Best grease for frame and headset bearings ?

Just got some new bearings for my frame and wouod like to pack them out with a decent grease before fitting.

Any recommendations at all.

Cheers.

Steve.

Sealed cartridge bearings? Just leave them. Any gains in lifespan from adding extra grease will be negated by the fact that a pried up seal will never work as well as an untouched one.

You’re better off just adding a little grease around them when you fit them so they don’t seize into the frame.

I’ve got copperslip for that but wanted to add a bit if decent grease on new bearings rather than then unknown fill they have come with.

Disagree with raisinhat.

Mobil xhp222 is the best of gear, pack em up.

On that subject, best tool for lifting the seals without causing damage? I bought a load of that grease on your recommendation Mr Beerless.

I personally would not lift seals to add more grease. Bearings fail after the seals fail and allow water in.

best tool for lifting the seals without causing damage?

A small seal pick or a needle and a bit of care.
Pick the seal out around the outside of the bearing too. That way it’ll not damage a sealing surface that comes into contact with a moving part.
Mobil blue grease as mentioned up there seems about as good as it gets too.

Bearings fail after the seals fail and allow water in.

Bearing seals allow water in way before they fail. If they were tight enough to stop water getting in when under stress you wouldn’t want to deal with the drag.

I still have a tube of superlube which i used to use on my old five spot. Would that be any good ?

I personally would not lift seals to add more grease. Bearings fail after the seals fail and allow water in.

Bollocks. Fluid penetrates and washes out grease on even new bearings, otherwise my cane Creek 40 would’ve lasted longer than 2 months. Replacing with a more robust grease is a no brainer.

Quite often surprised by how little grease new bearings come packed with.

Bearings come with **** all grease in them. They are designed for factories etc not outdoors.

They fail due to water ingress.

It’s very easy to remove a seal without damage (turns clock back 10 years and yawns) – Stanley blade on inside – pack grease, refit seal.

I speak as former lbs worker with 10yrs cumulative experience mostly as mechanic 1988 – 2015.

Check what the manufacturers say.

Personally I am certain that the seals failing first is the common way that bearings fail. You see bearings with water ingress damage from failed seals far more often than you see them seized from being dry

Manufacturers make them fit factory machines, not MTBs.

Your certainty…what evidence is that based on?

silkoline pro RG2 grease and fill them up. I agree with cynic-al, new bearings have sod all in them and all bikes should be stripped and packed full, then they last and last.

Superlube lasts a very long time, and the synthetic base helps keeps it from absorbing moisture.

As for pulling out the seal, a blunt seal tool rotated around the inner race works best. This is the area where the seal is the most forgiving, don’t pick at the outer race contact area as it’s too easy to bend the seal base material.

Mobil blue grease mentioned above is also excellent.

Stanley blade on inside

don’t pick at the outer race contact area as it’s too easy to bend the seal base material.

Outside with a seal pick and don’t be a heavy handed gibbon then you’ll not damage the actual sealy bit of the seal…

Personally I am certain that the seals failing first is the common way that bearings fail. You see bearings with water ingress damage from failed seals far more often than you see them seized from being dry

Having been involved in numerous root cause analysis of bearing failure, I’d be interested in how you could be sure of the cause…

Just from my experience over a lot of years – hence “personally”

anyone with good data I’d love to hear it. To me this is one of those “faith” things – you either believe one side or the other without much if any evidence.

Not really. I’ve opened up plenty of bearings, hope being one of the worst culprits tbh, and have been astounded at lack of grease.

I always refill with mobil tbh, and the increased life is evident.

To me this is one of those “faith” things – you either believe one side or the other without much if any evidence.

I guess, if you don’t have much evidence.

been astounded at lack of grease.

Me too and not just with bearing on bikes.
I used to work on ride on industrial cleaning machines which had a proper hard life and every new machine used to be stripped down and every bearing stuffed full of grease before it went out into a factory.
I saw what happened when that prep didn’t happen…

As the bearing do not rotate fully and just move through 30% or so angular rotation forget all the super duper greases etc just pack it out with boat trailer bearing grease it is designed to keep out water so should be great for MTB frame bearings

My headset bearing last a very long time. I dont add grease. I use token headsets or cane creek. Buy good bearings and they will last. Buy cheap one and they wont last as long.

Rock n roll super web is the best bearing grease but adding that works well with traditional caged/loose ball headsets

.

Anyone with eyes, a memory and an objective mind can see for themselves that bearings fail due to water ingress, followed by corrosion which pitts the surfaces and rapid wear to failure follows.

It’s pointless to check the manufacturers instructions. If any one has ever done this, they’re so generic as to be pretty useless. ‘service life may be fore-shortened if used in dirty conditions or the presence of contaminants’ is a pretty good example.

Fact is, the bearings used on bikes are co-opted from industrial machinery and are designed to run at significantly higher RPM in cleaner environments. Even the way bearing specs are quoted in catalogues shows they’re not design for the way they are used on MTBs.

If you’re not a ham fisted buffoon it’s easy to use a Stanley blade and lever a seal out from its outside edge. Pack with decent grease and then press the seal down. If a bearing is packed with grease, there is less space for water to occupy. Personally, I like finish line ceramic. It’s not the thickest, but it seems to add a rust resident cutting to the the bearings, which gives you a bit more grace with you re-greasing interval. I tried RnR super web, it’s very sticky, but not actually very good with water. It looks to me to just be a higher soap content lithium grease.

Probably a good market for replacement seals!
I have a proper set of picks, blades etc, but I have never managed to remove without causing *some* damage. I still do it though because lots of bearings fail because they have dried out. You open that bad boy up and it’s that black dusty shite in there and realise the owner hasn’t paid them a mind at all.

renton – Member

I still have a tube of superlube which i used to use on my old five spot. Would that be any good ?

That is my favorite bike grease that I use for just about everything!

I use a blue Marine grease, Usually pop a seal out of the bearing and pack it full of grease and then re-fit seal.
I do my hope wheel bearings twice a year and they are now 2.5 years old and on the original bearings.
and smear some around where the bearing sits to stop it seizing in.

I miss the greaseguard stuff where you would come back from a wet ride ans just push clean grease through. Bearings seemed to last forever

Presumably you just need to pop one seal off? In that case is it best to do the more or less exposed side?

Finish line Teflon grease or any thick marine grease seem to work well – we often use military specification grease which is super thick red goo.

A good tip – before replacing the removed shield, use a cordless drill with no bit, close the chuck and spin the tip of the chuck against the inner bearing race. Eye wear recommended

This thoroughly distributes grease, pack in more as required, replace shield and wipe clean.

Brake pad springs are the best tool for removing a bearing seal- flat, thin, strong and no cutting edge like a blade will have

I always repack bearings, even new ones. I use Silkolene RG2. I’d never use a drill but I spin the bearing by hand to distribute he grease, then try and cram in a bit more.

As said above, new bearings come with a 20-30% grease fill, so repacking (ime) -at least doubles the lifespan.