I have been using a tube of Park Tools grease for a while now on pedal spindles threads on bolts, etc. It's probably 2 years old. Basically, if it has metal threads and is on my bike, this is what I use. All I know about it is that it says "bottom brackets, headsets and hubs" on it. (I'm not near my house and may need to stop off at a shop on my way home depending on the answers here, otherwise I would put up better info.)

Three questions:

1) Is this appropriate for application on stem bolts, seatpost clamp bolts and pedal spindles?
2) Is this appropriate for use on the hub when installing a new cassette?
3) Sometimes when I have not used it for a while some liquid will come out before the grease, like it has separated. When this happens I close the tube, shake it/knead it, and try again. No liquid. Is that ok, or does grease "go bad?"

Thanks in advance.

It's fine, use it.

Thanks. Just figured I could use a little re-affirmation. (Although there is a part of my brain asking me why I take comfort in the unexplained pronouncements of a person I have never met and know nothing about on the interwebs.)

^^^ That may have come out wrong. I hope it's taken in the manner I intended. Simply as an observation of an oddity of our "internet forum culture" and not an assessment of anyone who gives or receives advice anonymously on the web.

No problem. At least in my case I've put a fair amount of info in my profile, so as to be not quite so anonymous. My posts are usually not to brief, but in this case the answer is simple.

On fittings that prevent locking themselves like bolts nuts, seatpost, etc any grease would do.
Where it matters most is bearings/gears/chains/etc. For bearings I use Mobil1 lithium grease (for automotive bearings ~8$/kilogram).

And where the proper grease makes all the differences is in heavy machinery that must not wear down, must not break, etc. (airplanes, industrial machinery, cars, etc - bikes do not fall in this category, we are talking about light stuff - almost any general grease will do here)

About that "water" developing. the grease is not going bad, it is normal for hygroscopic grease like calcium based. That water is better to be flushed out (drip the can upside down, the grease should not fall, water will). But anyway it's not a problem since the grease applied on exposed threads will absorb water anyway.

I had a tube of Park grease for over 20 years. It doesn't age in that time frame.

You can use grease from the automotive parts dealers. It is as good for our applications as any bike grease and it comes with less hype.
Some greases have a use by date on them.

I don't know that one can guarantee that any grease is fine - not all are waterproof, and many do not do a good job of holding bearings in place during assembly. Also, I don't think Phil Wood is hygroscopic and fairly sure it does not contain calcium.

If you do a search on here using the advanced function, you will
find that there are some surprisingly strong opinions regarding grease.

I once started a thread on anti seize compounds that simply blew me
away with the vehemence of the responses.......honestly.

My after-school job was working at a bike shop in the early 1980s. We used a gray Raleigh-branded grease that was the consistency of creamy peanut butter. I don't know if it was considered waterproof or not, but as sticky as it was it sure held loose ball bearings in place nicely.

I've kept Phil Wood in my toolbox for so long that I forgot about that Raleigh grease. Is there any peanut butter-like grease out there these days?

Well, what about peanut butter since it got brought up? Nevermind that I'm hungry. Creamy would be ideal but I suspect crunchy would end up becoming creamy after 25 mi. or so .

This thread made me go find my circa 1975 tube of Phil Wood. Still greasy! (I switched to Finish Line Teflon in 1990).

Anybody know what is the fluorescent green grease that Shimano uses? I want a tube just for kicks

Really a best lubricant fit for each specific task exists based on the loads and needs, like grease for BB could be different than the one in the wheel hubs based on the different loads and speeds they reach (but it's not). But for a bike, loads are really low, (in comparative with real industrial bearings of same size like this light series bearing. You can see such a bearing outperforms the needs of a bike 1.3kN is a lot for one little 10mm bearing spinning at 80000rpm)

So in the end, does the type of grease matters? Yes but not here. Almost any type of grease would do the job fine and because of that there are a lot of bike companies who make their own grease (because any grease would do) adding price for "bike specific" and hype from the brand name.

Same thing goes for bearings themselves. Shimano is a nobody in making chains and bearings - this requires very high precision and special heat treatment, special finish on the raceway of bearings on the balls, etc. But since the loads are a bit on the low side they can make bearings fit for bike, not fit for a mining conveyor belt. They are not getting out the best of what a common bearing can do, but top bearing manufacturers do, like SKF, INA-F@G (that's the company name, auto-censor turned into ***), YABAN (for industrial chains - they make bike chains also but its no different than other bike specific chains) and others.

So my conclusion is that for bike specific products is a matter of taste and attachment to a brand name or consecrated recommendations on the forums. It really does not matter much. (and real stuff is expensive, sold by kilogram or even by barrel, and in a puzzling notation that fits best specific tasks like high speed, or high static loads, or dynamic shocks, etc and are in a gazillion types where it's hard to say what is fit without some engineering calculus)

This is the same as pretty much your cheapest auto grease Shimano just puts grean coloring in it. The coloring red, green, blue ect is added to grease to make it look better. You could get some food coloring and make some grease whatever color you wanted.

Any automotive grade bearing grease will be more than sufficient in a bicycle application due to the relatively low load requirements of a bicycle vs an automobile which has to deal with high speeds and high temperatures.

Primary concern in bicycle grease is a resistance to washout and contamination and marine axle bearing grease is considered to be the best due to it possessing these properties... synthetic grades are preferable when one's cycling is done in all seasons and where one might be running their bike at -40C.

+1 - just use something and you'll be fine. I work on enough bikes where the grease is so old as to be non-existent and, even then, things are usually fine (but run much better with new grease). I'm far from an expert but I think there can be a bit about the base of a grease having a poor interaction with greases with different bases. I just take this to mean when overhauling something with bearings, clean out the old grease really well. Then, no worries. Personally, I use either Park (have an old tube) or a Teflon grease...the latter mostly in my winter bike (in Minnesota).

I've been using Phil Wood's Phil Grease for over 25 years and it has given me excellent bearing life in hubs, headsets and cup-and cone bottom brackets. One set of older Dura Ace hubs has over 50,000 miles with all of the original cones and races on a once-a-year diet of Phils.

Certainly other greases are very suitable and greases claimed as "bike specific" are more expensive but, really, how much will even the most boutique grease add to your bike expenses? I do buy Phil Grease in 14-oz tubes or 22-oz tubs which cuts the per ounce cost a lot compaired to the 3-oz squeeze tubes.

I use marine type here in the harsh Florida climate.

Can you say grease marketed in different bright colors to match
the color of your fixie frame, rims, tires, and chain ???

I'll let you know when I've cleared my first million using your idea..

Bicycles represent a pretty light-duty application for grease, so just about anything will be adequate. That said, different greases have different properties. Phil grease, for example, appears to be a re-branded marine type grease that resists water contamination well. If you ride a lot in the rain, this may be a Good Thing. I like white lithium grease, not because it has any magical properties, but rather because the white color makes it obvious when it has become contaminated. You mentioned separation -- grease is basically a mixture of oil and soap, and some grease (white lithium comes to mind) tend to separate over time. Re-mixing is just fine. You may have noticed that some hubs have oil ports on the shells (e.g. older Campagnolo Record and various Shimano and SanShin models). This was done to accommodate the tendency for grease to separate. When thisw happens in a hub, the oil leaks out and is lost, while the soap component remains behind. Adding a little oil to the oil port and riding to mix it up with the soap maintains the grease in the hub longer.

Actually is more of a quick indicator for specific types of grease from the same brand.
Like for gasoline that is colored: Yellow-green is for automotive, red is for railway, bright green is for aviation, light blue is for naval. (at least this is here). In this way you know the provenience of the gasoline and be sure not to put naval gasoline in the aircraft.

It depends. Grease is really just oil added to a carrier called 'soap'. The lubricating properties are dependent on the oil. Not all grease (automotive or otherwise) are suitable for use on bearings. Check the label to be sure.

Thanks guys. I don't do heavy lifting on my bike. Pedals, cassettes, seatposts, stems, etc. No bearing or BB work. I think the park stuff will meet my needs.