White Lightning - Crystal? Grease

Aluminum complex greases excel in resistance to both washing out of a bearing and being washed off a flat surface.

For me the attraction is the heat resistance, high drop point, and it's "reversion" abilities. These should be good things for my brakes. The clear factor seems great too because it will allow you to actually see what level of contamination a hub/head set/BB is at.

Part of what put me on this recent search for a better grease was a surprising discovery that I made earlier this summer. I built one of my bikes in summer 2002 using an inexpensive store bought Formula loose ball front hub. I adjusted the bearings and spinning the axle with my finger tips resulted in that desirable buttery smooth roll. So I left well enough alone and built up the bike. I check my bikes for adjustments every couple of rides. You know, while airing up, just grab the tire and frame/fork and search for play. Same with the pedals. Head set is getting checked numerous times during every ride, just by the nature of what it does. etc.

After a few years I started wondering about the front hub because when rolled it was dead silent and as smooth as you could possibly hope for, which seemed a bit unusual. I did nothing. As the years went past I remained comfortable with it because it rolled perfectly and never developed any play. When I had the wheel off to replace tires I would rotate the axle with my fingertips and it still felt great. I'm sure you know what I mean. There is that dense dragging feeling you get from stiff heavy grease, then there is that feeling of really light thin grease where you can actually feel the balls rolling, then there is that feeling where the grease has disappeared and you can feel the metal-to-metal of the balls rolling against their captors. It still felt great so I left it alone.

Fast forward to Spring 2016. I'm giving the bike a wipe down, airing the tires, and checking things over for the first ride of the season. Front wheel.....perfect....still. But curiosity started to overwhelm me. Why has this grease lasted 14 years of hot summers at the California beaches and the freezing winters here in Idaho? I decided to service both hubs, crank, and head set on that bike on the upcoming weekend. When I removed the dust seals from the front hub I was amazed at what was staring back at me. The cup was fully packed with spotless crystal clear grease and brand-new-looking shiny balls. My first thought, naturally, was, "What the hell is this Stuff?" Clear grease??? I'd never heard of such a thing before. Obviously I didn't need to service the hub, but I couldn't resist checking things out. So I pulled the balls out and inspected them. Perfect. Races on cones looked like they were polished at the factory that same day. I played with the grease between my fingers and it felt like, well,..... "grease". A little more slippery and less tacky that regular wheel bearing grease. Maybe a little less dense feeling too, but with such small amount it was hard to tell.

Needless to say, the search began.

Don't buy any until I test it. It could be different stuff and junk for all we know.

I'm experiencing strong mechanical nerd anticipation, like when you buy a new tool.