markwesti

What is your favorite for loose ball hubs . I bought a set of wheels that spun like butter , so being one who likes to fix things that work perfect . I re greased with Park grease . On disassemble , the old grease had a very thick viscosity , the Park grease I noted was thinner . So all buttoned back up they spun fine . But not as good as before . So whats your favorite flavor ? Thanks , M .

fietsbob

Boat Trailer Wheel Bearing, Aka Marine Grease .. still have some left from the tub I bought decades ago ..

it by definition is very water resistant, since the boat trailer gets submerged to float the boat off.

cale

I use Finish Line Teflon grease. Lighter weight than axle grease.

dsbrantjr

Spinning under no-load conditions does not tell you much about the performance of the bearings in actual service; dry bearings will spin fine but will not last very long under load. The amount of grease as well as its viscosity will affect the spin resistance but not enough to make a perceptable difference when actually riding the bike.

habilis

Sounds like a good idea, especially for all-weather riders. It may be the same as expensive water-resistant "faucet grease" sold in plumbing stores.

I'm strictly a fair-weather rider, so I use automotive wheel bearing grease. If a car's loose ball bearings can go 50K-100K without servicing, it should be fine for bike hubs. For what it's worth, after re-packing and zero-play adjustment. the wheels can spin for longer than two minutes after a manual shove.

Phloom

I jam pack my hubs with heavy duty marine wheel bearing grease. The axle is covered and the hub is stuffed. My wheels do not spin for two minutes, more like 30 seconds. I can feel the resistance of the grease when I spin the wheel by hand.

RoadGuy

I use/favor Valvoline Full Synthetic Grease. I did an informal test about 15 years ago, placing dab of about six brands (Phil Wood, Valvoline Synthetic, moly based, Lithium based, etc...) and types of grease onto a piece of cardboard and setting it in the sun in the summer when there was an extended number of days when the temperature exceeded 100F consecutive days. After a month of exposure to light and heat, the only grease that did not change colors or start to break down was the Valvoline Synthetic.

The test was prompted after I bought a tube of premium priced Phil Wood grease (like $10 for a small tube). After servicing the bike's bearings, I put the bike on my roof rack, on a day when the temperature was over 90 degrees. The Phil Wood Grease ran out of all of the bearings and made a mess of the bike and the car's roof, before I even had a chance to ride the bike.

Phil Wood was the grease with the rep when I spent the money on it. Little did I know that the melting point was so low. After the incident with Phil Wood running out of the wheel hubs and bottom bracket, I threw the tube in my tool rollaway, and while the tube was mostly full, in the summer that year, it melted and leaked out of the tube, making a big mess in my rollaway.

JohnDThompson 

Bicycles put pretty low demand on grease, so just about anything will work. I like white lithium based grease just because the color makes it easy to see when it has gotten contaminated. If you ride a lot in sloppy conditions, consider a marine-grade grease to reduce wash-out. Otherwise, whatever's on your work bench should be fine.

KLiNCK

nfmisso

+++++

Bezalel

Another vote for marine grease. But I buy the 3 ounce cartridges for mini grease guns.

rmfnla

Do you mean less viscosity or are you really concerned about how much your grease weighs..?

CliffordK

I like the Phil Wood Grease, but I'm looking for cheaper alternatives. I've used white lithium at times. Good stuff. I do like a bit lower viscosity grease.

Were the cones loose when you bought the wheels? Are you sure you didn't get the cones too tight?

I've wondered if riding a few miles after a lube job would help loosen things up.

winston61

I use yamaha marine grease, because it's an outstanding product and also because I have no local bike shop(north Texas, USA). Yamaha is available at any boat store. And I dispense it with a Dualco grease gun. No more greasy fingers.

habilis

I'd say filling the hub is better for the well-being of the hub. It keeps both water and dirt out, and may continually replace the grease that the balls push out of the races (just a theory, not proven). In your case, the slower unloaded spinning is not a problem at all. I'd do what you're doing if I rode in bad conditions, but i seldom do.

davidad

I use Lubriplate EMB (electric motor bearing) grease. It is probably overkill, but it isn't over priced like bike grease. Any automotive bearing grease will be more than enough for our needs.
A properly adjusted hub will have a small amount of play that becomes preload when the QR is closed. How an unloaded wheel bearing feels means absolutely nothing.

markwesti

First off thanks guys for your thoughts on what kind of grease you like ( it's funny know one said Park)
Clifford , cones were adjusted perfect when I bought the wheels and like wise when I put them back together . Like I said "when I put them back together they were fine" they were fine not at all to tight , but they didn't have that butter feel , more like a low viscosity feel .
davidad I hear you about preload and QR , I would like to make a clamp that holds a travel indicator to measure endplay when everything is tight on the bike . I think .001-.002 would be good . Do you think a indicator would be over kill ? Or just go by feel ? Anyhow thanks guys .

trailangel

I have heard (read) this story about the Phil Wood grease coming out while bike is on top of car.. in the heat, and I don't buy it. I think it's good grease. People in wetter areas might want a thicker grease. I see no point in completely packing the hubs and axels.. it will slow you down and waste grease. Just use what is required.

Rubato

I've been using boat bearing and white grease on my hubs for years-no problems. At the co-op I just did a couple of coaster brake hubs for xmas/kids bikes and was told I needed to use a grease with higher heat tolerance...? Has anyone had good or bad results based on type of grease in coaster brake hubs?

Miele Man

Yes, it's very water resistant as you'll find out when trying to wash off any that gets on your hands.

I ONLY use Marine Grease now.

Cheers

Secret Squirrel

Superlube from harbor freight with coupons for hubs and speedplay pedals. Used phil wood in the past and got tired of leakage on fast rotating bearings. Recently used dupont krytox on the ceramic bottom bracket cartridge bearings (nice stuff)

easyupbug 

I would be careful with this one. I am not sure what "faucet grease" you are referring to but today most faucets use o-rings which take a silicone lube which lubes the surface of the ring and in some cases slightly expand the ring for a better seal, it is not bearing grease.

cale

ROFLMAO No, it's just a tube of grease. But it is lighter in color, slipprier, and less dense than the tube of white lithium grease or my axle grease. The small tubes last me a good five years.

Gresp15C

Marine bearing grease, they only had a container with about a pint of the stuff, so I imagine it will last a while. There are some parts on the underside of my car that I might coat with grease to slow down rusting.

Jamminatrix

The big element bike hubs/bottom brackets have to cope with is water and degreasers/solvents (excluding foreign debris like dirt/dust). No high pressure, no extreme heat, etc, like other bearings in the industrial world. Because of this, marine grease for marine trailer bearings will be the 'longest lasting' (at the expense of rolling resistance/wattage due to viscosity).

If you're looking for "cheap", you can buy Mystik JT-6 (MP) at your local Walmart for next to nothing...which is a favorite in marine world and out performs several big name brands on the data sheet.