Sorry, but no. Not ever on a bicycle are there fast-rotating bearings. Even 20" wheel bearings at 50mph.

When I had my problem with the Phil Wood, I was driing down to the Santa Ana River Trail. I like to park at the baseball fields off Imperial at the 91 Freeway and ride down to the beach and then up or down the beach 10-15 miles before returning.

If you don't believe that Phil Wood breaks down under heat, perform your own test like I did. Get a piece of cardboard, and squeeze out little piles of different greases (like you were dropping cookies on a cookie sheet to bake), and put the thing out in the sun for a month. Look at it once a day, and record what you see. The Phil Wood will break down, the little pile will flatten out, and the cardboard will absorb the liquid, leaving nothing but a greasy spot. The lithium base grease flattened and changed colors. The moly pretty much stayed there, but flatten out some and seperated some. The Valvoline just sat there and looked exactly the same four weeks after the test started (didn't flatten, discolor or breakdown), even though I recorded over 14 days when the temperature was over 100F.

Phil wood grease.... If you do an internet search, you will find multiple references to comments like 'why is this grease leaking past the seals'. The grease is good quality but people stop using it because of the mess.

The "faucet grease" or "plumber's grease" isn't silicone, but a petroleum-based grease that resists water more effectively than other petro-based greases that don't cost nearly as much. I was just speculating that it is the same or similar to marine grease. I've only used it on actual faucets (the ones that still use rubber washers and threaded brass stems). For bike hubs, I'm happy with automotive wheel bearing grease.

I'm sure you are correct and know what you are doing but for others who may not know, what they sell at Home Depot is Oatey Plumber's Grease and Danco Faucet Grease is all silicone lube, not marine grease.

Don't use more than required and it won't come back out..... if you don't like to 'mess' with it take it somewhere to get serviced. Yes.. grease is messy, you might get some under your fingernails and then you will have to go back to the salon...

Wal Mart marine grease.

The balls ride on an extremely thin layer of grease, as they push the rest to the sides. I can't imagine grease adds any appreciable amount of friction, even the most viscous grease. Just don't worry about it.

Any grease will work fine until it fails. You don't know it has failed or is near failure until you open up the bearing, so overhaul your bearings at reasonable intervals to get there before the grease dries up.

This is widely considered one of the best general-purpose greases for motorcycle use and I've been using it on bicycles for a long time with good results. Whether it is the best? Who knows.



- Mark

Phil grease in my headsets. Mobil One synthetic elsewhere. Or Dura Ace green stuff.

You must have gotten a bad batch. I've ridden centuries out here in California in 108-110* weather with no Phil grease leaking anywhere.

I think Phil is overpriced, but it lasts forever. I think anyone that has trouble with it would have had trouble with a similar quantity of any other grease

I've been having good luck with the Mobil 1 grease.

In addition to that, the torque that wheels put on hubs - I believe wheel that are out of true slow the bike down a lot more than the worst friction in the hub bearings can.




Regular, car, lithium grease, with NLGI 2 thickness is as good as it gets IMO. Going more expensive than that doesn't make any difference I could notice - both performance and maintenance/durability wise. Just make sure ball bearings are good (or new) and it's all cleaned well... and put as much as possible - wiping off the excess that gets pushed out - "if in doubt, add more" is my rule.

The best bicycle bearing grease

x1 for regular servicing

IN contact with potable water in a faucet it needs to be "food grade", so I'm guessing not the same and why it is expensive

I'm in the last forever (even do an occasional boat trailer) tub of marine bearing grease camp for hubs, BB, headsets