Bicycle Mechanics - Shouldn't the wheels have grease?

I just took down both of the wheels off of my Next bike, and was surprised to find that it didn't have any grease in the hubs. There was a slight oily residue, which may simply be the B'laster I sprayed on the axle to clear the crud and make sure I did have some lubrication of that joint, but other than that, it's wide open spaces in there. Is there not supposed to be grease in there?

That's how it suppose to be.

Grease outside, where u can see, serve no other purpose than attract dirt, a little shine OK as an anti-corrosion agent. Where grease matters is INSIDE the hub, behind the "dirt cover" where u can't see unless u disassemble it.

Dismount wheel, turn it on your hands. Smooth or "rocky? - ouch!"

I think Lectra is saying that there was no grease inside the hubs.

I've heard that some racers will put oil in there. It doesn't last, but while it's there there's less friction.

Are you looking at the ball bearings in the hub? Is B'laster a degreaser spray? It might have washed the grease out of the bearings.

What I was saying earlier is that this mountain bike has no grease inside it. B'laster is a lubricant/penetrant, and a darn good one, but is no where near up to the challenge of lubricating wheels. No more than I sprayed on it, it should not have displaced the grease, but I found no trace of any whatsoever. This is basically a Wal-Mart bike, so I know it wasn't for racing. I"m gonna go back and put some grease in it after I get a new cassette, as fixing that is part of the reason I took the wheels off is to fix the cassette. I discovered there was only air in the hub when I took the axle out clean everything up and "regrease" it. ...of course, like Trombone was saying, the guy who had the bike before me probably got the grease out and then put oil in. I know I used to be about doing that as a kid.

If you have taken the hubs apart to inspect the bearings, likely you need to install new bearings. It may be that someone before you (a shade-tree mechanic) took the thing apart and re-assembled without any grease. Or, it could have come that way from the factory. I just worked on a cheap Chinese bike where the bottom bracket had never been assembled properly.

Some Wal-Mart type bikes have no ball bearings, only plastic bushings. These are basically disposable bikes.

Many of the cheaper bikes have minimal, if any, grease.

I'm confused. Did you see the bearing balls? You may be looking past them into the interior of the hub. There isn't supposed to be grease in the central tube that goes right through, only in the bearing races where the balls are. Did you lift off the grease covers and see the bearing balls?

There isn't supposed to be grease in the central tube that goes right through, only in the bearing races where the balls are.

That depends on the particular hub. Some hubs are full of grease.