This is really an old-school discussion. Maybe it belongs on the Vintage forum.

Anyway, tonight I cleaned and re-packed the grease in an old Raleight three-speed.

Through the patience of allowing penetrating oil to soak in for three days and through a time-tested method of whacking the cotter pin out, I managed to get the cotter pins out perfectly without damage.

Yes, yes, I am proud. You know how hard it is to get the correct sized cotter pins these days. I mean, I just don't have any laying around.

So anyway, I am putting the puzzle back together and I ask myself, "why not put just a little swipe of grease on the cotter pins so that they come out easier next time?

Any opinions on this? It seems to make sense, but if it does make sense, why didn't they traditionally do this during factory assembly?