Grease
 

I have said that I am new to rebuilding bikes and at this time I am bouncing between rebuilding a Specialized Allez ( 1993 or 94 ) to sell and a Raleigh Technium (around 1986 ) to ride and whenever I get one on the road ready to ride I will quit saying I am new to this but for now my question is this.

Today I replaced the bearings and the freewheel on the Technium but the wheel does not spin as freely as the front wheel I have not touched. I am very disappointed in the results and can only think of two possibilities. Since the wheel spins smoothly and quietly I am wondering if I used a grease that was too thick ( Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, All Purpose Grease.) Could this Grease be too thick for what I want it to do ? The only other possibility I can think of would be Bike Tech. insufficiency. I have come to the conclusion that trying to learn to restore an M.G. Midget and old bikes at the same time is time consuming and I have neither the time to drive the car or to ride my bike.

If I reclean the bearings and use a different grease would I probably have better luck ?

One sure thing about redoing the hub is that if you did something wrong or just had the bearing adjustment too tight when it's reassembled it will likely be different. Grease viscosity shouldn't make too much of a difference once the wheel is rotating. In time the balls will plow away a path of little grease, like the front hub likely has done years ago. Andy

Good all-around info. Theory vs practice - Bike Gremlin - Bicycles

A newly greased wheel might have some resistance till all the extra grease you packed in gets pushed permanently out of the way when compared to something that has run for a while. Also, the bearing on a bike with skewers and cup/cone bearings has to have it's bearing put up looser as the skewer's compress the axle.

In a word, yes. But it's probably not worth it until it's time to overhaul the bike again.
Automobile bearing grease is way overkill for bicycle bearings. Its viscosity is necessary because of the heat and stress that auto bearings endure. Bicycle bearings don't experience anything near those extremes, so bicycle bearing greases are much lower viscosity. So assuming your adjustment is correct, yes, what you're feeling is the grease.
On the other hand, as others have said, eventually the bearings will push enough grease out of the way that it won't be noticeable.

I am assuming you did not disassemble the freewheel itself, which should NEVER be filled with grease.

Wheel spinning without any load is not a reliable indicator of how good the bearings are. Nor how good they are lubed, nor if the set preload is an optimal one.

As for the grease - dirt and water contamination are the nemesis of bicycle wheel bearings, since speeds and loads are so low most any grease will do. In fact, I'd say that a bit "thicker" ("general purpose", NLGI 2 hardness) greases seem to stay in the bearings better, prevent dirt from entering a bit better and keep the balls in place better than softer greases.