Probably the power of 15 million bicycle users around the world who wouldn't have the faintest idea of what John Barnett or any of the grease/oil companies say, nor care... might convince you. They are the ones in China and India and various other places including Europe who get by very nicely without all this knowledge. And probably the many thousands of bicycle owners who do their own maintenance and have their bikes last a very long time.

As you can see, there are no experts in grease on this forum. There's an oil expert, maybe two. Likely, there are probably three or four people whom I would consider experts on bicycles who post here; but you even junk a mechanical engineer. It maybe that the rest of us non-experts like to learn and like to discuss and to relate their own experiences, so others might learn, not be dismissed with our views by "someone on a mission" to prove something that seems to me to be quite pointless.

I suppose that, since you brought up Barnett's Manual, you subscribe religiously to his methods of adjusting everyday, ordinary run-of-the-mill hub, BB and headset bearings? As a non-expert, I have done enough to know the preload on the bearings I adjust without a gauge, and they get along very well. Just like I will likely to continue use automotive grease in my bearings, and (shock-horror-lo and behold) motor oil on my chains. I might even break a Shimano chain and use the same pin to rejoin it. But I do all these things because I accept the risk of (a) failure and (b) reduced longevity. So far, neither have occurred in overwhelming or damaging quantities (the opposite in fact).

I understand that you are a professional bike mechanic. You have your training and you put your faith in Barnett's Manual. And it is all well and good because *you* have to take into account the legal requirements and commercial viability of servicing a customer's bike and what the manufacturers recommend as safe servicing -- and you probably have access to unlimited quantities of the highest possible quality bicycle grease and lubricants that are available; that's a luxury some of us can't afford (so cost IS a factor).

As to grease-plating -- look at the applications -- they are ALL micro-applications of some sort (even the clutches and brakes) and likely with sealed bearings, and certainly with design parameters to not have the oil from the grease spewing on things like electronics. The fact that you had to drill deep to find it suggests it is a very specialised application that would blow the smithereens out of prices for bicycle bearings (although they probably would be competitive with high-end ceramics, come to think of it).

It's interesting that that we have gone from major macro with Mercedes Benz front wheel bearings to micro bearings for miniature equipment. Maybe bicycle bearings fit in between somewhere, do you think? (oh and Hooligan, it seems neither leg squeaks... )

I think the thread information, on balance, although posted by non-experts seems to indicate that mixing of greases may not be appropriate because of the different chemical compositions of the base soap, and that the viscosity of that soap combined with the type of oil, will determine how much "sticky" there is in bearings. It's just like you don't mix oils -- synthetics don't go with naturals. But if push came to shove, I suggest it would take quite a long time to determine the breakdown in the lubricating value of a bicycle in an much less hostile environment than a car engine, transmission, or suspension.

And one thing I have definitely learned along the way is, though: There are absolutes in cycling... even Barnett's Manual and the types of grease that can be used.