Originally Posted by
ChuckD6421
Some great points, headloss!
I found these press-fit, BB90 cartridges were very easy to open and completely degrease first (yes, very important). The seals are just plastic snap-ins with a metal reinforcing ring. Be careful not to bend too much and they pop out easily with an Exacto.
Likewise, thank you. I went back and edited my one post and added a bunch of links, to give a little more validation to what I was saying. That's not to say that I totally understand what I've read since I don't work in the R&D side of the industry (I just add whatever grease I'm told to add by the manufacturer).
My only intent is to give a balanced view while trying to be honest about what I know and don't know. In regards to the whole moly discussion, it's something I've been trying to find answers to and haven't had anything definitive yet. I think the amount/size* of moly
might be a concern, so it's important to follow the specifications on the manufacturer's label (i.e. don't use the grease if it doesn't list ball&roller bearings). Not sure about the specific jet-lube you used, but a canister of sta-lube with moly that I had laying around did say that it was ok for ball bearing use.
* The particle size and film thickness are important parameters that should be matched to the surface roughness of the lubricated component. Particle size selection is much larger for rough cut surfaces, such as hobbed open gears, than for highly finished surfaces, such as those found on bearings. Improperly matched particle sizes may result in excessive wear by abrasion caused by impurities in the MoS2.
So beware the intended use of a given grease with added MoS2.
I saw that the jet-lube was clay based with moly but I'm not sure if the clay thickener or the moly itself are good/bad for a ceramic bearing. My biggest concern regarding your project is that those plastic seals will soften and fail since many greases don't work so well with plastic. My other concern was that clay grease won't play well with a soap if you didn't get all the soap based grease that was factory filled out of the bearing first. Hopefully you have no issues and get much longer life this time around. I'd be annoyed if I only got about a year/5000-miles of use out of a bottom bracket bearing so I totally understand the endeavor. I imagine the upgrade to ceramic alone will go a long way.
Originally Posted by
ChuckD6421
Just to respond, I didn't mention that I wrote the company before using it to get their thoughts. Even though I tried to thoroughly explain the application and the forces/speeds involved, I have little confidence the person I emailed understood bicycles but he gave it his blessing. No worries.
I think that is par for the course. I emailed Mobil a few years ago regarding something unrelated and I'm fairly certain that the guy only spoke English as a second language... that can complicate things.
Anyways, I think that MoS2 is fine granted that the application is appropriate for the particular mix (see above) so I assume you are good having contacted the company (on a side note, I really like Jet-lube's marine products). To make things even more complicated, there is also a synthetic "red-moly" out there which is used by some companies (I've been considering using Redline's CV-2 on my car, I'll probably test it out on a bike if I pick up a tube).