Is all grease equal?

chris_bass
chris_bass Posts: 4,913
edited April 2014 in Workshop
Is grease just grease or are there better or worse types?

i'm just talking about the stuff for applying to pedal axels, bolts, places where cables rub and fitting parts.
www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes

Comments

  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    Don't use anti-seize in your bearings. Apart from that, just get a big pot of bearing grease from Halfords and that will cover you for the rest of your cycling life I should think!
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    silkolene RG2
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • cycleclinic
    cycleclinic Posts: 6,865
    I am not convicned all greases are equal. Some seem to wash out more quickly than others. It is difficult to prove but I know I have no issues with Rock n roll super web for bearings. Even on cup and cone BB's after ridign through floods it is still all there.
    http://www.thecycleclinic.co.uk -wheel building and other stuff.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,337
    Chemically there are differences between various lubricants, as you can read from Wikipedia

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grease_%28lubricant%29

    However, the lubrication requirements of a bicycle are so pants that you can run your chain on vegetable oil quite successfully, as demonstrated by that guy bottling rapeseed oil as Green Lube... I only noticed when my dog licked the chain... I thought it weird, but the dog was right

    Same applies to bearings... RPM are in the hundreds rather than thousands and there is no significant heat buildup, so even there no need for fancty lubrication.
    You're left with water ingress, where there is a difference between how easily some greases are washed away compared to others... some form horrible paste, some don't... in my experience the big jar or bearing grease that costs 5 quid rocks!
    left the forum March 2023
  • mattythemod
    mattythemod Posts: 289
    maddog 2 wrote:
    silkolene RG2

    Same here ...it came top rated in a MTB mag test many moons ago ...great stuff and exceptional VFM .
  • chris_bass
    chris_bass Posts: 4,913
    excellent, thanks, no need to spend too much then :-)
    www.conjunctivitis.com - a site for sore eyes
  • crankycrank
    crankycrank Posts: 1,830
    Greases are not all equal but as has been mentioned by ugo.santalucia bikes don't put huge stresses on bearings and parts. Years ago I switched from specialised bike (expensive) greases to a cheap tub of marine grease found at auto parts stores. Works as well as anything else I've tried and holds up to moisture a little better.
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    Go into your local bike shop and ask for a big tub of elbow grease - jobs a good'un :)
  • dennisn
    dennisn Posts: 10,601
    Go to your local auto parts store an buy a big old tub of wheel bearing grease. It won't be all that expensive and will most likely last you into the next century. Or you can spend tons of money on "The Lube of the Week" every time a new one comes out. Won't make a bit of difference, except to your wallet.

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