Which grease?

Was using Weldtite lithium grease and at 3 quid or so a tub thought it was bargain. Is there anything else I should be thinking about?

3 ride old BB seems a bit grindy after yesterdays rainy ride so it can’t be deflecting water that well however, the weather was pretty bad.

Cheers in advance

I use fairy washing-up liquid to degrease, then GT85 to displace any remaining water. I then wipe it off leaving a light layer, then finally applying my Finish Line Teflon Grease. Certainly not weather proof by any means though. However a light coat of GT85 (seriously light it’s crude stuff) leaves a water proof layer behind after the solvent has evaporated, not much staying power though.

Shimano Workshop Grease Claims to ‘… Effectively seals out water’ might be worth a look.

Sorry. Probably more information than you asked for, got a bit carried away.: )

Castrol LM for me

Rock n roll super for bearings. They runn butter smooth afterwards. Weldite grease is know for this problem. It cheap for a reason and is only good for greasing seatposts.

Cheers for the shouts, I use GT85 in the same way mike. Thanks for all the info, Stripping my bike this weekend and regreasing everything. The weather at penmachno was killer yesterday and I hate grinding and noises!

Anybody tried Rock n roll – they say they’re king!

TandemJeremy – you may have a point here, does the car grease actually work ok for bikes? Surely the characteristics aren’t that similar between bikes and cars?

I use some castrol stuff.

I’ve always thought the lithium stuff a bit crap.

I’ve also used Ison’s outboard motor grease, it was good.

Lubrication is lubrication. I find the white lithium stuff attracts water and using oils like GT85 with grease simply make it runny and fall off.

I have a big tub of castrol LM and use it everywhere I put grease. Having said that I do not open up sealed bearings – once they go rough or rumble they need to be replaced

Hasco high temp mould tool grease. Designed to withstand extremes of temperature and washing from condensation build up from the mould tool. Not cheap. About £50 for a 2kg tub. But I get it through work! Lasts forever though.

Another Rock n Roll Super Web grease user here. Sticks like shit to a blanket – top stuff.

I think I’m going to give the Rock n roll a go. It’s cheap enough.

I use Comma multipurpose. Gone through about 1/3 a tub in 18 months or so and use it liberally for everything, including bearings and even for my rear air can (mixed up with some gearbox oil) as I’d ran out of float fluid.

Although in fairness I doubt theres much difference between this and every other general grease out there.

Silkolene PRO RG2 Racing Grease , about £9 for 500g tub.

As it was good enough for my motorbike suspension bearings I am sure it will be fine on a Push bike

http://www.silkolene.com/index.php?calling=product&sub=maintain#maintain_p23

I use their suspension fluid and silkopen on my mountain bike as well with no harmfull effect.

Right any chance of a comprehensive list of grease types and their applications?

1. Hub Bearings
2. BB bearings
3. Headset bearings
4. Fork seals
5. Piston seals
6. CB Joplins
7. Santa Cruz pivots to use with the SC grease gun
8. Pivot bearings

If you want a waterproof grease, you’ll be looking for something calcium based, the cheapest of which is probably Morris K99 Stern Tube & Bearing Grease at about £7 for 500g.

I use it for all bike bearings.

For fork seals I used a synthetic grease (Bikehut at the mo) as recommend by Marzocchi.

Pro RG2 is specifically designed as a bearing grease, … Whether you care or not is a different question but it can’t hurt. It’s also a nice colour. Castrol LM is the same, but IIRC isn’t a nice colour. Both can be used as a regular grease- though RG2 can be a bit stickier than most.

I think Castrol recommend their Moly grease for dry lubrication like bushes etc.

That said, I’m using Finish Line just now because someone gave me one of their little grease guns and it’s very convenient.

It’s grease, ffs!!! 🙄

KY Jelly…..Gets in those “Tight” spots!!!

1. Hub Bearings

castrol LM unless cartidge when nowt

2. BB bearings

whats already in them – don’t disturb the seals

3. Headset bearings

as above

4. Fork seals

nothing

5. Piston seals

red rubber grease if Dot fluid brakes

6. CB Joplins

no idea

7. Santa Cruz pivots to use with the SC grease gun

castrol LM

8. Pivot bearings

castrol Lm unless sealed when nowt

🙂

castrol lm is lithium based though

I’ve farted about with different greases for years, Castrol LM, white lithium, teflon lithium, Pro RG2, Rock n roll superweb, Finishline ceramic, even some fancy stuff used to lubricate the threads on auger casings.

They all lubricate adequately.

What becomes an issue after this is their persistence – how long they stay in a bearing, if they naturally dry out and how well the resist water.

Like everything, its a compromise. Go thin and slippery and your bearings will run beautifully, but won’t stay like that for long without needing a re-grease. Go sticky and increasingly water resistant and bearings start to drag but don’t need as much attention.

Some applications, like Turner bushes, benefit from a thinner less sticky grease that can migrate with limited rotation, some others don’t.

Top of my list of general bearing grease is Shimano Dura-Ace grease, but you won’t like the price!

TandemJeremy – you may have a point here, does the car grease actually work ok for bikes? Surely the characteristics aren’t that similar between bikes and cars?

I’ve been using the same 20 year old grease gun full of wheel bearing grease for years… Up until now, anyways. It just run out the other week.

Has the grease in worked? Absolutely. It lubricates and it lubricates pretty well. But it’s very thick, and it’s very sticky.

The fact is, most automotive greases are designed for very high operating temps. And that’s where they are designed to run best. But because bikes neither run at high temps, or even run that fast, performance in a grease isn’t a massive issue. And automotive greases won’t be the best suited, but you’re hardly likely to notice the difference either.

What,s that blue stuff you see the hope guys using on there tech vids.?

Fox float fluid, you can use it as a general lube (IIRC its a rebranded engine assembly lube)

No not the fox fluid.
You see them using a blue grease in a gun.
Always wondered which one that is.

Pretty sure I use marine bearing grease.

What,s that blue stuff you see the hope guys using on there tech vids.?

Bel-Ray Waterproof grease is blue:

as is Maxima Waterproof grease:

I use this Lithium based grease thats designed for marine applications as its bloody hard to wash away.

Rock Oil MPG

its bloody hard to wash away

You are bloody right 😉

I use marine grease on all bearings ,but if I had enough time in my life ,I would put grease ports everywhere . 🙂

The issue with grease ports is getting the grease into sealed bearings..

Got a Hope front hub y’day and took off the end caps to have a look at what grease they use – its like the darker blue stuff on the chain above.

The issue with grease ports is getting the grease into sealed bearings

Yup,but like some of the Suntour grease guard systems of old,you would only have a seal on the outside of the bearings,so you could pump grease past it as part of the prep after cleaning. 🙂

Mobil XHP 222 in Hope stuff I believe.

I thought TJ was banned.Is this a different chap.

I’ve been using Park Polylube in the squeeze tube.

I’m not saying that its better than anything else; its just real convenient and a lot less messy to use that way. And its usually available in any bike shop or from most online bike retailers.

I have thought about going to a blue colored marine grease, though.

Edit – The posts from TJ above are pre-ban I guess; they’re 6 months old!

Molykote 44 or Renolit IPR2 are good. Pricey though.