A friend has asked me if I am willing to give his bike a once over, yep no problem. He said he hasn’t touched it in a long time maintenance wise. Changed gear and brake cables and set it all up, he now has gears and brakes that work. Tempted to take the cranks off and regrease the bearings and the wheel bearings too. So which grease should I use? I have some weldtite TF2 here, would that do the job?

Thanks

just use standard lithium. tf2 is fine if you dont have any but it degrades quickly imo

I use this stuff for everything
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/muc-off-bio-grease/rp-prod115118
Smells edible (haven’t tried it though)
Yeah, tf2 not quite as long lasting, but fine on someone else’s bike 😉

I’ve been using this simply because it was all the shop had that was suitable when I wanted done right now one evening. It’s pretty good but quite spendy. It’s blue, and I suspect it’s a repack of XHP222 as it seems a ringer for what Hope have used on things I’ve had.

TF2 or Juice Lubes Bearing Juice (bigger pot better value) or any number of other Lithium greases will be fine but as said will wash out/contaminate quickly. Great for stuff that’s getting stripped regularly but a bad idea for long term performance in poor conditions.

I like a calcium sulfonate thickened grease for the water resistance, Shimano Dura ace grease is of this type. Extreme pressure solid lubricants and anti corrosion additives are useful too.

Some people say a bicycle hub or BB is relatively undemanding compared to other applications and therefore any lithium grease will do. These people are wrong.

Hubs and BBs are slow moving moving compared to other applications (like an electric motor or car wheel bearing) but rather than being simple, slow moving, highly loaded and relatively poorly sealed bearings operating in wet, and in winter salty environments are in fact a very demanding application for lubricants. Xhp 222 isn’t a bad choice, the 222 special would be even better with added molybdenum disulfide but it’s not easy to find.

TF2 is probably fine for the summer on a friend’s bike since you’re already doing them a favour. On the other hand, if that’s the best you’ve got you might as well get yourself and great them to a better grease. How about some motorex bike grease 2000? Water resistant and relatively easy to buy online.