everyone seems to be using AutoTransmissionFluid, rather than gearbox oil

As far as i can tell, Gear oil will cling to the gears better, but may cause more drag (if this vegetable oil consistency stuff is causing drag, i dread to think what all that grease was doing) where as ATF apparently contains antifloculant, keeping the muck from getting stuck in nooks and crannies. (though in an Autobox, the fluid is circulated through a filter to collect all the rubbish away from the business bits)

Am i reading far far too much into this, or should i go an exchange it for ATF tommorow just to be sure.

Eugh. Bikes.

Grease instead of oil has been a bit of a holy grail at my work for several decades. Every grease that has been tested has severely reduced the life of the worm and wheel gearbox. Granted that is not what you have but I would have thought oil was specified over grease for longevity??

Found this online from someone called Hobo:

http://www.mbr.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?13902-Shimano-Alfine-Single-Sprocket-%28S500%29-is-there-an-alternative-bigger-than-20T

I pull the guts out every 6 months and soak in degreaser to remove all the old oil before refilling. If you can adjust a Shimano cup and cone bearing it’s an easy job and more thorough than trying to get the old oil out of the oil port. I use a synthetic EP75 in my hubs, the Shimano blue stuff is ridiculously expensive. You’ll probably see recommendations to use ATF around the web, but I don’t like that idea. ATF doesn’t have the pressure additives of an EP oil plus it contains detergents that keep debris suspended in the oil.

Think i might just do it, it cant make THAT much difference.