Originally Posted by
n4zou
Waterproof marine bearing grease is what I use. If a little water gets in no damage will be done until the next service interval. Bicycles should have the bearings serviced at least once a year. The grease doesn't go bad in a year. Road grime and dust will infiltrate the bearings and cleaning out the hub and fresh clean grease insures a lifetime of use.
That may be, but as it is, all my BBs are cartridge type, so I don't repack those. I also almost never repack my headsets (I only did this once in the last 3 years, and even then only because I had to remove the fork to do some paintjob anyway). I am not sure repacking the cup and cone bearings should be done once a year. It sounds a bit too often, even for me who rides in a country with lots of bad weather and cycling through a lot of dirt (by choice and necessity). My bikes are regularly covered with a layer of dirt that most of you guys in California would never be seen with - I just don't care to clean them regularly as I know they'll be covered with a fresh layer after the next rain, so there's a lot of that stuff flying around the hubs and BB, but I don't see it causing any damage. I guess my hubs are quite well sealed?
So how often do you guys repack your bearings? And what kind of weather and road conditions do you cycle in?