Arrak

Just bought my first Roadbike a Cannondale R1000. Looking for some advise on lube to keep it running smooth. What needs lubing.

1. Drivetrain - what brands would you recommend
2. Pedals, general threaded parts what would you recommend.

~ Chani

Cypress

Pedro's Road Rage for everything.

Pedro's syn lube for threads.

gurana

Are there really any dicernable differences in performance btwn different greases? I went to home depot and picked up the first tube labeled 'grease'. I didin't really know there were different types of grease before I went... Seriously. Is there a particular type of grease to avoid?

Portlandonian

for greasing threads, seatposts, etc. It doesn't matter, but for repacking hubs and bearings and such, you should be using good grease, such as Phil Wood.

And I really like tri-flow for my chain.

Brillig

All chain lubes are going to do a good job, it's more of a question of how much gunk you'll get in and how quickly, and how often you'll need to reapply.

I'm a ProLink fan. But if you ride in consistenly dry conditions you might consider a dry lube like White Lightening.

jimshapiro

For hubs, bottom brackets, and headsets I have used Amzoil grease for over 30 years. Feeling guilty for not giving it more attention (after 10 years of heavy use), I pulled the bearings on one of my road bikes only to find they looked like they'd just been done. And one tube (remember, they're intended for cars) will last a lifetime.

For chains I use Rock"n"Roll . With Rock"n"Roll there is no grease build-up on either the chain or jockey wheels. This product was recommended to me by a local bike mechanic and has become a favorite.

For everything else I use Triflow.

CPcyclist

I like the rock"n"roll lube and t-9 for the chain find the t9 is a little better for wet conditions.

As for grease i like Phil Woods.

Cypress

Avoid Lithium grease and:

Wil Davis

Interesting -

I took a look at "Rock 'n Roll"'s web-site, and thought I'd give them a try - and so, with credit-card in hand, I phoned the number, and the guy who answered told me, in no uncertain terms that he was "…too busy to talk to you about our products - go to the web and read about them!"

Ah, obviously a contender for "Salesman Of The Year" - so I took another look and thought that perhaps there was a bit too much hype and very little else, so I think I'll stick to Tri-Flow, and I'll take my business elsewhere. Anyone else?



- Wil

jimshapiro

That's too bad. I buy my products more for quality than salesmanship. There must be a local bike shop that carries the stuff.

rjtokyo

1) For your chain: Pro-Link. No "black-crud" build-up, actually cleans your chain while you ride. Wipe it down after lubing; you only need lube inside your rollers, not on the outside of the chain.

2) Grease for threads, loose bearings, etc.: Phil Wood grease.

3) For hard-to-get-to places like your shifter/brake levers: Tri-flow or other teflon spray.

Cheers! - RJ

MajikMan

Why avoid lithium grease? Will it damage parts or something?

biker7

Yes avoid vaseline. Seriously...a hotly contested debate always. My favorite bicycle grease is Mobil 1 synthetic grease...stuff is awesome.
George

Cypress

It corrodes fork bushings. If a grease damages anything on anything, it isn't going on my bike.

concernicus

ive been trying out this new grease called red devil. ive been using it on all the bikes ive been working on and i love it. it has a great consistency. its thicker than pedros velolube, but slightly softer than park polylube. i really enjoy it.

seely

Grease is grease... Phil Wood grease is perhaps the biggest scam in the history of cycling. The fact I can walk to the hardware store next to the bike shop I work at and purchase a tub of identical green grease for $3 vs. Phil Wood's 2oz toothpaste tube for $10 is criminal. 99% of shops out there are going to be using lithium or marine bearing grease for ALL applications. Lithium and marine both work, and they are both far cheaper than the stupid brand name designer greases like Park, Pedros or Phils, which I may add are suspiciously similar to marine bearing grease.

mpearson76

I just paid $10 for a tube of Phil because I felt the economic cost of it was actually lower than the automotive stuff. When you factor in the storage cost of that big tub of grease over its lifetime (probably last me years), I was willing to pay and extra 7 bucks for the convenient tube. Of course, I live in a ridiculously small grad student apartment (in economics, can you tell?), but a tube that fits neatly into the compact toolbox was important to me. I agree though, that bike grease, like so many other bike products that are essentially the same as their synthetic automotive counterparts, is outrageously more expensive than it "ought" to be. Classic example of price discrimination--they know that bike owners are generally willing to pay more than car do-it-yourselfers.

azwhelan

Dumond Tech for your chain. Stuff lasts forever.

Ozrider

At the LBS I work at, we use white lithium grease for anything that is threaded. You want something that is going to stay put and last.

As for the chain, Pedro's works fine.

gurana

Re: Lithium Grease.

Damn, I think that's the type I ended up buying. Like I said, I simply went to the store and grabbed the first tube that said 'grease'. The only research I did was in the mechanic's forum, and the first thread I saw said something to the fact that 'it doesn't matter', not 'it doesn't matter, as long as it's not lithium'. I only used it to grease the threads of my pedals and then for the threads on my cleats.

Any other opinions on the subject of lithium grease? for or against? Should I take the time to re-do my pedals? Or is it not worth the hassle?

Cypress

Bushings, not bearings. I'm refering to the plastic sleeves in suspension forks. I should have specified.

Your pedals are fine as they are. I just don't trust lithium grease due to a messed up manitou that I threw the grease into. It froze the bushings and I had to replace an assload of stuff to get it working again. It says on the package(bushings) to not use the lithium stuff. I found out afterwards.

AlanK

Another vote for Prolink. I've used white lightning (wax), triflow, pedros ice wax, Dumonde Tech, and couple others I can't remember. For me Prolink over the most balanced benefits of oil lubes and wax lubes: It reduces friction, has minimal build-up, and has better longevity than oil based lubes like triflow (though it doesn't last as long as wax lubes). I especially like that when used properly, there's no major cleaning needed - just wipe off the chain before and after application and it stays clean.

You could probably use prolink for lubing levers, etc, but unfortunately the bottle is not well designed for getting into nooks and crannies, so a light spray lube is probably a better choice for these areas.

fmw

I bought a tub (not a tube) of Phil Wood grease 4 years ago for $15. I have used up perhaps 5% of it so far. When compared to the thousands of dollars worth of bicycle parts it lubricates and the fact that it will last longer than I will, I would consider the cost to be roughly zero. It cracks me up to read about someone hung up on a few dollars for the cost of lube after all the money they've spent on bicycle gear.

jberenyi

Now that everybody has said there piece over their favorite and inferior product I thought I'd take the time to show you a grease that blows anything and everything away. I personally saw this exact demonstration performed at University of Utah while in engineering school and was blown away. I've used Power Up products ever since and continue to amaze people by what this stuff can do. My push here is for the grease. As we all know their oil is just a dust attractant for our bike chains but when you see this demo you will think twice about buying anyone elses grease or oil for that matter. I'd like to challenge all the greases mentioned here and put them up to the same test on this video...guaranteed they will fail.

https://www.powerupmcs.com/video/grease.wmv

jberenyi

I don't need $50K of equipment to prove a point or a product. I've tried the stuff and have been using it for 15 years compared to other products and analyzed and witnessed the machine. There is nothing special about it. You don't need a machine to prove this product except for skeptics like you. So bullshi* to you and let some of us continue on believing and using an awesome product. My challenge stands! Put up or shut up!