Okay, one more

I have found that the best benefit of the polyurea (I use the JD flavor) is that it doesn't get hard over the off season. Mostly noticed in variable-speed sheeves on the combine. It doesn't appear to sling out too bad.

Viewing a thread - Polyurea grease in a traditional lithium location?

My family are farmers and Lucas was recommended and I have been very pleased with their products.

Park Tool has chosen a polyurea base:

Park Tool PolyLube 1000 Grease - PPL-1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002MQYQ2S...ing=UTF8&psc=1

PolyLube 1000 has an extremely high shear strength to protect vital parts under extreme conditions.
PolyLube 1000 also repels moisture and is compatible with conventional greases.
Available in a handy 4oz. tube (PPL-1) and a 16oz. tub (PPL-2).
Park Tool's poly-urea lubricant was developed specifically for bicycle maintenance and repair.

and

The National Lubricating Grease Institute states in their guide, "Polyurea greases are widely recognized as the best ball bearing greases available."

They also make a more expensive, 'higher end' and apparently superior (?) grease:

https://www.amazon.com/Park-Tool-HPG...rk+tool+grease

Unfortunately, though, they don't say much (from what I have seen so far at least) about what exactly is in this grease, and what makes it worth (?) the extra expense.

When any company is less than forthcoming about the details, and relies on vague claims about a product being 'special', I wonder.

There are a few not-entirely-satisfying specifics here,

https://www.parktool.com/assets/doc/p...SDS_4-8-15.pdf

State regulations
Massachusetts : The following components are listed: Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light
naphthenic
New York : None of the components are listed.
New Jersey : The following components are listed: Residual oils (petroleum), solvent-dewaxed;
Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated heavy paraffinic; Distillates (petroleum),
hydrotreated light naphthenic; Phosphorodithioic acid, O,O-di-C1-14-alkyl esters, zinc
salts
Pennsylvania : The following components are listed: Phosphorodithioic acid, O,O-di-C1-14-alkyl esters,
zinc salts

Apparently copper is also among the ingredients.

Polyurea based greases for electric motors are sometimes recommended by cyclists,

https://www.amazon.com/Mobil-Polyrex...Y44VQ5655MX0WS

https://www.amazon.com/Mobil-Polyrex...rds=polyrex+ep

Industrial-scientific greases often seem to have good specs.

Some of them get a little pricey though,

https://www.amazon.com/Kluberquiet-B...FK6EJ8742FRWQP

https://www.amazon.com/sp?_encoding=...b=&vasStoreID=

https://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=82&pcid=17

Used this (or its equivalnet) for 30 years.

Joe

A nice little article,

Choosing the Right Non-Soap Thickener

Thanks. I like what I've read so far.

I do wish they would specify the thickener type though.

PROPERTY CV-2 GREASE
NLGI Grade #2
NLGI Service GC-LB
Thickener Non-Soap
Fluid Type Thermally-stable synthetic

Maybe it's available somewhere - if anyone knows, please post.

Some good Q&A from NLGI,

https://www.nlgi.org/faqs-lubricating-grease/

ASTM D 4950 includes specifications for two Category Groups: chassis lubricants (letter designation L) and wheel bearing lubricants (letter designation G). Performance Classifications within these Groups result in two letter designations for chassis greases (LA and LB), and three for wheel bearing greases (GA, GB, and GC). The automotive industry is in general agreement that the highest performance classification, to date, in each group (LB and GC) is suitable for service relubrication.

So greases that are able to pass the requirements for NLGI Service GC-LB are probably superior (for wheel bearings) to those that do not pass.

How many times were we going to see threads full of anal retentive types going on endlessly about something as inconsequential as grease? First off, there are NO special bike grease formulas. Lubricants are produced by a few dozen big companies. Those lubricants are formulated to meet certain bearing load, speed, and temp ranges. When an engineer picks out a lubricant, he calculates the bearing load, speed, and temp ranges and then checks the lubricant company spec sheets. He picks out the grease that meets minimum requirements and buys on price.

Using J58 jet engine bearing grease in the hubs of your $15K crapon-fiber/unobtainium Uber-Cycle will not make those hubs last longer, or run smoother, nor will using such grease.....get ready for it......MAKE YOU WIN THE TOUR DE FRANCE. Hell, you probably won't even win the Tour de Hackensack, and the type of grease in your hubs had nothing to do with it.

Bike bearing surfaces operate under very low loads, at very low speeds, and at very moderate temps. You could literally squirt 3-1 oil into the hubs everyday before going out on a ride and the hubs would be fine. You could pack your hubs full of bacon grease.....Mmmmm bacon....and the bearings would be fine until the grease went rancid.

I've got decades and tens of thousands of miles behind me at this point. All this time I been using boat trailer bearing grease that I buy at Advance Pep Zone Auto, for $5 a pound (that's 16 ounces). Know how many bearing/hub failures I've had in that time? Let me get the calculator....let's see....carry the four.....square root of cosine......divide by zero.....and the answer is: NONE. I've never had a failure of that type. You know why I never have a failure? Because I keep that shiat CLEAN. Yup. keep the hubs and other bearings clean and freshly packed is what's called for, the grease makes little diff.

If you don't believe me, and you have more money than brains, go on down to Le Cycle Boutique and buy that tube of Chi-Chi Graisse de Velo, at $5 for 2 ounces, which is really just repackaged boat trailer bearing grease. Guys like Will Phoods piss themselves laughing when they head to the bank, in total disbelief that there are people in this world who are so gullible.

A noteworthy (esp. for some people) warning:

...No, the only problem of note is that THIS STUFF REALLY STINKS. If you want to get into trouble with the little woman, or the not-so-little-any-more woman of the house, just try seeing how this grease functions at higher temperatures in a pan on the stove....

One wonders exactly how he knows, and what the scene looked like specifically.

Here is the grease for you:

https://www.amazon.com/DuPont-MS240A...c+grease+.5+oz

It was 63.99.

The price may go back up.

If you need more than 1/2 oz, you might be able to get a discount if bought by the case.

You've found out my secret! Curse you! This is how I keep the SR-71 engines functional while operating out of the Antarctic Illuminati base. Oh, and this is how I've managed to win the Tour de France 47 times in a row.

Speaking of SR-71s, NASA has some things to say, based on their experiences with lubricants,

General lubrication problems and lessons learned with spacecraft deployable appendages include: [Devine]
...

Maximum utilization of rolling surfaces as opposed to sliding motion should be employed.
Lubrication or separation of all moving surfaces either by suitable aerospace grease or dry lubricant coating should be used. No exceptions are allowed, even for lightly loaded friction-compatible surfaces.
...

Wet lubrication is generally preferred because friction is low and predictable. The grease with the most heritage is the Braycote 600 series, a synthetic-fluorinated oil-thickened grease with micron-size Teflon powder. The grease has extremely low outgassing (TML <0.1% and CVCM <0.05% for the standard 125 C 24-hr test) and concerns relative to contamination are negligible for virtually all spacecraft applications. The wet lubricant usable temperature range is -80 to 200 C.
...

It was demonstrated, on a test of a spacecraft oscillating scanner that the polyalpholefin (PAO) oil provided excellent lubrication, consistent torque with negligible torque noise, and good wear to 22,000 hr with the test still running. The other oils (chloroaryalkylsiloxane (CAS), originally used in the application, and a perfluoropolyalkylether (PFPE)) exhibited a reduction in torque (loss of preload) and an increase in torque noise, as well as extensive wear after a few thousand hours. [Feherenbacher]

So it appears that some lubricants may extend component life much better than others.

Space Mechanisms Project

https://www.aerosuppliesinc.com/Catal...0(505-595).pdf

That's over $15K/gallon

Some of the cutting-edge lubrication research recently done by drone pilots [who, like NASA (see above), have spoken highly of Braycote 600 series lubricants] may be also relevant to the thread, and may even be deserving of the last word on the subject:

Thank you for making my point. Bike lubrication becomes critical............when you're riding a bike at Mach 3.

at those times only the best will do

https://www.2spi.com/item/z05107/

Greetings,

In principle, I agree with Fissile that there is way too much hyperbole on the market about grease---including grease for bicycles. Early in my career I was a nuclear chemistry technician and, when I wasn't analyzing radioactive elements, I was surprised how much I analyzed lubricants. This was because there are a number of critical emergency systems in a nuclear power plant that require high-quality lubrication (such as the stand-by diesel generators that must kick on within seconds of a reactor scram).

The biggest "take away" from my experience was the superiority of high-quality synthetic lubricants over high-quality petroleum lubricants. And most of the good bicycle greases nowadays are some kind of synthetic.

For the most part, I trust Park Tool and have been using their greases for years in all of my bicycle work. For steel bearings I use PPL-1 or 2. For ceramic on steel I use HPG-1 (primarily for the extra water resistance---although PPL has good water resistance, also). For chains I use CL-1 oil. But, regardless of the grease type and application, one overriding point is keeping the system clean. Bearing seals are not perfect---they are a compromise between sealing efficiency and resistance. The better the seal, the higher the resistance. And most cyclists do not want higher resistance! So it is important for most hubs, bottom brackets, headsets, cage jockey and roller wheels and chains to be cleaned regularly and re-greased / re-oiled. This is actually more important that the brand of lubricant you choose.

Kind regards, RoadLight

Thank you.

Ride in wet conditions? Moisture is going to get in hubs and bearings. Ride in dusty conditions? Grit is going to get in there. Even the best lube in the world is NOT self cleaning. If you need to be obsessive, being a clean-freak will do you more good than spending $100 for an ounce of SR-71 engine grease.

Braycote 600 EF synthetic grease,

Size 10 g
Item Number 05107-BA
Availability In Stock
Price $292.81

1 ounce = 28.3495 grams

@ $29.281 per gram: $830.10 per ounce

According to spec sheet, there are 15.7 lbs of Braycote 600 EF per gallon.

16 ounces per lb,

Cost per gallon: $208,521.55

(plus sales tax, @ 7.5% = $15,639.12)

Total, not including shipping:

$224,160.67

You might qualify for free shipping though.