Today I (v2):
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
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From: PHL
Bikes: Litespeed Catalyst, IRO Rob Roy, All City Big Block
Got my Ultegra pedals in the mail today, love these things. Installed them and went for a test ride, 25 miles with some interval training (yeah I'm that d-bag now). Compared to my old Look Keo Classics, the Ultegras are a little tougher to unclip, way easier to clip into, and feel much more solid/secure. ******' A.
- Soli Deo Gloria -
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 14,779
Likes: 743
From: Northwest Georgia
Bikes: 2018 Rodriguez Custom Fixed Gear, 2017 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2015 Bianchi Pista, 2002 Fuji Robaix
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.

Question though.... Is drop point really a concern for bicycles? Not trying to challenge. Sincerely asking. I've no idea of the temperature inside a coaster brake hub but can't imagine that it gets that hot. The PDF said 475°f.
I've a little experience with the idea of drop point and reversion but not with grease, with fiberglass substrates used in circuit board manufacturing for high temp applications. The temp at which the substrate begins to go from solid to liquid is the glass transition temperature - used to measure incoming materials in a test lab using some fancy equipment.
I hope you find the grease you are looking for.
Clark W. Griswold




Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 18,355
Likes: 6,676
From: ,location, location
Bikes: Foundry Chilkoot Ti W/Ultegra Di2, Salsa Timberjack Ti, Cinelli Mash Work RandoCross Fun Time Machine, 1x9 XT Parts Hybrid, Co-Motion Cascadia, Specialized Langster, Phil Wood Apple VeloXS Frame (w/DA 7400), R+M Supercharger2 Rohloff, Habanero Ti 26
A Spesh rep came out to our weekly shop hill ride and brought the Turbo Levo Fattie and I gotta say...HORY SHIRT THAT IS ONE FUN BIKE!!!!!! You try jumping a curb and you feel nothing at all...nothing at all...nothing at all "stupid sexy Flanders" It was such a blast just zipping around on and off curbs and through potholes and speedhumps like it was nothing. However if I saw one on a trail not ridden by Martyn Ashton I would flip my lid. Way to fast and way to much fun.
Today we had a kid come into the shop with a gas motor powered Huffy cruiser. For the life of me, I have no idea how much that thing weighed, but it looked to be about the same as a 1989 Chevy Suburban. We have a customer repair stand in the back which is free for anyone to use, along with a complete set of tools. Kid came in to adjust his kickstand and we had to ask him to work on it outside for insurance purposes. Nothing with a motor on it can be worked on it in our shop I guess. It sure felt like we were completely giving him the cold shoulder, and you know, I think we were. That is not a bike, that is a moped with a 49cc gas motor on it. People can argue with me and others until they are blue in the face, it isn't a bicycle anymore at that point.
Calamari Marionette Ph.D
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 7,861
Likes: 41
From: Coeur d' Alene
Bikes: 3 Chinese Gas Pipe Nerdcycles and 2 Chicago Electroforged Boat Anchors
I like to do long coaster wheelies. There are some roads here that have super long, steep, wide, downhill runs that are perfect for that. Get up to speed, Yank the front end up to vertical, and then modulate the brake at the teeter-totter point of flipping over backwards. The descent gives you the speed without the need to pedal, and the brake is the balance trigger. I've made some runs close to three miles and never had an overheating problem, but I am very lightly feathering the brake, so that could be part of it.
I usually don't ride if the weather is scorching hot. I'm OK with mid 90s, but above that I normally don't have much fun. This year however, I've had this weird high tolerance for the heat. Over 100 was not bothering me if I took periodic shade breaks. Well, a couple weeks ago I heard a howl coming from my rear hub during braking. It was way over 100 degrees that day and I had been on the bike for a long time and braking frequently and pretty hard. I could make the sound repeat at different tones by applying different braking pressure. Not cool. And it definitely had a very unpleasant dry sound and feel transmitting to my feet. I thought, "Crap, what the hell? My first ever rear hub problem! Ten Miles from home dammit!" I dismounted, lifted the rear wheel and spun it. No weird noises. Checked for bearing play and all was kosher. Visual inspection yielded nothing abnormal. I happened to be right by a Pita Sandwich joint, I was hungry, and they were adverting a 1/2-off-any-sandwich-Today-only-sale, so I parked in the shade and fueled up. Thirty minutes later I pedaled off and the sound was gone. Brakes were buttery smooth, dead silent, and modulated perfectly. So my guess is that the 100+ degree weather was just enough to push the grease past it happy place, separating the oil from the thickener. And evidently, that particular grease has good/decent reversion qualities. Since then the temps her have dropped a lot and I have not been able to reproduce the howl again no matter how fast-long-hard I brake.
The grease I have been using is designed especially to fight salt water penetration, but for the life of me, I can't find any temp ratings for it. Hence my search for a better batter.
Last edited by SquidPuppet; 08-26-16 at 10:14 AM.
Under the right conditions they can get hot enough that the oil will separate from the thickening agent. It's been said that the oil can run out of the hub and you lose your lube. The Klunker crew that invented mountain biking used to run a downhill race in some CA mountains that was long enough and steep enough that they were on the brakes long and hard enough to cause that problem, forcing them to repack their hubs for each race. Their slang term for the mountain and the race was Repack.
Calamari Marionette Ph.D
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 7,861
Likes: 41
From: Coeur d' Alene
Bikes: 3 Chinese Gas Pipe Nerdcycles and 2 Chicago Electroforged Boat Anchors
Calamari Marionette Ph.D
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 7,861
Likes: 41
From: Coeur d' Alene
Bikes: 3 Chinese Gas Pipe Nerdcycles and 2 Chicago Electroforged Boat Anchors
I like to do long coaster wheelies. There are some roads here that have super long, steep, wide, downhill runs that are perfect for that. Get up to speed, Yank the front end up to vertical, and then modulate the brake at the teeter-totter point of flipping over backwards. The descent gives you the speed without the need to pedal, and the brake is the balance trigger. I've made some runs close to three miles and never had an overheating problem, but I am very lightly feathering the brake, so that could be part of it.
https://vimeo.com/143684602
Calamari Marionette Ph.D
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 7,861
Likes: 41
From: Coeur d' Alene
Bikes: 3 Chinese Gas Pipe Nerdcycles and 2 Chicago Electroforged Boat Anchors
1:40 he's testing the edge.
Oiy!!!!!!! I've never seen this one before... 37 mph down an Austrian mountain.

Last edited by SquidPuppet; 08-26-16 at 12:35 PM.
- Soli Deo Gloria -
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 14,779
Likes: 743
From: Northwest Georgia
Bikes: 2018 Rodriguez Custom Fixed Gear, 2017 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2015 Bianchi Pista, 2002 Fuji Robaix
Got my Ultegra pedals in the mail today, love these things. Installed them and went for a test ride, 25 miles with some interval training (yeah I'm that d-bag now). Compared to my old Look Keo Classics, the Ultegras are a little tougher to unclip, way easier to clip into, and feel much more solid/secure. ******' A.
I think it's awesome. That's how you get fast and hang with the big dogs.
The space coyote lied.



Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 48,792
Likes: 11,008
From: dusk 'til dawn.
Bikes: everywhere
- Soli Deo Gloria -
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 14,779
Likes: 743
From: Northwest Georgia
Bikes: 2018 Rodriguez Custom Fixed Gear, 2017 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2015 Bianchi Pista, 2002 Fuji Robaix
Under the right conditions they can get hot enough that the oil will separate from the thickening agent. It's been said that the oil can run out of the hub and you lose your lube. The Klunker crew that invented mountain biking used to run a downhill race in some CA mountains that was long enough and steep enough that they were on the brakes long and hard enough to cause that problem, forcing them to repack their hubs for each race. Their slang term for the mountain and the race was Repack.
I like to do long coaster wheelies. There are some roads here that have super long, steep, wide, downhill runs that are perfect for that. Get up to speed, Yank the front end up to vertical, and then modulate the brake at the teeter-totter point of flipping over backwards. The descent gives you the speed without the need to pedal, and the brake is the balance trigger. I've made some runs close to three miles and never had an overheating problem, but I am very lightly feathering the brake, so that could be part of it.
I usually don't ride if the weather is scorching hot. I'm OK with mid 90s, but above that I normally don't have much fun. This year however, I've had this weird high tolerance for the heat. Over 100 was not bothering me if I took periodic shade breaks. Well, a couple weeks ago I heard a howl coming from my rear hub during braking. It was way over 100 degrees that day and I had been on the bike for a long time and braking frequently and pretty hard. I could make the sound repeat at different tones by applying different braking pressure. Not cool. And it definitely had a very unpleasant dry sound and feel transmitting to my feet. I thought, "Crap, what the hell? My first ever rear hub problem! Ten Miles from home dammit!" I dismounted, lifted the rear wheel and spun it. No weird noises. Checked for bearing play and all was kosher. Visual inspection yielded nothing abnormal. I happened to be right by a Pita Sandwich joint, I was hungry, and they were adverting a 1/2-off-any-sandwich-Today-only-sale, so I parked in the shade and fueled up. Thirty minutes later I pedaled off and the sound was gone. Brakes were buttery smooth, dead silent, and modulated perfectly. So my guess is that the 100+ degree weather was just enough to push the grease past it happy place, separating the oil from the thickener. And evidently, that particular grease has good/decent reversion qualities. Since then the temps her have dropped a lot and I have not been able to reproduce the howl again no matter how fast-long-hard I brake.
The grease I have been using is designed especially to fight salt water penetration, but for the life of me, I can't find any temp ratings for it. Hence my search for a better batter.
I like to do long coaster wheelies. There are some roads here that have super long, steep, wide, downhill runs that are perfect for that. Get up to speed, Yank the front end up to vertical, and then modulate the brake at the teeter-totter point of flipping over backwards. The descent gives you the speed without the need to pedal, and the brake is the balance trigger. I've made some runs close to three miles and never had an overheating problem, but I am very lightly feathering the brake, so that could be part of it.
I usually don't ride if the weather is scorching hot. I'm OK with mid 90s, but above that I normally don't have much fun. This year however, I've had this weird high tolerance for the heat. Over 100 was not bothering me if I took periodic shade breaks. Well, a couple weeks ago I heard a howl coming from my rear hub during braking. It was way over 100 degrees that day and I had been on the bike for a long time and braking frequently and pretty hard. I could make the sound repeat at different tones by applying different braking pressure. Not cool. And it definitely had a very unpleasant dry sound and feel transmitting to my feet. I thought, "Crap, what the hell? My first ever rear hub problem! Ten Miles from home dammit!" I dismounted, lifted the rear wheel and spun it. No weird noises. Checked for bearing play and all was kosher. Visual inspection yielded nothing abnormal. I happened to be right by a Pita Sandwich joint, I was hungry, and they were adverting a 1/2-off-any-sandwich-Today-only-sale, so I parked in the shade and fueled up. Thirty minutes later I pedaled off and the sound was gone. Brakes were buttery smooth, dead silent, and modulated perfectly. So my guess is that the 100+ degree weather was just enough to push the grease past it happy place, separating the oil from the thickener. And evidently, that particular grease has good/decent reversion qualities. Since then the temps her have dropped a lot and I have not been able to reproduce the howl again no matter how fast-long-hard I brake.
The grease I have been using is designed especially to fight salt water penetration, but for the life of me, I can't find any temp ratings for it. Hence my search for a better batter.
I hadn't thought of coaster brake hubs. I can't wait a decade for you to report back on whether the grease is good or not however, so I think I'll buy some to replace the red Mobile 1 synthetic stuff I'm using.
As an aside, I read with interest that the HED Ardennes wheels I've been looking at, at least the rear one, has a grease port.
Awful nice of your brakes to howl right in front of a half off pita joint.
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 9,948
Likes: 400
From: PHL
Bikes: Litespeed Catalyst, IRO Rob Roy, All City Big Block
Haha, yeah, I just need to balance out all my positive gains with an equal amount of self-loathing. Today I made up for it by taking the SS on a chill cruise to run errands and get coffee.
Not actually Tmonk




Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 17,324
Likes: 6,104
From: San Diego, CA
Bikes: road, track, mtb
Glad you're loving your new pedals [MENTION=176970]seau grateau[/MENTION].
I'm headed out for Yosemite now. see yall in a few days!!!!
I'm headed out for Yosemite now. see yall in a few days!!!!
__________________
"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste
"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste
I go to Yellowstone next month. 1 national park a year.
Calamari Marionette Ph.D
Joined: Dec 2013
Posts: 7,861
Likes: 41
From: Coeur d' Alene
Bikes: 3 Chinese Gas Pipe Nerdcycles and 2 Chicago Electroforged Boat Anchors
- Soli Deo Gloria -
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 14,779
Likes: 743
From: Northwest Georgia
Bikes: 2018 Rodriguez Custom Fixed Gear, 2017 Niner RLT 9 RDO, 2015 Bianchi Pista, 2002 Fuji Robaix
Today I did 58.2 miles and 2350 feet.
18.0 average. I'm pretty pleased with that.
Now I will nap.
---------
Not disk.
From the limited pictures I've seen it looks like a 2mm set screw in a port for an injection type grease gun - maybe. Not sure.
Looking at the SL but the LT are a little more realistic price.
18.0 average. I'm pretty pleased with that.
Now I will nap.
---------
Not disk.
From the limited pictures I've seen it looks like a 2mm set screw in a port for an injection type grease gun - maybe. Not sure.
Looking at the SL but the LT are a little more realistic price.
Last edited by TimothyH; 08-27-16 at 11:47 AM.
Today I am laying on my living room floor because my lower back hurts like a mofo.
Was fine during this morning's ride and for like an hour and a half after I got home. Then when I was bending over putting away dishes sudden pain. Balls.
Was fine during this morning's ride and for like an hour and a half after I got home. Then when I was bending over putting away dishes sudden pain. Balls.
The space coyote lied.



Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 48,792
Likes: 11,008
From: dusk 'til dawn.
Bikes: everywhere
Today I got a 6-pack of America beer. I wasn't looking forward to drinking Budweiser but I couldn't not get America beer cans. I haven't bought a Bud since whenever they did that vintage repop run, 2009 or so...




