Let's Talk About Grease

[AngryScientist]

i've been working on cars, boats, jet skis, trailers, etc for long before i was a cyclist.

the demands of a bicycle on grease are pretty low comparatively speaking; namely - no high temperature, and no excessively high speed.

for most of the bike stuff that requires grease i generally use a tub of bel ray grease i've had for years, there are a few others out in the garage and in the basement. they all work fine.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Satellite

Phil Wood its the best investment in cycling. I bought my tube 15 years ago and I use it for other project besides bike parts. I just can't seem to use it up. I use anti seize where any kind of a press fitting will be applied but mostly the PHIL WOOD.

Look familiar?..Phil is repackaged automotive grease..smells the same too. Chevron was always the rumor.

OBTW-I'm RICH, I have a 500g tub of this stuff..still most left!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Campagnolo-...wAAOSwL5BZ2qim

[simplemind]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

OBTW-I'm RICH, I have a 500g tub of this stuff..still most left!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Campagnolo-...wAAOSwL5BZ2qim

lol, that's a good one spud!

I tend to use Park PL-1 for most general assembly just because I have it and it's a synthetic and probably won't effect plastic and rubber parts it touches.
However where I want to protect from water I tend to like Rock n Roll Super Web Grease.
If it's an extreme pressure application as in the Yeti Switch Infinity system, a Moly filled grease is recommended.
So yes, I'm a grease whore, probably from my Materials Engineering background, I just can't help myself.

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by FriarQuade

Phil is a great option if you want to leave it alone for the next several years. It's a horrible option if you want something that's fast.

I have no idea what "fast" means in this context.

[wallymann]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Grease is oil in ‘soap’. I use a 50/50 blend of automotive lithium and blue waterproof ‘boat grease’. 1000 gr tub for $10.

how do you blend them so you ensure really even dispersion of the 2 compounds?

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by wallymann

how do you blend them so you ensure really even dispersion of the 2 compounds?

I take 1/2 out, put 1/2 of the other in and mix with this..like mixing cookie dough..until it's a nice light blue color(lithium-white, boat grease-blue)..

For bikes, not a high speed turbine..

[Bob Ross]

Originally Posted by Satellite

Phil Wood its the best investment in cycling. I bought my tube 15 years ago and I use it for other project besides bike parts. I just can't seem to use it up.

That's weird, I'm on my second tube in ~10 years. I'm using it on six different bikes...but maybe I'm still using too much?

I use Phil's on all threads -- perhaps obsessively so. Also on seatposts, on bar/stem interfaces, saddle rails, skewers, sometimes on dropouts if things are squeaking.

I have something generic loaded into my grease gun that I use for the inner guts of Speedplay pedals. If/when I ever run out of that I'll probably replace it with either Phil's or NFS Race Grease (because, y'know, why not?).

The only other type of grease I use is Finish Line Extreme Flouro for the S&S Couplers on our travel bikes.

[Mikej]

I like the green shimano special grease from Germany, just not on cables.

[chiasticon]

yep, Phil.

[merckx]

Absolutely nothing smelled better than this. What else do you need to know?

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

I have no idea what "fast" means in this context.

Phil's grease is too thick for 'race' wheels and slows them down. Since this thread started in the context of CX racing I thought it was worth mentioning. Slick Honey will last a full season for most people under normal conditions and is much faster in a hub or bottom bracket than the Phil's everybody is hung up on. But like I mentioned before, grease recommendations are directly related to how much maintenance you're willing to do.

[classtimesailer]

After two tubes of Phils over the last 20 years and milking the last one for probably the last 3 years. I finally got a tub of marine grease. I just dip my finger in it and slather it where it needs to go and some where it doesn't. One of these days, I'll get a cute little grease gun and watch a You Tube video about how to load it.

[11.4]

To elaborate on a couple points made above:

Greases undergo what's called shear thinning. This means that while they are thick when standing, when pressure is applied they assume the viscosity and lubricity of the lubricants in the grease. In other words, a grease acts like an oil when actually under load. The oil and the emulsifying agent between them determine when shear thinning occurs, which determines when it acts like an oil and less like a barrier to water or grit.

Greases come in countless formulations. They are basically an oil (or combination of oils) mixed with an emulsifying agent, frequently a stearate (aka, a soap) in better greases. Emulsifiers can vary widely from cheap low-duty ones (often simple clay) in products like your traditional Campagnolo white grease up to high quality emulsifiers like graphite or mica, used for long-lived applications and specialty applications like aircraft jet engines. They all do a decent job of lubricating; it's more a question of whether they stay in place and provide resistance to ingress by water and grit. If you've used old Campy grease and you've experienced it spinning out of the bearings and getting contaminated quickly, that's why better greases can do better, but why Campy grease still does fine from a simple standpoint of lubricating bearings. You just have to change it frequently, especially when wet.

There are also synthetic greases which skip the emulsifying agent and use long-chain lubricants that are themselves capable of lubricating as well as emulsifying. Phil Grease is an example of this. It does a good job of lubricating at the bearing surface but remaining a barrier that keeps water and grit out. The grease that the bearings are actually pushing around are shear thinned while grease at the seals remains a barrier. This still isn't the ideal if measured solely on stiction, but it's also a very realistic approach for anything but something as esoteric and critical as an hour record.

None of these greases should dry out. Grease is going to collect dirt rather than actually dry, and it's the dirt that's the real problem. Oils can glaze or varnish if they're inexpensive and contain volatile elements, just like gasoline can mess up a traditional carburetor. Good greases, like good oils, won't have a problem.

You don't want to mix greases any more than you want to mix rim cements. (This is now officially a tubular gluing thread. Ugh.) Different emulsifiers can conflict with each other and impair their ability to do their job. Even among oils, some can be mixed and others can't be. Pick the right grease and be sure everything is cleaned out of the bearings and races before you pack it again. Even small residues of grease can contaminate a new and different one.

[54ny77]

Go with the Grecian Formula.

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by Satellite

Phil Wood its the best investment in cycling. I bought my tube 15 years ago and I use it for other project besides bike parts. I just can't seem to use it up. I use anti seize where any kind of a press fitting will be applied but mostly the PHIL WOOD.

I bought a tube of Phil grease in college. I'm down to the dregs at the bottom of the tube.

End of an era...

Having said that, I'll use pretty much anything automotive-related that's in the garage for bearings* and Morgan Blue Aquaproof paste for BBs and HSs that just need 'grease' to keep em moving freely in the frame

M

* I have a tendency to take things apart 'for fun' so YMMV