tomana

I'm getting ready to overhaul my bike since I don't know the maintenance history (it's an '89' model). the hubs feel smooth when spun (the axel in my hands) and I can feel no play or roughness in the bearings but it might be good if I grease the bearings anyway - at the least I figure it can't hurt to do so.

I have this grease I bought last year ... is it a grease you would recommend I use on the hubs, bracket (crank) and neck bearings of my 89 Cannondale 3.0 ?



In a "How to Grease bicycle wheel bearings" Youtube video they recommend using this grease ...

Bjforrestal

Personally I'd go with a waterproof grease. Will it work? Sure. How long? I have no idea. I figure if it didn't matter, my lbs would go cheap, but they use Phil wood grease on everything. A tube is 12 bucks and will last you probably a lifetime unless you start rebuilding wheels as your next career. I personally consider it a 12 dollar insurance policy. Oh, make sure you adjust the cones properly, over tighten and it won't matter, you could have 100 dollar grease in there, If they're too tight, you're going to have a bad day.

tomana

thanks, I'll give it a try. It's online - 3 oz for $9 shipped. I can take my rims to the local bike shop and have them check the tightness for me just to be sure because I realize it is done by 'feel'

Bjforrestal

It is. Just make sure no grinding and pulsing, but also not too loose so that the axle can wobble. Get cone wrenches too. 13, 15, 17 mm. Normal wrenches are no bueno for your hubs, too thick and cannot hold the cones in place when you tighten down the jamnut. Take your time, watch online tutorial videos, and you'll do just fine.

tomana

I've done some bike mechanics (basic stuff) before but never had the right tools so it was not much fun to do and I couldn't 'feel' it right. I measured the jamnut using an open end wrench and it looks to be 13mm. I just went to ebay and bought a used but like new 13mm/14mm combo wrench for $7 shipped. Thanks for the tips; I think this time it's going to be a pleasure to do, rather than a chore {8^D

Bjforrestal

No worries. If you ride a crapload, and have a bunch of bikes, my recommendation is to get some decent bike specific tools, a stand and tinker away. Best investment improbably ever made, since I never take anything to the bike shop anymore other than maybe a bent fork. Even overhauling a bottom bracket with a few specific tools is very straight forward maintenance. Not sure your level of basic is, for some its changing a flat, others its truing wheels and servicing headsets. It's all realtive. Oh, best $ I ever spent on bikes was on a maintenance stand. Hands down.

gforeman 

I use nothing but Mobil 1 grease (available at Pep Boys and others) on my bikes. I turned my LBS on to this stuff and that is all they use now also. I kept having problems with my BB on my Trek, and finally I had them pack it with this stuff, and never had another issue.

The stuff is awesome.

Crankycrank

To the OP, your high-temp wheel bearing grease will be fine, no need to buy more. You can use it for all your bearings, coating fastener threads, seatposts (as long as it's not Carbon Fiber), BB threads and handlebars/stems to prevent corrosion. Bicycle bearings have very low demands compared with the uses most greases are designed for. My first pick would be marine grease due to it's extra water resistance but your grease will also be fairly water resistant. You can buy more expensive greases but not likely you'll ever notice any better performance used in a bike. The most important thing is to make sure that there IS grease where it's needed. Grease it up, check once a year of more if in heavy wet riding, enjoy the ride.

davidad

Any automotive grease is more than enough for our use. I use Lubriplate EMB. It's a synthetic grease for electric motor bearings.

bikeman732

I think auto hub bearing greases are too heavy for bicycle applications. Bicycles don't have the friction loads of cars , and therefore the grease remains too viscous or thick for bicycle applications and doesn't do a good job of coating and remaining on the bearings.